Count former Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams among those who think the Terrapins would be wise to leave the ACC and join the Big Ten.
Maryland this year cut seven sports programs because of budget concerns. Some think the athletics department is more likely to survive, and might even flourish, if the the school becomes part of the Big Ten, which generates more revenue than the ACC.
Williams, a Maryland alumnus who coached the basketball team 1989 to 2011, told The Baltimore Sun he shares that view.
"You look around today with what's going on and those schools (in the Big Ten) are certainly in keeping with what Maryland feels about academics," said Williams. "You look at a school like Notre Dame that signed its own TV contract and are now partially joining the ACC. They're looking out for their university. I think Maryland is looking at what's best for them for the future, it's not about today."
By leaving the ACC, Maryland would be breaking ties and rivalries with many schools it has competed against since 1953. There are few bigger college basketball games than Maryland vs. Duke, and Terrapins fans for decades have made up a decent portion of the crowd at the ACC basketball tournament.
"I coached in the league (ACC) for 22 years, there's great memories there without a doubt, at the same time you have to look at what's best for the university," said Williams, who coached Ohio State for three seasons in the 1980s. "I'm familiar with the Big Ten, coaching there and working at the Big Ten Network last year, I think I have a decent perspective. If I was coaching at Maryland now, historically in football there's been good years (for the ACC) but the league has never been where it can pull your football program along a little bit."
Williams, who led Maryland to its only national championship in 2002, thinks a move to the Big Ten would allow the basketball team to get out of the shadow of Duke and North Carolina.
"Who's our rival in football? You can't come up with a name and neither can I," Williams told the newspaper. "Who's our rival in basketball? We can say Duke and Carolina, but we basically will be playing them once a year now. Duke and Carolina, that's the rivalry, they don't look at it as Maryland being their rival. The old ACC where you play everyone twice a year and see who's the best team at the end of the year, that's not happening anymore. The Big Ten, last I checked had five teams in the top 20 in basketball."
In January, Maryland dedicated the floor at Comcast Center to Williams, the winningest coach in the history of the program.
Maryland's Board of Regents is scheduled to meet Monday to discuss the joining the Big Ten. If Maryland approves the move and applies for admission, Rutgers is expected to follow suit and leave the Big East. That would leave the Big Ten with 14 schools.
An announcement on Maryland's final decision is expected this week, maybe as soon as Monday.
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