Apparently despite the sneaky nature of their departure in which not just the ACC but Maryland's own public disclosure laws were ignored, the ACC is supposed to even now salve Terrapin pride and stoke the collective ego. This from the Testudo Times after the ACC women's basketball schedule was announced, and the public learned that Duke, UNC and State would not be going to College Park:
This latest scheduling announcement is just another example of how vindictive the ACC has become when it comes to Maryland's last season in the conference. If it was just football or just basketball, it would be one thing, but doing this across the three major sports is clearly a calculated effort by the All Carolina Conference to do whatever they can, within their power, to make the school's last season in the conference miserable. Don't forget, by keeping the ACC blue bloods out of College Park, the conference is also hurting Maryland's attendance and revenue, as the Duke game was often the largest crowd of the season and even sold out several times.
Well, look: what does Maryland owe the ACC? $50+million. What does the ACC owe Maryland at this point?
Nada.
The ACC didn't ask them to leave; far from it. Losing a founding member was painful for the rest of the conference, but that's their decision; the ACC will move on with Louisville, a school which is better than Maryland in basketball, football, women's basketball and almost everything else, not least of all administrative intelligence and basic fiduciary responsibilities.
We're guessing they'll whine up until the end and probably afterwards too. At least then it won't be ACC news anymore.