re: Maryland approves move to Big TEN

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The Big 14 (and counting) Ever play "Risk?" It's a board game (remember those?) where the object is to conquer the world. It's a lesson in strategy, geography and choosing your battles. The Big Ten looked at the college football (and basketball) map and realized it was in danger of being outflanked. So it rolled the bones and added Maryland on Monday and Rutgers on Tuesday. The Terrapins and Scarlet Knights aren't sexy choices, but they're effective ones. True, there is nothing Midwestern about the two newest members of the Big Ten. They're the plaid shirt to the Big Ten's striped pants. But this wasn't about finding the perfect eHarmony date. It was about finding the perfect safe harbor. Rutgers and Maryland give the Big Ten geographical protection. They give the conference entry into the New York and mid-Atlantic cable markets.

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The Big 14 (and counting), Part II Think of the Big Ten as Five Guys. It just opened a franchise directly across the street from McDonald's (the ACC) and Burger King (the Big East). In essence, the Big Ten just told the ACC, "You want to brawl, we'll brawl." It told the Big East, "We didn't start this, but we'll finish it if we have to." The expansion and realignment arms race has begun again. The Big Ten had watched the ACC use the Big East as its own personal chop shop and decided it had to act. It couldn't allow Penn State to be isolated by ACC members Boston College, Pittsburgh and Syracuse (and maybe UConn soon enough). The ACC's alliance with Notre Dame certainly had an effect on the Big Ten's strategy, as did the collapse of the Big Ten/Pac-12 collaboration. There's a turf war going on in college sports. It is survival of the fittest and right now, the Big Ten, ACC, SEC, Pac-12 and, OK, the Big 12 look pretty healthy. The Big East? On its last legs.

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