Women’s basketball will host Syracuse in B1G-ACC Challenge

On a recent broadcast of Terp Talk, host Bruce Posner talked about his excitement over the upcoming season for Maryland men’s basketball. Understandably so. The men’s team is loaded with talent and potential and has been installed by some wise guys in Las Vegas as the early favorite to capture the NCAA title.

On the first of December, Maryland will travel to take on North Carolina in the B1G-ACC Challenge. Exactly one week later, the Terps will travel to Madison Square Garden to face the Connecticut Huskies in the 21st Jimmy V Classic. And, of course, Maryland will host Georgetown as part of the Gavitt Tipoff on November 17th.

And I’m excited for all that, too. But I also follow the Maryland women’s team with some passion and conviction and the Big Ten and ACC have a women’s basketball challenge as well. This year’s B1G-ACC Challenge will happen on December 2nd and 3rd. After traveling to Fort Wayne to face Notre Dame last year, Maryland will be one of two B1G schools to host a game on the first night of the Challenge when the Syracuse Orange come to Xfinity Center in College Park.

Indiana will host Georgia Tech that night. All the other B1G teams in action on the first night will be on the road. The script will flip for the Thursday games when the Big Ten will host five and the ACC two. Clemson is the 2015 designated ACC wallflower.

Looking to start a new streak

Maryland played in seven ACC-B1G Challenges as a member of the ACC. When the Terps bolted for the Big Ten, they were the only team from either conference to carry a perfect 7-0 record. In the B1G-ACC Challenge, the Terps are 0-1.

Maryland had the unenviable task of representing their new conference against Notre Dame – a team that danced a jig through an undefeated first season in the ACC and that would advance to the national championship game before losing to UConn.

The Terps might have thought they received a bit of a break when a scheduling conflict forced the game to relocate to Ft. Wayne from South Bend. It didn’t matter. Barely eight minutes into the game, the Fighting Irish had sprinted to a double digit lead that ballooned to as much as 33 before a late Maryland run generated a deceptively “close” 92-72 final. Of course, the Terps didn’t lose again until their Final Four game against UConn.

In 2015, Maryland will look to start a new winning streak this time as a member of the Big Ten. The Terrapins’ hoped for victim will be the Syracuse Orange a team Maryland handily defeated twice in the one year they overlapped conferences.

Maryland is 4-0 all-time against Syracuse with the first two wins dating back to the 1980s when Chris Weller served as head coach.  This game might not have the cachet of hosting Duke or North Carolina, or even two of the other ACC newcomers Notre Dame or Louisville, it doesn’t project as a game the Terps or their fans should take lightly. Syracuse has made three straight NCAA Tournament appearances and has won at least 22 games in each of the past six seasons.

While the Orange are not necessarily the marquee match up one might expect, they are a quality team that has been on the rise under the leadership of Quentin Hillsman having made those three straight NCAA Tournament appearances. Still, I can’t help but wonder if the scheduling of Notre Dame last year and then Syracuse rather than a traditional ACC foe this year has more to it than mere coincidence.

 

Other Maryland Sports, Todd Carton
There is One Response to this Post
  1. Tisha

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    Reply ·   11/12/2019

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