Well that certainly didn't take long. For the seemingly brief 12-16 hours of so it appeared that Georgia Tech might be an alternative to Rutgers, ESPN's Brett McMurphy reported Monday afternoon that Rutgers was, in fact, going to be the Big Ten's 14th team, thus, in theory, delivering the vaunted New York City market to the Big Ten (and their Big Ten Network):
Rutgers will announce move to Big Ten on Tuesday, sources told ESPN
Now becomes much scrutiny and second guessing. Do Maryland and Rutgers really add enough to justify what will surely be a high price tag (particularly in Maryland's case)? Though Rutgers is more on the up and up from a football perspective, they certainly don't add a ton from a men's basketball perspective. Many Big Ten (and Ohio State fans for that matter) would've certainly liked splashier additions, but in terms of dollars and where alumni reside, they certainly could've done worse.
UPDATE: Per a report at The Star-Ledger, Rutgers is expected to accept an invitation to the Big Ten Monday and will announce the decision as early as Tuesday. Perhaps most interestingly about the report is this bit about the unilateral powers of athletic director Tim Pernetti:
When the invitation comes, Tim Pernetti, Rutgers' athletic director, has the power to accept without waiting for authorization from the school's board of governors.
The report also goes on to state that the school would hope to join the Big Ten by 2014 but that Rutgers could try to follow the path previously paved by Syracuse, Pittsburgh, and West Virginia in their respective negotiated early exits from the Big East.