The Maryland Athletics Department is in a significant amount of debt, and in an attempt to manage it, the school will cut eight of their varisty teams, according to President Wallace Loh via this tweet from Eric Prisbell of the Washington Post. The decisions follows a recommendation made by a university commission that suggested the following varsity teams be cut:
- Men's swimming and diving
- Women's swimming and diving
- Men's indoor track and field
- Men's outdoor track and field
- Men's cross-country
- Men's tennis
- Women's water polo
- Aerobics and tumbling
Loh said he would give those teams the opportunity to raise the money needed to cover eight years of total program costs. Barring that remote possibility, those teams will cease playing as varsity teams after 2012.
The move, done because the Terps face a $4.7 million budget gap for the next fiscal year that is expected to continue growing unless something is done, means that Maryland will have only 19 varsity sports teams.
For more on the Terps' budget situation, visit Testudo Times.