Sad news out of College Park where earlier this week, Athletic Director Kevin Anderson is considering eliminating the Terrapins swimming & diving program. But that might all all the cuts that the Terps athletics department end up cutting. Bob Groseth, executive director of the College Swimming Coaches Association was told that swimming was one of as many as 10 sports identified for possible elimination at Maryland.
The financial situation at Maryland for athletics looks grim.
"Maryland's athletics department is on track to lose $4.7 million this fiscal year. The deficit is projected to more than triple, reaching $17.6 million, within the next five years unless spending is drastically cut, revenues are sharply increased or both."
Maryland currently offers 27 varsity sports, four more than the ACC average (23) and 11 more than the NCAA mandatory minimum for a Division I program (16). The only ACC schools that offer more sports than Maryland are North Carolina (28) and Boston College (31).
BC currently has the largest athletics department in the conference in terms of number of different varsity sports. And while I have no reason to think that the BC athletics department is struggling financially nearly as much as Maryland, the ever intensifying cost-containment pressures aren't unique to College Park and Maryland athletics.
Could Boston College Athletics' financial position worsen over the next couple of years, would the athletics department consider cutting one or more of the school's 31 different varsity programs? Something to keep an eye on.
In my mind, Maryland's current financial situation doesn't completely shut the door on the Terps possible exit from the conference. Should Delany and the Big Ten wake from its expansion slumber, could the conference make a run at Maryland and say, Georgia Tech to expand the conference's reach to the East Coast and the Southeast? Even as a founding member of the conference, Maryland leaving the ACC doesn't seem beyond the realm of possibility when you consider Delany possibly flashing dollar bills in front of Anderson, Kevin Plank and the Maryland athletics department.