Big Ten Expansion May Include Rutgers, Maryland

The Big Ten added the Nebraska Cornhuskers to the conference two years ago and it looks like it’s getting ready to expand again. Rumor has it that Rutgers and Maryland will be joining the Big Ten in 2014.

A source familiar with the situation told ESPN: “The Big Ten has been itchy about further expansion since Notre Dame made its official move to the ACC two months ago in all sports other than football. The source said the Big Ten can justify Maryland and then possibly Rutgers since they are all contiguous states to the Big Ten footprint.”

The Maryland Terrapins and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights haven’t commented about the rumors but the source said that a deal could be made as soon as next week.

Rutgers and Maryland would bring more competition to the Big Ten conference as well as a much larger TV audience. According to Rant Sports, Maryland will expand the conference’s TV viewership into the Baltimore area via BTN and Rutgers will give the conference more New York viewers.

According to Yahoo, the Big Ten is hoping to expand to 14 teams in 2014 in order to create a more competitive conference. The Big Ten only has two ranked teams at the moment and hasn’t won a National Championship since 2002.

Would you like to see Rutgers and Maryland included in the Big Ten expansion?