The Maryland Terrapins shocked the public by moving to the Big 10 sports conference last week. With the move to the Big 10 from the ACC, Maryland’s profits are supposed to increase greatly. With this money they are now trying to bring back sports such as cross country and swimming, which were cut last year.
The Terps have to pay a 50 million dollar exit fee in order to leave the ACC.
The university’s alumni like the idea of trying to get the eliminated sports back, but they are very upset about the decision to leave the ACC. In particular, they are upset about the rivalries that will be lost, especially Duke and the University of North Carolina in basketball.
The fans are also upset about the travel implications, as Maryland used to have several games in Virginia and North Carolina, which are reasonable travel distances for college teams, but now they will have to travel longer distances to Nebraska, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Although the financial implications of leaving the ACC seems beneficial, the fan base is heated and they are the ones who provide the funds by paying for the games and jerseys.