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Maryland files (another) lawsuit against the ACC

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Mike Miller

Maryland’s divorce from the ACC seems to be going well:

The state of Maryland has filed a $156.8 million counter-claim against the Atlantic Coast Conference, alleging the conference broke its own rules in an effort to inflate the exit fee it says the University of Maryland must pay for leaving to join the Big Ten Conference.

Maryland is also alleging that after the Terps announced their plan to move to the Big Ten, Wake Forest and Pitt both tried to recruit Big Ten schools to jump ship and head to the ACC.

Conference realignment is fun, isn’t it? Amateur sports, baby!

What this all stems from is that Maryland owes $52.2 million to the ACC as an exit fee for departing the conference after this season. They don’t want to pay the exit fee (obviously). The ACC filed a lawsuit against the school. Maryland countersued in a Maryland court, but a judge ruled that case had to be stayed until they could complete the case the ACC filed in a North Carolina court.

It’s a mess, I know.

Once you get past the legalese, it’s probably going to work like this: Maryland and the ACC will whine and fight their way through a bunch of different courts, eventually settling for a number less than $52.2 million.

Again: Amateur sports, baby!