The Wolverine

January 2013

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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Looking Ahead At Big Ten Expansion Olympic Sports Will Be Greatly Affected By The Addition Of Maryland And Rutgers S By Andy Reid ince Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany announced the additions of Rutgers and Maryland to the conference — effective in 2014 — there has been much debate about football, television markets, money and demographics. But the ripple effects that will be felt from conference expansion run much deeper than that. All sports will be welcoming the new members and future rivals. To Quick Facts: Maryland Location: College Park, Md. Miles From Washington, D.C.: 10 Year Founded: 1856 Enrollment: 26,826 undergraduate, 10,805 postgraduate Years In ACC: 1954-2014 National Championships Won: 35 Notable Alumni: David Simon, creator of "The Wire"; Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google.com (other cofounder, Larry Page, is a Michigan graduate); newswoman Connie Chung; Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Carl Bernstein; former NFL quarterback and CBS commentator Boomer Esiason. U.S. News Academic Ranking: 55 Quick Facts: Rutgers Location: Piscataway, N.J. Miles From New York City: 35 Year Founded: 1766 Enrollment: 42,327 undergraduate, 14,541 postgraduate Years In Big East: 1991-2014 National Championships Won: 4 Notable Alumni: Ford Motors vice president Mark Fields; James Gandolfini, actor who portrayed Tony Soprano on "The Sopranos"; Washington Nationals pitcher Jason Bergmann; former North Carolina State basketball coach Jim Valvano; Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice. U.S. News Academic Ranking: 61 see how the Terrapins and Scarlet Knights will change the Big Ten, The Wolverine sat down with Michigan's head coaches from five non-revenue sports to talk about expansion. Women's Basketball The addition of Rutgers and Maryland will have a profound, and immediate, impact on women's basketball in nearly every aspect of the game. On the court, both incoming programs boast both historical and recent success. The Scarlet Knights have been to the NCAA Tournament in 14 of the last 15 years, including a title game appearance in 2007, and 22 times since 1986. Head coach C. Vivian Stringer was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Hall Of Fame in 2009. The Terrapins have been to the Elite Eight three times in the last five years and have won at least one game in the NCAA Tournament in all but one season since 2004. In 2006, they won the program's first and only NCAA championship, defeating No. 1 Duke 78‑75 in overtime of the title game. "You tell anyone in the country about adding Rutgers and Maryland, and the Big Ten stock immediately rises," Michigan head coach Kim Barnes Arico said. "From a recruiting standpoint to a prestige standpoint, you talk to anyone in the WBCA or anyone who knows anything about women's basketball, and they are going to say: 'Oh my goodness, that league just took off.' It really affects us. "Hands down, this brings our conference — which I think was already the best in the country — to, without question, the top. It's two top‑10 programs." Barnes Arico has a unique perspective on the addition of the East Coast teams — specifically Rutgers — having spent the previous 10 years of her U-M head coach Kim Barnes Arico believes that the addtiton of Maryland and Rutgers solidifies the Big Ten's standing as the top women's basketball league in the nation. photo by per kjeldsen career as the head coach at Big East member St. John's, one of the Scarlet Knights' biggest rivals. "When it happened, I was like, 'Wow.' I thought I got away from Rutgers for a little bit," she said. "They were our rivals back at St. John's. In the Big East, you played everyone once and two teams twice. We had the honor of playing Rutgers twice — we beat them the last four times." Wrestling As if the Big Ten wasn't already the most dominant league in the country, the conference is adding two solid programs. All 14 Big Ten teams sponsor wrestling, which — when Maryland and Rutgers jump on board — will make it the deepest and most difficult conference to navigate at the Division I level. January 2013    the wolverine  67

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