Check this article out. Is Penn State longing to re-join their eastern brothers ? This article discusses all sorts of what ifs.

http://www.centredaily.com/sports/colleg...58847.html

"Had [Paterno] had his way then, Boston College and Virginia Tech, along with Maryland, would be members of the Big East now."

Maryland is not, nor has ever been, in play regarding the Big East. It's an ACC school, plain and simple. It's about as likely as LSU joining the Big 12.

DFW HOYA Wrote:"Had [Paterno] had his way then, Boston College and Virginia Tech, along with Maryland, would be members of the Big East now."

Maryland is not, nor has ever been, in play regarding the Big East. It's an ACC school, plain and simple. It's about as likely as LSU joining the Big 12.

Agreed in terms of the late 80s onward.

I'm not convinced that was true in the late 70s and early 80s when Paterno claimed to have Maryland 'on board' for an all-sports northeastern league. The ACC certainly wasn't anything like it is now in terms of prestige at that point in time, even in terms of basketball.

Of course, we do only have Paterno's claims in this regard.

Cheers,
Neil

omnicarrier Wrote:

DFW HOYA Wrote:"Had [Paterno] had his way then, Boston College and Virginia Tech, along with Maryland, would be members of the Big East now."

Maryland is not, nor has ever been, in play regarding the Big East. It's an ACC school, plain and simple. It's about as likely as LSU joining the Big 12.

Agreed in terms of the late 80s onward.

I'm not convinced that was true in the late 70s and early 80s when Paterno claimed to have Maryland 'on board' for an all-sports northeastern league. The ACC certainly wasn't anything like it is now in terms of prestige at that point in time, even in terms of basketball.

Of course, we do only have Paterno's claims in this regard.

Cheers,
Neil

Plus Maryland was always a redheaded stepchild compared to the Virginia-NC/SC schools brigade. Even now I think they are nearly as much of an afterthought in the decision making process as BC is/will be. They were definitely ready to bolt to start a new northeastern league with the 7 eastern independents. Over time, Louisville, Cincy, UConn, and Va Tech would have been added I'd guess.

Maryland was definitely in the discussions Penn State, BC, Syracuse, Pitt, WVU, and a few other eastern schools had 40 years ago. They had the chance then to make a great eastern all-sports conference, but self-interest on almost everybody's part killed that idea before it had a chance.

bitcruncher Wrote:Maryland was definitely in the discussions Penn State, BC, Syracuse, Pitt, WVU, and a few other eastern schools had 40 years ago. They had the chance then to make a great eastern all-sports conference, but self-interest on almost everybody's part killed that idea before it had a chance.

Mostly what killed it was Paterno's insistence that revenue from all sports be shared except football. So basically PSU wanted a share of other schools BB revenue without offering anything in return. Joepa wasn't going to share any of PSU's money, but he wanted the other school to share theirs. PSU has never made money at BB. All their programs except women's BB are funded from the FB revenues.

JoePa wasn't alone. BC and Syracuse found convenient excuses to remain independent not related to the question of football monies. These differences eventually led to those 2 schools joining the new Big East May 31, 1979, instead of the Eastern 8, (Atlantic 10) which had Duquesne, George Washington, Massachusetts, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Villanova, and West Virginia as charter members March 2, 1975. Had BC and Syracuse joined the Eastern 8 at time of its formation, Maryland would have come along. That's 7 good football programs and a couple of schools, with some guidance and monetary assistance, could have easily made the transition to Division 1A in those days.

Pitt later jumped to the Big East when it formed. I think it was related to difficulties between Pitt and Penn State. But Pitt and Penn State will always had difficulties, mostly related to Pitt's feeling of inferiority to THE Pennsylavania State University.