[yvonne]

Maryland will bring in more viewers from around the rest of the state, particularly Baltimore, which is No. 27 in the country. (I admit to knowing zilch of Rutgers' TV potential.) It still may not be a good deal for the existing Big 10 members. I remain skeptical of these geographically far-flung new conferences.

Rutgers is kind of weird because New Jersey is kind of weird. Even though the state can be traversed in a couple of hours, people there think of themselves as living in North Jersey, Central Jersey, and South Jersey, (and sometimes simply North Jersey and South Jersey), with the borders of those entities changing depending on where on is. Some interest in Rutgers has increased since it because decent in football, but much of it is still true. People in the northern part of the state think of themselves as aligned to either New York or Philadelphia. I think the dividing line is Mercer County. Those who align themselves with New York have begun interest in Rutgers in the last 10-15 years. The southern part of the state is by and large Penn State country. Note that I was last in New Jersey last April, and hadn't been there in more than 8 years before that, so my information is not that deep.

[yvonne]

Maryland will bring in more viewers from around the rest of the state, particularly Baltimore, which is No. 27 in the country. (I admit to knowing zilch of Rutgers' TV potential.) It still may not be a good deal for the existing Big 10 members. I remain skeptical of these geographically far-flung new conferences.

Rutgers is kind of weird because New Jersey is kind of weird. Even though the state can be traversed in a couple of hours, people there think of themselves as living in North Jersey, Central Jersey, and South Jersey, (and sometimes simply North Jersey and South Jersey), with the borders of those entities changing depending on where on is. Some interest in Rutgers has increased since it because decent in football, but much of it is still true. People in the northern part of the state think of themselves as aligned to either New York or Philadelphia. I think the dividing line is Mercer County. Those who align themselves with New York have begun interest in Rutgers in the last 10-15 years. The southern part of the state is by and large Penn State country. Note that I was last in New Jersey last April, and hadn't been there in more than 8 years before that, so my information is not that deep.