This afternoon, Rutgers University will announce that it is joining the Big Ten. According to the Star-Ledger, "The Scarlet Knights cleared all of the final procedural impediments this morning and accepted an invitation to join the Big Ten, according to two people involved in the process."
Rutgers would officially be a part of the conference in 2014. Yesterday, the University of Maryland announced it was joining the Big Ten as well—which means the Big Ten will soon have 14 teams.
Why the move from the Big East? Sports Illustrated explained it's all about the TV deals for games, "There are an estimated 15 million available households in the New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington D.C. markets. If the Big Ten Network got on basic cable in all those places, which is an enormous long shot, the per-household figure by the time Rutgers and Maryland joined the league would project in the neighborhood of $1.25 per month. That would equate to about $200 million per year."
Of course, it's not like any of the student athletes see that money; Buzz Bissinger told us earlier this year, "I think all of college football should be banned. I have a feeling these programs don't make any money and no one is really, on any level, presenting a good argument to me as to why they should exist in an academic setting... There are very few schools that make money on football and if they make money on football it doesn't go back into the general fund for general student use it goes back into supporting non-revenue sports. You look at the University of Maryland; in order to keep a football program alive that's losing money they've gotten rid of eight non-revenue sports. And what exactly does football have to do with academics? The answer is nothing."
The Star-Ledger adds, "Big East exit penalties call for a $10 million departure fee and a 27-month waiting period, although the latter was reduced for West Virginia, Pittsburgh and Syracuse. All three paid more money to avoid the extended wait."
