The University of Maryland has decided to join the B1G. It’s rumored that Rutgers is following suit tomorrow, but in the interest of not jumping the gun, let’s just roll with some information on the University of Maryland.

Location:
College Park, MD

Driving Distance from current B1G Members (courtesy Google Maps):

Illinois – 712 mi, 12 hours 18 mins
Indiana – 641 mi, 11 hours 11 mins
Iowa – 906 mi, 15 hours 34 mins
Michigan – 523 mi, 9 hours 17 mins
Michigan State – 588 mi, 10 hours 24 mins
Minnesota – 1,104 mi, 19 hours 33 mins
Nebraska – 1,205 mi, 20 hours 25 mins
Northwestern – 713 mi, 12 hours 49 mins
Ohio State – 421 mi, 7 hours 27 mins
Penn State – 200 mi, 3 hours 52 mins
Purdue – 653 mi, 11 hours 26 mins
Wisconsin – 844 mi, 15 hours 9 mins

Founded:

1856 – Maryland is the largest university in the state and in the Washington Metropolitan Area. Much like all but one member of its new conference, Maryland is a member of the Association of American Universities. They were a founding member of the Atlantic Coast Conference athletic league.

» Continue reading “B1G Fans – Get To Know Maryland”

The Big Ten has this to look forward to in 2014.

Rumors have been flying all weekend, and now it’s official: the University of Maryland will join the Big Ten Conference effective July 1, 2014.

Competition in all sports will begin in the 2014-15 academic year. According to the release, “The University of Maryland also looks forward to joining the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), a consortium of world-class research institutions dedicated to advancing their academic missions.” Just so we don’t forget that the Big Ten likes to boast that academics are also important.

 “Today is a watershed moment for the University of Maryland,” said university president Dr. Wallace D. Loh.  “Membership in the Big Ten Conference is in the strategic interest of the University of Maryland. It will not only ensure the financial vitality of Maryland Athletics for decades to come, but the extensive opportunities in the CIC for collaborations with our peer AAU and flagship universities in education, research, and innovation will boost the University of Maryland’s ascendancy in academic excellence.”

In order for an institution to be admitted to the Big Ten Conference, it must submit a written application, which must then be approved by at least 70 percent of the Big Ten COP/C.  The University of Maryland formally submitted an application to join the Big Ten Conference Monday morning. The Big Ten COP/C then met via conference call and unanimously approved UMD’s application.

“The Big Ten Conference is excited to welcome the University of Maryland beginning with the 2014-15 academic year,” said Big Ten Commissioner James E. Delany. “Maryland is a tradition-rich institution with a history of academic and athletic excellence. They’re a great fit and we look forward to a great future.”

Word is that Rutgers will also be joining the Big Ten tomorrow. Maryland and Rutgers will both be in the Leaders division, while Illinois will be scooted over to the Legends category to balance everything out.

I feel like it was just yesterday that the conference SWORE they weren’t interested in adding any more schools after Nebraska, but I guess that wasn’t true. With DC and New York TV markets coming along with Rutgers and Maryland, I can see why it was hard for the conference to say no. I thought maybe Notre Dame would be the only exception, but I guess not.

The Big Ten will probably still be called the Big Ten, even though there will be 14 teams in the conference.

Kentucky is still basking in the glow of their National Championship win, but the rest of us have already started thinking about next year’s basketball season. One indication that we’re moving forward: the matchups have been set for the 14th annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge Presented by DICK’S Sporting Goods on Nov. 27-28.

All 12 games will be featured on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU, and the programs will be playing for conference bragging rights and the Commissioners Cup.

The 2012 Challenge involves nine teams ranked in an ESPN.com early preseason top 25, which as we all know means next to nothing. Tons of things could occur between now and October, but I would be remiss not to list the rankings associated with the ACC and B1G teams, five of which are in the top 10: No. 1 Indiana, No. 5 Michigan, No. 6 NC State, No. 8 Ohio State and No. 9 Michigan State. The only thing that might be accurate is that four out of five come from the Big Ten, but I’m not biased or anything.

The ACC won the first 10 Challenges while the Big Ten captured the Commissioner Cup for the last three years, including an eight to four win advantage over the ACC last year. In the event of a 6-6 tie, the Commissioner’s Cup will remain with the conference that won the previous year. In case you’re not following, that means it stays with the Big Ten.

2012 Challenge Fun Facts:

- Duke, which has won 11 of its 13 Challenge games, will host Ohio State in the quest for an event-record 12th victory. Duke lost to Ohio State last year and to Wisconsin in 2009.

- Four of the games will feature first-time Challenge matchups: Virginia at No. 22 Wisconsin, Maryland at Northwestern, No. 9 Michigan State at Miami and Georgia Tech at Illinois.

- In addition to first-time Challenge games, several of the teams are infrequent opponents: Michigan State and Miami have never met; Northwestern and Maryland played one other time, a Northwestern victory in 1958; Virginia and Wisconsin split its two games, Virginia in 1975 and Wisconsin in 1999; and Illinois has defeated Georgia Tech in six of its seven games, including the last one in 2001.

- Eleven teams between the two conferences played in the 2012 NCAA Tournament: Duke, Florida State, North Carolina, NC State and Virginia from the ACC, and Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue and Wisconsin from the Big Ten.

- Boston College and Penn State and Nebraska and Wake Forest will follow first-time Challenge meetings with a second consecutive matchup.

- Five of the games will mark three-time Challenge matchups: North Carolina at Indiana (Indiana win in 2001 and North Carolina in 2004), NC State at Michigan (Michigan win in 2003 and NC State in 2006), Ohio State at Duke (Duke win in 2002 and Ohio State in 2011), Iowa at Virginia Tech (won by Virginia Tech in 2006 and 2009) and Purdue at Clemson (Purdue win in 2003 and Clemson in 2007).

- Three and one more: Minnesota and Florida State will meet for the fourth time (Minnesota won in 2000 and Florida State in 2004 and 2007).

2012 ACC/Big Ten Challenge schedule:

Tue, Nov 27

No. 13 North Carolina at No. 1 Indiana

No. 6 NC State at No. 5 Michigan

No. 25 Minnesota at Florida State

Maryland at Northwestern

Iowa at Virginia Tech

Nebraska at Wake Forest

Wed, Nov 28

No. 8 Ohio State at No. 15 Duke

Virginia at No. 22 Wisconsin

No. 9 Michigan State at Miami

Purdue at Clemson

Georgia Tech at Illinois

Quarterfinal Friday got underway at noon ET in the ACC Tournament as the top-seed North Carolina took on Maryland. UNC pulled away late to win, 85-69. The win may have been costly for the Tarheels, as John Henson hurt his wrist and will be a game-time decision for Saturday.

UNC led by ten at the half, but back-to-back three pointers from Reggie Bullock increased their lead. Maryland did cut the deficit down to seven points a few times, but couldn’t get any closer.

Maryland was out-rebounded 41-34 and allowed UNC to shoot over 50% from the field.

Terrell Stoglin of Maryland led all scorers with 30 points, but teammates Nick Faust and Sean Mosley made just 6-of-24 shots. For the Tarheels, four players scored in double-figures with Kendall Marshall contributing a double-double: 13 points and 12 assists.

» Continue reading “ACC Tournament Quarterfinals Recap”

The ACC Tournament got underway on Thursday with first round action beginning at noon ET.

The day started with the 8-9 matchup between Maryland and Wake Forest, with the winner moving on to play top-seed North Carolina on Friday.

Maryland ended the first half on a 9-3 run to take a 36-31 halftime lead. The Terrapins carried that momentum into the second half, as they opened on a 15-4 run. They never looked back en route to their 82-60 victory.

Maryland out-rebounded WF 39-24 and they out-scored WF 44-28 in the paint. They also shot 54% from the field.

The ACC’s leading scorer, Terrell Stoglin, was unhappy about not being named to the All-ACC first team. Many said it was because he takes too many bad shots and he isn’t team-oriented. Stoglin took that to heart, especially in the first half (he had just five points prior to Maryland’s run to end the half). He finished with 25 points and made 4-of-5 shots in the second half. Nick Faust totaled 19 points and James Padgett added ten for the Terps.

Wake only had three players score in the first half: CJ Harris (13 points), Travis McKie (nine points), and Nikita Mescheriakov (nine points). That continued in the second half, as those three combined for 52 of Wake’s 60 points. However Harris only scored one point in the second half.

» Continue reading “ACC Tournament First Round Recap”

The ACC Tournament gets underway with first round action on Thursday at the Philips Arena in Atlanta. North Carolina won the regular season title and own the top seed. The top four seeds (UNC, Duke, Florida State, and Virginia) received a bye to Quarterfinal Friday.

*The 8-9 matchup opens up first round action at noon ET. Maryland will face Wake Forest. Maryland beat WF back in January. The Terrapins didn’t play well to finish the season, as they lost three in a row. WF lost three of their last four games.

Players to Watch: Maryland’s Terrell Stoglin leads the ACC in scoring at 21.2 points per game. Wake’s CJ Harris (16.8 PPG) and Travis McKie (15.9 PPG) rank in the conference’s top ten in scoring.

The winner will face UNC to start Quarterfinal Friday (noon ET). Maryland lost to UNC twice, while WF lost once.

*The five-seed NC State (who is sitting on the NCAA bubble) will then face 12th-seeded Boston College. NC State beat BC twice during the regular season. The Wolfpack ended the season winning two in a row, but lost four in a row prior. BC ended the season losing five out of six.

Players to Watch: NC State’s CJ Leslie averages 14.3 PPG and 7.1 rebounds a game. Scott Wood of NC State leads the ACC in three point field goal percentage (41.5%) and he makes at least two 3-pointers a game. BC is led by freshman Ryan Anderson, who averages 10.8 points and 7.2 rebounds a game.

The winner will face UVA in the second game on Quarterfinal Friday. NC State lost to UVA by just one point, while BC lost, 66-49.

» Continue reading “ACC Tournament Preview”

As I was watching the late night Rivalry Game on ESPN2 last night, I watched the scores scrolling across the bottom line. I was shocked at what I saw in women’s college basketball: many of the highlighted teams (the winning teams) were unranked.

Is parody finally coming to women’s college basketball?

Well, not exactly. The top four teams are still more dominant than anyone else. Take number 4 Stanford’s win over Pac-12 opponent USC. They won 69-52 to extend their home court winning streak to 75 games.

Number 5 Duke survived a road test at Boston College, 71-62. What was shocking about Duke’s struggles was how dominant they were against ACC arch-rival North Carolina and how off they were against a team with zero wins in the conference.

Now onto the losses.

What was most disturbing was how these ranked teams lost. Six top 25 teams lost on Thursday night, five of those losses came by double-digits. Four of those losses came on the road.

Division I college basketball (both men’s and women’s) is down to just one unbeaten team and that would be Number 1 Baylor. Baylor will face 14th ranked Texas A&M on Saturday. Murray State lost to Tennessee State on Thursday night on the men’s side, while Green Bay lost on the women’s side. Green Bay lost to a team, Detroit, that has 11 losses and hadn’t won at Green Bay in 15 years. Detroit dominated on the glass (a 47-32 rebounding edge), got to the free throw line more (35 times to Green Bay’s 13), and held Green Bay to just 29.9% shooting. Two players for Detroit, Shareta Brown and Senee Shearer, scored 20+ points in the win.

» Continue reading “Thursday Night Full of Upsets in Women’s College Basketball”