and Maryland, while not "big names" automatically guarantee Big10 Tier 1 tv rights in NYC and the DC metro area.

This was how the original contract was and may have changed now with streaming. What that means is by getting Rutgers, the Big10 network jumped into cable basic subscriptions in the NYC market (not an add-on) and the Big 10 got X amount of money per year automatically for each subscription.

It did not matter what kind of ratings they pulled so for example Rice, under the original model, would have pulled in the entire Houston market and been a more valuable add on than a team like Auburn, that has a great history, but is in a smaller college town/tv market.