Coach K rips Maryland's Big Ten move, realignment trend
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski has been critical of recent conference realignment. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski criticized recent conference realignment and said the ACC's departing Maryland Terrapins will be "outsiders" when they move to the Big Ten in 2014.
On his satellite radio show Tuesday, Krzyzewski praised college sports rivalries that have long provided value to the ACC and other conferences, and bemoaned the end of annual traditions such as Duke-Maryland, Texas-Texas A&M and Syracuse-Georgetown resulting from conference realignment.
"For us, we have a good brand at Duke University, but we also have a good brand because we've been in the ACC. We benefit from that brand. And people who have gone to school here, played sports here, they are not only Duke people; they're ACC people.
"And when you give that up, what price is that? "What does that do? The fact that they'll never be a Duke-Maryland game again. There may never be a Texas-Texas A&M game again, a Syracuse-Georgetown game again. Those schools aren't gonna schedule one another. I mean, that's not gonna happen. And in Maryland's case, that's the only conference they've known. And they're right in the middle of the ACC. And now their fans, they don't have a place. They're outsiders. They really are outsiders. What price? What price is paid for that?"
Krzyzewski's comments will likely irk many Maryland fans who believe the Terps have long been treated like outsiders by Duke, North Carolina, North Carolina State and other ACC schools located along Tobacco Road.
