In all honesty, I think Maryland & Rutgers could be sleeping giants in football and basketball if they could only lock down a third of the top talent that comes from their home territory. I've heard and read that many of the old guard B1G fans aren't that excited about the two eastern schools being added from a competitive standpoint... Okay, that's fair. But I just wanted to put it out there that as far as potential for developing some monsters out east... we got some good ones. If you take a look at the talent that comes out of NoVA, DC, Baltimore, Philly, NYC from a Basketball perspective... off the charts!!! The ACC and old Big East (RIP) build IMO the best basketball leagues for the past 30 years with that talent base. Maryland is a lot closer to being elite than Rutgers in basketball and Rutgers probably needs a new arena before anyone will take them serious, but just from an availability of local talent... the location of these two to hoops is akin to what LA is for football talent for USC & UCLA.
Football talent is also bountiful in these areas. Penn State has built there program on the east coast. They cherry pick DC/MD/VA and Jersey like nobodies business. Now I'm not saying that overnight that'll change, but if you could get some good coaches that can recruit locally (what an idea)... they could turn those programs around.

The only thing that gives me pause is having to compete with NFL franchises. I can't prove it, but as a general observation I think that wherever the NFL is, college football doesn't thrive. Pittsburgh, Miami, SMU, Temple, Boston College, Minnesota, Northwestern, Maryland, Rutgers, Houston... all examples of college teams that regardless of history don't fill up a stadium like they should. They may even have very successful seasons but the rabidness of the fans seems to be lacking in terms of football.

To overcome the NFL handicap they both have huge alumni bases and will have big names coming to town but the key is to keep at least a third of your elite home talent at home!!!

Nice post! It's true that Rutgers doesn't have a huge die hard football fanbase like a school without 3 NFL teams to compete with does. However, the core 20K or so are as rabid as any out there.

Being bookended by the Eagles on one end and the Giants and Jets on the other makes it a tough sell to get fans excited about college ball especially if the competition doesn't move the needle either. But being in the B1G East and playing Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan, and Maryland every year probably helps considerably. If I were doing schedules I'd try to make sure Rutgers keeps Syracuse and UConn on the schedule. That is one thing I think PSU made a mistake with when they joined the big ten. People care about local rivalries so I think its wise to keep them going instead of playing some MAC or Sun Belt team.
I also am not convinced that Flood is getting it done on the recruiting front. Granted there was a lot of poop that hit the fan since the announcement of the move to the B1G so it was expected that he would lose a few... it just felt like the 3rd or 4th best class in the conference got raided by anyone that came knocking. He deserves another year or 2 and from a recent article I read, Rutgers is not in a financial position to pay big money to a coachign staff yet, but if Flood can't lock down Jersey, Philly, NYC, and Delaware... you've gotta get someone who can.

THX! Big Ron ... TERPS recruiting looks pretty promising at this point and I still feel we could be the big surprise next season ... gotta play to win so we will see but I think it will be a fun and interesting year for everyone!

(03-11-2014 09:42 AM)PIRATE TERP Wrote:  THX! Big Ron ... TERPS recruiting looks pretty promising at this point and I still feel we could be the big surprise next season ... gotta play to win so we will see but I think it will be a fun and interesting year for everyone!

PirateTerp, it's rare to find both an ECU and UMD fan. Did you attend both schools or are you a transplant one way or the other?

(03-11-2014 09:42 AM)PIRATE TERP Wrote:  THX! Big Ron ... TERPS recruiting looks pretty promising at this point and I still feel we could be the big surprise next season ... gotta play to win so we will see but I think it will be a fun and interesting year for everyone!

I wouldn't put it past the Terps to have a good season, but I think the B1G East is gonna end up being like the SEC West. Ohio State and Sparty will duke it out for the division crown. After those 2, I think it's wide open. Franklin will get the fightin Joe Pa's going but they have limited depth. Hoke and his "Ohio" remarks can go to hell but they are gonna be desparate and dangerous, so be careful but I think you can knock them off. Indiana may not have a defense but their offense is very Big12ish. Rutgers will be tossup. So I could see finishing anywhere from 3rd to 6th in division.

So Ohio doesn't like to be called Ohio? Maybe they should adjust that cute little cursive writing thing they do at football games to make sure people know what they want to be called.

(03-12-2014 07:31 PM)gobluebigjon Wrote:  So Ohio doesn't like to be called Ohio? Maybe they should adjust that cute little cursive writing thing they do at football games to make sure people know what they want to be called.

Confusing, isn't it? The fight song, script Ohio. And:



"But don't call us 'Ohio'"

(03-12-2014 08:42 PM)SeaBlue Wrote:  

(03-12-2014 07:31 PM)gobluebigjon Wrote:  So Ohio doesn't like to be called Ohio? Maybe they should adjust that cute little cursive writing thing they do at football games to make sure people know what they want to be called.

Confusing, isn't it? The fight song, script Ohio. And:



"But don't call us 'Ohio'"

hahahaha,

Now that's some funny sh*t

(03-12-2014 08:21 AM)Hitch Wrote:  

(03-11-2014 09:42 AM)PIRATE TERP Wrote:  THX! Big Ron ... TERPS recruiting looks pretty promising at this point and I still feel we could be the big surprise next season ... gotta play to win so we will see but I think it will be a fun and interesting year for everyone!

PirateTerp, it's rare to find both an ECU and UMD fan. Did you attend both schools or are you a transplant one way or the other?

born in Balto and now live near Greensboro ... daughter is ECU grad 2012 now teaching middle school

(03-13-2014 04:58 PM)PIRATE TERP Wrote:  

(03-12-2014 08:21 AM)Hitch Wrote:  

(03-11-2014 09:42 AM)PIRATE TERP Wrote:  THX! Big Ron ... TERPS recruiting looks pretty promising at this point and I still feel we could be the big surprise next season ... gotta play to win so we will see but I think it will be a fun and interesting year for everyone!

PirateTerp, it's rare to find both an ECU and UMD fan. Did you attend both schools or are you a transplant one way or the other?

born in Balto and now live near Greensboro ... daughter is ECU grad 2012 now teaching middle school

Glad to have you in the fold!

(03-14-2014 08:34 AM)Hitch Wrote:  

(03-13-2014 04:58 PM)PIRATE TERP Wrote:  

(03-12-2014 08:21 AM)Hitch Wrote:  

(03-11-2014 09:42 AM)PIRATE TERP Wrote:  THX! Big Ron ... TERPS recruiting looks pretty promising at this point and I still feel we could be the big surprise next season ... gotta play to win so we will see but I think it will be a fun and interesting year for everyone!

PirateTerp, it's rare to find both an ECU and UMD fan. Did you attend both schools or are you a transplant one way or the other?

Good to be here! ... looking forward to a totally different atmosphere!
born in Balto and now live near Greensboro ... daughter is ECU grad 2012 now teaching middle school

Glad to have you in the fold!

It's almost more stupid than them calling you guys TSUN.

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(03-14-2014 10:06 AM)DexterDevil Wrote:  It's almost more stupid than them calling you guys TSUN.

Posted from my mobile device using the CSNbbs App

??? ... whatya mean? ... don't get it ...

(03-14-2014 10:06 AM)DexterDevil Wrote:  It's almost more stupid than them calling you guys TSUN.

Posted from my mobile device using the CSNbbs App

Maybe you prefer the University of Ohio State?

(03-14-2014 10:25 AM)PIRATE TERP Wrote:  

(03-14-2014 10:06 AM)DexterDevil Wrote:  It's almost more stupid than them calling you guys TSUN.

Posted from my mobile device using the CSNbbs App

??? ... whatya mean? ... don't get it ...

Ohio State fans have a stupid name "the school up north" for Michigan and Michigan fans call OSU by its real name "The Ohio State University".

Posted from my mobile device using the CSNbbs App

(03-15-2014 10:36 AM)DexterDevil Wrote:  

(03-14-2014 10:25 AM)PIRATE TERP Wrote:  

(03-14-2014 10:06 AM)DexterDevil Wrote:  It's almost more stupid than them calling you guys TSUN.

Posted from my mobile device using the CSNbbs App

??? ... whatya mean? ... don't get it ...

Ohio State fans have a stupid name "the school up north" for Michigan and Michigan fans call OSU by its real name "The Ohio State University".

Posted from my mobile device using the CSNbbs App

thx DD ... guess we are the school over there .. TSOT ... lmao

(03-15-2014 11:08 AM)PIRATE TERP Wrote:  

(03-15-2014 10:36 AM)DexterDevil Wrote:  

(03-14-2014 10:25 AM)PIRATE TERP Wrote:  

(03-14-2014 10:06 AM)DexterDevil Wrote:  It's almost more stupid than them calling you guys TSUN.

Posted from my mobile device using the CSNbbs App

??? ... whatya mean? ... don't get it ...

Ohio State fans have a stupid name "the school up north" for Michigan and Michigan fans call OSU by its real name "The Ohio State University".

Posted from my mobile device using the CSNbbs App

thx DD ... guess we are the school over there .. TSOT ... lmao

I'll call you guys the Derps lol

Posted from my mobile device using the CSNbbs App

(03-09-2014 11:59 PM)Big Ron Buckeye Wrote:  Being bookended by the Eagles on one end and the Giants and Jets on the other makes it a tough sell to get fans excited about college ball especially if the competition doesn't move the needle either. But being in the B1G East and playing Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan, and Maryland every year probably helps considerably. If I were doing schedules I'd try to make sure Rutgers keeps Syracuse and UConn on the schedule. That is one thing I think PSU made a mistake with when they joined the big ten. People care about local rivalries so I think its wise to keep them going instead of playing some MAC or Sun Belt team.
I also am not convinced that Flood is getting it done on the recruiting front. Granted there was a lot of poop that hit the fan since the announcement of the move to the B1G so it was expected that he would lose a few... it just felt like the 3rd or 4th best class in the conference got raided by anyone that came knocking. He deserves another year or 2 and from a recent article I read, Rutgers is not in a financial position to pay big money to a coachign staff yet, but if Flood can't lock down Jersey, Philly, NYC, and Delaware... you've gotta get someone who can.

I know this is late, but at the end of last season Rutgers was close to firing Flood. Former Ohio St. coach (Tressel) flew out to met with Rutgers reps. They were willing to give him $2 million+. There was some infighting between some key boosters who killed the deal. They wanted a younger coach with some BCS experience. You better believe Flood is on the clock this year and needs to win at least 6 just be in position to keep his job. Btw, Rutgers is just cheap, but they had no problem paying Ralph Friedgen $600K a year for 3 years as the OC. Flood is good OL coach and a nice man, but he's not cut out to be a head coach. Local were starting to run to Rutgers under Schiano, but they don't respect Flood in the same way.

What you should know about Rutgers and NJ:
Rutgers tries too hard to please the political leaders in Trenton who want total control of the school, yet they give little (less than 20%) to the cost of running a school. Rutgers is finally going to the boosters for support. Bottom line NJ is different from other states in that politicians bleed everyone and everything in the state and still have the balls to smile in your face while saying at the same time what a wonderful job they are doing. NJ has always been behind the 8-ball when it comes to funding higher education. Now K-12 is near the tops in the country in funding, but the lack of support once in college explains why NJ export more students to colleges outside its borders. NJ was cutting funding to state universities and college long before it became fashionable. Rutgers receives less funding now than they did in the 90s.

(03-15-2014 10:36 AM)DexterDevil Wrote:  Ohio State fans have a stupid name "the school up north" for Michigan ...

That's from the Ten Year War ... starting from before I was paying attention, Woody would refuse to say the name of That School Up North in public.

Weird traditions are weird, but that's college football.