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Maryland To Leave ACC For Big Ten

By: WAMU Staff // November 19, 2012
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The University of Maryland will leave the Atlantic Coast Conference to join the Big Ten conference, effective July 1, 2014.

The school's board of regents voted this morning to make the move, and university President Wallace Loh announced the plan officially this afternoon, according to NBC Washington.

Maryland was one of the founding members of the ACC conference and has been a member for 59 years. 

Loh said the decision was largely a financial one, as Maryland will receive a larger share of revenue in the Big Ten. Seven Terrapin athletic teams have been cut due to budget constraints, and the men's outdoor track and field team only managed to escape the same fate after raising $888,000 to fund their own program.

UMD will become the 13th member of the Big Ten; Rutgers is also expected to join the conference this week from, making it the 14th member of that conference. Maryland will likely try to negotiate to reduce the $50 million fee it will have to pay to leave the ACC.

Maryland's Student Government Association endorsed the move, saying it would bring more revenue to a struggling athletic program. 

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