Report: Maryland, Rutgers in talks with the Big Ten

• Maryland and Rutgers are in serious negotiations to join the Big Ten, according to an ESPN report
• Adding both teams would give the Big Ten 14 teams in advance of a new media deal in 2017
• One issue for Maryland might be financial, as the ACC has a $50 million buyout to leave the league

Maryland is in serious negotiations to join the Big Ten, according to an ESPN report, and Rutgers is expected to follow suit if the Terrapins opt to leave the Atlantic Coast Conference.

ESPN is reporting that there has been no date set for an announcement, but that it could come as soon as Monday.

If Maryland and Rutgers join the Big Ten, the conference would have 14 teams heading into key broadcasting negotiations in 2017.

The Big Ten has been "itchy" about expanding beyond its current 12-team enrollment since Notre Dame joined the ACC in all sports but football, ESPN reports.

A source told ESPN that "The Big Ten can justify Maryland and then possibly Rutgers since they are all contiguous states to the Big Ten footprint."

One potential sticking point to Maryland's move might be financial, as ESPN reports. After dropping several non-mainstream sports earlier this year, the university would need to pay the ACC a $50 million buyout to leave the conference. The $50 million was part of a renegotiated buyout package instituted by the ACC after Notre Dame joined the league as a non-football member over the summer.

Maryland and Florida State were the only two ACC schools to vote against implementing the $50 million buyout.

The ACC will add Pittsburgh and Syracuse from the Big East in time for the 2013 season. If Maryland leaves before next season, the ACC would have to either add a 14th team or play with unbalanced divisions -- six in one division, seven in the other. ESPN is reporting that if the ACC does fall to 13 teams, the league will likely pursue another member to get back to a 14-team alignment.

The Big East added Temple this offseason to offset losing West Virginia to the Big 12 and will add another six teams in 2013: Memphis, Southern Methodist, Central Florida and Houston from Conference USA, and Boise State and San Diego State from the Mountain West Conference.

Wednesday, Big East presidents approved new divisions, East and West, and added a conference championship. As with the Maryland and the ACC, losing Rutgers to the Big Ten would impact the Big East's divisional split and plans for a conference title game.

The Scarlet Knights would just be the latest university to leave the Big East for another conference. Eight teams have left the league since 2004, including five in the last calendar year -- Pittsburgh, TCU, West Virginia, Syracuse and Notre Dame.

Rutgers and Maryland were charter members of their current conferences, with Rutgers joining the Big East at its inception as a football league in 1991 and Maryland enlisting in the ACC in 1953.