Maryland files large countersuit against ACC

[NCHawker]

Maryland alleges ACC violated its own rules over exit fee, tried to lure Big Ten schools away

Wake and Pitt representatives, with encouragement from ESPN sought to have a few big ten schools leave the big ten. other beefs as well.

 

[ICHawk24]

Throwing crap against the wall in their attempt to reduce their buyout. I still say ~$20M.

 

[GVGiant44]

Actually, the outcome of this potentially could be huge.

The B1G may yet have one more expansion left in them, on the (probably extremely remote) possibility that Notre Dame finally agrees to join the conference, maybe in 4-6 years.

If that were to happen, given the propensity of the B1G to look for either tons of television sets or a sterling academic reputation, I think the 2nd team in that deal would be Georgia Tech (from Atlanta).

But that is contingent on how easy it might be to pull another school out of the ACC - their current agreement makes that somewhere between difficult and impossible - unless one brings lots and lots of cash.

Is adding a team that far south logical? Maybe not, but no less so than adding Maryland or Rutgers. And between being an easy team to reach via airports (something Penn State has never been), and one of the best academic institutions in the south, well who knows.

 

[pumpdog20]

Actually, the outcome of this potentially could be huge.

The B1G may yet have one more expansion left in them, on the (probably extremely remote) possibility that Notre Dame finally agrees to join the conference, maybe in 4-6 years.

If that were to happen, given the propensity of the B1G to look for either tons of television sets or a sterling academic reputation, I think the 2nd team in that deal would be Georgia Tech (from Atlanta).

But that is contingent on how easy it might be to pull another school out of the ACC - their current agreement makes that somewhere between difficult and impossible - unless one brings lots and lots of cash.

Is adding a team that far south logical? Maybe not, but no less so than adding Maryland or Rutgers. And between being an easy team to reach via airports (something Penn State has never been), and one of the best academic institutions in the south, well who knows.

LOL, you guys need to give up on this dream. It's never going to happen.

 

[ssckelley]

So the ACC approached Ohio State and Penn State? They seem to be the most logical schools to go after, especially if ESPN is involved.

This case will be an interesting one to watch. The ACC might be better off settling out of court or it might get messy.

 

[LASBUR]

I agree GT is a target. I do think its possible we could get ND down the road. If this seperation from the smaller schools continues and it will. At some point ND has know one to play unless they join a super conference. Ofcourse you would have to be willing to play hard ball with them.

Actually, the outcome of this potentially could be huge.

The B1G may yet have one more expansion left in them, on the (probably extremely remote) possibility that Notre Dame finally agrees to join the conference, maybe in 4-6 years.

If that were to happen, given the propensity of the B1G to look for either tons of television sets or a sterling academic reputation, I think the 2nd team in that deal would be Georgia Tech (from Atlanta).

But that is contingent on how easy it might be to pull another school out of the ACC - their current agreement makes that somewhere between difficult and impossible - unless one brings lots and lots of cash.

Is adding a team that far south logical? Maybe not, but no less so than adding Maryland or Rutgers. And between being an easy team to reach via airports (something Penn State has never been), and one of the best academic institutions in the south, well who knows.

 

[MoseSchrute]

Notre Dame will never join. At this point, they need to be left out in the cold, anyway.

 

[Golfer]

The ACC has problems in my opinion. The Maryland state AG filed the suit for goodness sake. Not like they don't get preferential treatment in court. I'm not sure if this is in state or federal court? ESPN won't report this, and really hasn't. This was broken by CBS quite a while back. This will make some interesting viewing in my opinion.

 

[DJL]

I know some Big 12 fans that want this suit to be successful. If Maryland somehow gets out without an exit fee, I think it opens the door for the 4 super conference model. Playoffs move to 8 teams. 4 conference winners and 4 "at large" bids. Tradition is already ruined, might as well go all the way now.

 

[IowaFan81]

I know some Big 12 fans that want this suit to be successful. If Maryland somehow gets out without an exit fee, I think it opens the door for the 4 super conference model. Playoffs move to 8 teams. 4 conference winners and 4 "at large" bids. Tradition is already ruined, might as well go all the way now.

Why 4 at-large? Why not 8 division winners? Rotate playing the other conferences in out of conference play.

 

[hawkfan1319]

So we finally get confirmation of ESPN ' S vendetta against the Big Ten. Not surprising but atleast we finally know for sure. I see this as just tactics to reduce their buyout honestly.

 

[ssckelley]

So we finally get confirmation of ESPN ' S vendetta against the Big Ten. Not surprising but atleast we finally know for sure. I see this as just tactics to reduce their buyout honestly.

Considering the BTN was conceived after a failed negotiations with ESPN this does not surprise me. ESPN has more influence in college football than they should because it is all about money. They are a major reason why Texas stayed in the Big12 and not in the B1G.

 

[lightning1]

The ACC has problems in my opinion. The Maryland state AG filed the suit for goodness sake. Not like they don't get preferential treatment in court. I'm not sure if this is in state or federal court? ESPN won't report this, and really hasn't. This was broken by CBS quite a while back. This will make some interesting viewing in my opinion.

The reason the Maryland AG filed that suit is because there is no way MD will get a fair shake in a NC court room. No way! UNC runs the ACC and UNC runs the entire state of North Carolina. If the AG wants to play dirty pool, I'm sure he can arrange the "right" Maryland judge to preside on this suit and there could easily be 150 million in damages awarded. Which is funny because the ACC has fired it's one and only bullet for 52 mil, so they could end up paying for Maryland's move to the BIG. In fact, I think the Maryland AG fully expects the NC judicial system to be stacked against them, so it wouldn't surprise me if he didn't treat them with some Maryland home cooking in return.

 

[thetrza]

Large? Did Somebody say Large? Its Maryland, so any reference to Large is a way of saying Ralph Friedgen is overweight, even though he hasn't coached there for three years or something. Still, Friedgen is Large.

 

[okeefe4prez]

Throwing crap against the wall in their attempt to reduce their buyout. I still say ~$20M.

Read the complaint and countersuit. Of course, MD wrote in the light most favorable to it, but the allegations about the amendment of the ACC Constitution seem to add up to a pretty clear breach in my eyes. The ACC had to give 4 weeks notice of actions to be taken at the meeting and 15 days notice of changes to the Constitution or Bylaws and MD says the ACC did not give this notice. My theory is that if this notice had been given, MD would have expedited approval of admission into the B1G and been admitted prior to the meeting where the changes were approved. Of course, I suspect the ACC would have been smart enough to see this coming and so they likely decided to skip the notice.

 

[Billso]

Read the complaint and countersuit. Of course, MD wrote in the light most favorable to it, but the allegations about the amendment of the ACC Constitution seem to add up to a pretty clear breach in my eyes. The ACC had to give 4 weeks notice of actions to be taken at the meeting and 15 days notice of changes to the Constitution or Bylaws and MD says the ACC did not give this notice. My theory is that if this notice had been given, MD would have expedited approval of admission into the B1G and been admitted prior to the meeting where the changes were approved. Of course, I suspect the ACC would have been smart enough to see this coming and so they likely decided to skip the notice.

You should be a lawyer.

 

[tm3308]

Considering the BTN was conceived after a failed negotiations with ESPN this does not surprise me. ESPN has more influence in college football than they should because it is all about money. They are a major reason why Texas stayed in the Big12 and not in the B1G.

I'm not going to cry about this, though. I think the B1G dodged a bullet on that one.