How does Maryland view the move to the B1G whatever?

[Truth&Justise]

This is the overwhelming sentiment I see. It is a remarkably frank one from a fanbase not historically known for its rationality or self awareness. When the move was announced there was a lot of talk about finally finding a conference that appreciated them, how the big ten is stronger academically and that is where a public ivy such as Maryland belongs, how their football program needs stronger competition while their basketball team could teach the others how to play the sport, etc. Even so there were still many who hated the move from the outset and would not play the glad game. Now that they are into it and it neither feels familiar nor feels like an improvement, there is no attempt at rationalization. They understand that there was no other choice and leave it at that. Fan support for basketball remains healthy. It had already fallen off a bit since the end of the Gary Williams era. However, I do not see the same passion. A lot of that passion was driven by the outsider, we do not get any respect, the system is rigged against us mythology of their relationship with the ACC. Now they have encountered a conference full of opposing fans who actually could care less about them. In turn, they lack the familiarity needed to breed contempt. There was some tentative effort to cast Penn State as a natural rival. They are the next state over and Maryland used to play them frequently in football. However, it is hard to have a rivalry when the all time record of Maryland in that series is 39-2-1. Speaking of football, attendance there continues to fall despite the move. That was one of the things that got the Athletic Department into such dire financial trouble. They renovated Byrd Stadium with a build it and they will come expectation that never materialized. If nothing else, joining the Big Ten was supposed to mean that, in a conference full of huge state universities with fanbases that traveled well and already had lots of alumni in the area, those seats would at least be filled with opposing fans. That effect does seem to have happened, but it appears that ticket sales among Maryland's own football supporters keep falling even more precipitously.

Wanted to focus on this point a bit more. Gary Williams was great at playing it up during games, making it clear he thought his team got no respect from the officials. Layer on that the best UMD teams in the early 2000s didn't have lots of top recruits, and that "us against the world" mentality fueled the fanbase.

There's an irony in the fact that UMD is still an outsider: just like the heart of the ACC was always in North Carolina, the heart of the B1G is somewhere in Michigan/Ohio/Indiana. But if no one cares about you, you can't really argue they're out to get you.

[HereBeforeCoachK]

Wanted to focus on this point a bit more. Gary Williams was great at playing it up during games, making it clear he thought his team got no respect from the officials. Layer on that the best UMD teams in the early 2000s didn't have lots of top recruits, and that "us against the world" mentality fueled the fanbase.

There's an irony in the fact that UMD is still an outsider: just like the heart of the ACC was always in North Carolina, the heart of the B1G is somewhere in Michigan/Ohio/Indiana. But if no one cares about you, you can't really argue they're out to get you.

Seems to me about 99% of the angst/anger/lack of respect the Terps felt from the ACC was aimed at Duke. (back in Lefty's day, it was aimed at NCSU and UNC - but that hadn't been the case for many moons). I remember some talk that Duke coming to town in hoops was the biggest event all year on campus...almost every year.

And I can assure you, a drop in football attendance was NOT in the plans for joining the Big Ten (or whatever we call it now)

[budwom]

Maryland's mismanagement of the department, under various "leaders," has been acknowledged for a long time. Turtle Club donors down 35% in the last ten years, just a mess...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sport...=.edd0b707cd59

I guess there's a reason why athletic directors who actually know what they're doing and can manage a gargantuanly complex budget, are well compensated. Of course most of the lousy ones are well compensated, too.

[AustinDevil]

I think had MD reached out for help to the ACC and honestly explained their financial problems, the ACC (and member schools) would have helped and MD wouldn't have had to leave. I think MD compounded their financial failures by not being honest about it and not seeking help from member schools. Although I hated their fanbase, I liked having them in the ACC (since I live in the DC area). I hate losing the DC market to the B1G. Although having UVA and VT in the ACC helps with the DC market.

I like the optimism, and I can understand wishing Maryland had not left, but there's no plausible way to see how this "help" could have happened. Any dime given to Maryland would have had to come at the expense of another school or the conference itself. And they're just Maryland. You can make a case--not saying how strong a case, mind you--for a circumstance where a school with a lot more heft could get some breaks or redistributions, trying to set itself up in the ACC like Texas has in the Big "XII," as (more than) first among equals. But whether or not Clemson could do that, e.g., there's no way Maryland could have.

[uh_no]

Of course most of the lousy ones are well compensated, too.

and sometimes end up as the AD in raleigh for their their efforts.

[budwom]

and sometimes end up as the AD in raleigh for their their efforts.

Ha, indeed. Things weren't that complicated back in my Duke days, not a ton of scholarships for things other than hoops and football...now with Title IX (which I applaud) and the emergence of many other sports, it's a much more
complicated endeavor...balance the books, beg for money, and name every single item on every single sports field after some donor (right down to the helmet/glove box in the softball team's dugout, as we learned here earlier).

Still not sure how all this evolved (as opposed to how sports are treated elsewhere in the world) but it's fun being a fan.

[peterjswift]

I ran into a friend who is a UMD alum and used to be a huge fan of the UMD basketball program (I think graduated in 2004, so he was there for the championship). I asked him this question, and he said he hasn't really been following UMD basketball over the last few years. I asked him why, and he said he had just picked up some other pursuits and they occupied more of his time. He claimed he was still a fan, but he hadn't watched a game in several years...pretty much since they switched to the BIG10.

He quickly added that the change wasn't why he no longer follows the sport...though it is kind of a weird coincidence that a guy that could name every recruiting prospect for a team can't even name a current player today, and the disconnect roughly started when UMD left the ACC.

I pointed out that maybe UMD basketball becoming irrelevant was what made other pursuits more attractive and contributed to his change of priorities - he wasn't so sure. He thinks it is a coincidence (and it could be - his family grew, his job changed, he moved...), but his disinterest fits my perspective on the adjustment pretty well.