When the realignment craze happened in college sports the Big Ten joined, adding Nebraska in 2011. It was the first team to join the Big Ten since Penn State was added in 1990. The addition of Nebraska gave the Big Ten 12 teams and was widely viewed as a success.
But schools switching conferences was not over and the Big Ten, wanting to expand its geographical reach, added both Maryland and Rutgers in 2014. The Terrapins were a nice addition but the Rutgers add was a headscratcher for the Big Ten.
Until this past men’s basketball season the Scarlet Knights have been pretty much irrelevant in the Big Ten.