IOWA CITY — The Big Ten has no current intention to expand beyond 14 schools and geography will play a major role in determining football divisions, Iowa Athletics Director Gary Barta told The Gazette. “We’re going to make decisions based on 14 schools,” Barta said. “That’s what we are. And we’re going to base it [...]

The Big Ten’s push to conquer the college athletics universe has hit a pregnant pause about two weeks after accepting Maryland and Rutgers as the league’s 13th and 14th members. Everyone expects the league to consider future expansion, and Commissioner Jim Delany reiterated the possibility in his subsequent news conferences and interviews. Rather than sitting [...]

IOWA CITY — Student-athletes missing extra class time and extended travel have members of Iowa’s President Committee on Athletics concerned about the recent wave of Big Ten expansion. Maryland and Rutgers, both of which are located between 900 and 1,000 miles from Iowa’s campus, accepted Big Ten invitations last week and will join the league [...]

The Atlantic Coast Conference announced Wednesday that its presidents and chancellors unanimously voted to add Louisville as the replacement for Maryland. ACC Commissioner John Swofford said Louisville was the best fit for the league following Maryland’s announcement last week that it would join the Big Ten in 2014. “When you look at Louisville, you see [...]

With the Big East facing yet another departure of a football member, DePaul men’s basketball coach Oliver Purnell said the league’s non-football schools need to seriously consider their future within or without the Big East structure. “I think we have to have our heads in the sand not to be thinking about some of those [...]

UPDATE! MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE IS MOVING TO CONFERENCE USA!!!!!! Conference realignment fever seemed to be under control for several months. But the fever is burning again, and it’s running wild across several conferences. The Big Ten plucked (if “plucked” is the right word) Maryland and Rutgers last week. Thus, panic was reborn, the panic that [...]

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — The Atlantic Coast Conference has filed a lawsuit against Maryland seeking full payment of the approximately $53 million exit fee for the school’s move to the Big Ten. According to the 10-page lawsuit, the ACC said the school must pay $52,266,342, which is three times the league’s annual operating budget for [...]

IOWA CITY — Iowa’s media guide lists the recruiting territory for each assistant coach. Under secondary and special teams coach Darrell Wilson’s name is “New Jersey, Maryland and Pennsylvania.” In February 2011, Wilson was credited with a recruiting haul that included three players from Maryland and one from New Jersey. So, Iowa is well acquainted [...]

A positive for the Big Ten Conference in wrestling and even better for their future members. With University of Maryland and Rutgers joining for the 2014-15 academic year, the Big Ten adds two respectable programs, while both benefit from joining the premiere wrestling conference in NCAA Division I. “I think both add Maryland and Rutgers [...]

Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany pulled a financial coup by snagging Maryland and Rutgers as the league’s 13th and 14th members. They’re not home run additions, which is how Delany referenced the tape-measure calculation when the league added Nebraska in 2010. But the new schools could amount to a bases-loaded walk, scoring plenty of runs [...]