The University of Maryland will join the Big Ten Conference, ending a nearly six-decade affiliation with the Atlantic Coast Conference, in a move university leaders believe will provide financial stability to an athletic department that has recently found itself in tumult. Following negotiations through the weekend, the school’s Board of Regents approved a proposal to join the Big Ten on Monday morning. The conference formally and unanimously accepted. Maryland’s move to the Big Ten will begin in the 2014-15 school year. "We just got the faxed approval letter," a Maryland official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.