315 replies to this topic

[You Play to Win the Game]

It isn't and will NEVER be anything close to resembling a football school. Just as a heads up.

[BSLChrisStoner]

It isn't and will NEVER be anything close to resembling a football school. Just as a heads up.

If your point is MD Football will never be anywhere near the #1 sport in the DC / Baltimore area.... completely agree.  Washington Football Team. Ravens. Orioles. Nationals.  Capitals. Wizards. DC United. Terps Basketball.   Lots of competition. 

Also agree that MD will always be more of a basketball school.

But regularly filling out Maryland Stadium (current capacity 51,802) feels possible to me.

If MD gets to the point where they're consistently a Top 25 team... they've got enough fans, they'll be well attended. 

Think 2002...  

 

48k for Akron
52k for Florida State
46k for Eastern Michigan

44k for Wofford
42k for Georgia Tech
53k for NCST
39k for Wake Forest

 

And 2003

 

52k for Citadel
52k for West Virginia
51.5k for Clemson
50k for Duke
51k for North Carolina
51k for Virginia

 

Just for the record, here are the Big Ten games since joining the conference in '14... can argue the interest is lower vs. these Big Ten teams, but MD hasn't been any good either.  Will be interesting to track if MD improves.

 

'14
52k for Ohio State
48k for Iowa
52k for Michigan State
37k for Rutgers

 

'15
52k for Michigan
45k for Wisconsin
34k for Indiana

67k for PSU (in Baltimore)

 

'16
41.5k for Minnesota

41k for Michigan State
48k for Ohio State
30k for Rutgers

 

'17
38k for Northwestern
35k for Indiana
44k for Michigan
50k for Penn State

 

'18
36k for Minnesota
33k for Rutgers
30k for Illinois
32k for Michigan State
38k for Ohio State

 

'19
53k for Penn State
33k for Indiana
41k for Michigan
35k for Nebraska

 

[BSLMikeLowe]

Fans will show up if MD Football is a consistent winner. College football in general is not in the DNA of the DMV, so people need a reason to come out, but they will if you win.

[BSLZackKiesel]

Anyone questioning the potential of Maryland's fanbase is flat-out ignoring the early days of the Friedgen era. University Boulevard was lined with cars hours before kickoff and tailgate lots were packed. They can get back there, they just have to start winning more consistently.

 

They made bowl games in 2013, 2014, and 2016. That trend of more wins and better recruiting likely would've continued if not for how things ended with Durkin. That set things back a few years, but Locksley has a chance to get things back on track and continue that trend.

[You Play to Win the Game]

Fans will show up if MD Football is a consistent winner. College football in general is not in the DNA of the DMV, so people need a reason to come out, but they will if you win.

But they won't, so they won't.

My comment wasn't about Maryland fans. It was about Maryland football. It isn't happening.

And how much did Terps fans care about the 2014 Military Bowl or the 7 win 2014 Foster Farms Bowl or the 2016 Quick Lane Bowl?

[BSLChrisStoner]

But they won't, so they won't.

My comment wasn't about Maryland fans. It was about Maryland football. It isn't happening.

You don't think MD can become a regular Top 25 team?

[You Play to Win the Game]

You don't think MD can become a regular Top 25 team?

They can in the sense that I can shoot an 80 in golf one day. I can. But even if it happens, it's a blip, not a thing. You guys are delusional, no offense. Seriously.

[BSLRoseKatz]

I mean even Ohio State had a decrease in season ticket sales, I just don't think college football in-person is a great viewing experience. If Maryland has a competitive game that's a 3:30 kickoff but LSU-Alabama is also a 3:30 kickoff, are you going to UMD or staying at home for a more optimal way to following both of the games?

 

I went to Maryland-Rutgers in 2016 to see them clinch bowl eligibility, which was fun, but I also missed basically all of an absolute classic OSU-Michigan game happening at the same time. 

[BSLChrisStoner]

They can in the sense that I can shoot an 80 in golf one day. I can. But even if it happens, it's a blip, not a thing. You guys are delusional, no offense. Seriously.

So, you're saying there's a chance. 

Ok, you think MD can occasionally have one off Top 25 seasons, but never become consistently good. 

I guess my take is that if you can have one off Top 25 seasons... it's not crazy to think you can build to a point to sustain that. 

If you stack recruiting classes annually in that Top 20-35 range... and you've got depth in the program...  it's certainly possible, and not some unrealistic possibility. 

Doesn't mean it will ever be easy to: 

 

1) Consistently recruit (even with the talent within 90 minutes of College Park)... 

2) And more importantly consistently win enough games to be a Top 25 program in a division that features Ohio State, Michigan, PSU etc... 

 

But Indiana finished last year ranked 13th in the AP... they're in everyone's Top 25 to begin this year....    if the Hoosiers can be that, so can MD.

[BSLMikeLowe]

The only thing stopping UM from being a consistent Top 25 team is UM. They fired Bobby Ross because Len Bias OD'd. They kept Debbie Yow in her job despite her not giving the football (or men's basketball) programs the resources they need to compete and instead throwing it all at non-revenue programs. If MD wants to be competitive, they can. I'm not saying they'll be among the sport's elite, I don't think that's within reason. But they can consistently field winning teams if they are truly committed to it.

[BSLChrisStoner]

I mean even Ohio State had a decrease in season ticket sales, I just don't think college football in-person is a great viewing experience. If Maryland has a competitive game that's a 3:30 kickoff but LSU-Alabama is also a 3:30 kickoff, are you going to UMD or staying at home for a more optimal way to following both of the games?

 

I went to Maryland-Rutgers in 2016 to see them clinch bowl eligibility, which was fun, but I also missed basically all of an absolute classic OSU-Michigan game happening at the same time. 

In addition to yourself, MD has nearly 400k other alum's, in addition to the 40k current students...  plus plenty of fans who never attended... in like the 3rd or 4th largest combined Metro (DC and Baltimore) in the country.  

Even with all the competition...  and even if college football isn't a great viewing experience...  if MD puts a good enough product on the field, they should have no problem filling 50k seats. 

[TwentyThirtyFive]

But they won't, so they won't.

My comment wasn't about Maryland fans. It was about Maryland football. It isn't happening.

And how much did Terps fans care about the 2014 Military Bowl or the 7 win 2014 Foster Farms Bowl or the 2016 Quick Lane Bowl?

Never say never but yeah, Maryland football will never be a thing.

[BSLMikeLowe]

Look at it this way. Northwestern has finished the season ranked in the AP 5 of the past 9 seasons. In 3 of those 9 seasons they won 10 games (might have done it last year, but they only played 9 games total). They have only missed a bowl game in 3 of the previous 13 seasons.

 

What does Northwestern have that MD doesn't that gives them such a huge edge in football? (I'm sure many will say it's MD having to play in the East division, but I think that's an excuse, since many of those seasons  I refer to MD was still in the ACC)

[TwentyThirtyFive]

Yes they could get back to some of the later Fridge years. 8 or 9 wins and .500ish in conference. Lower tier bowl games. Thats not a thing.

[BSLZackKiesel]

Yes they could get back to some of the later Fridge years. 8 or 9 wins and .500ish in conference. Lower tier bowl games. Thats not a thing.

First of all, a Big Ten team with 8 or 9 wins isn't getting a lower tier bowl. They're getting a mid-upper tier game depending on who they've beaten.

 

And are you saying 8 or 9 wins aren't enough? I'd say doing that on a regular basis constitutes being a successful football program, and the fans would certainly start turning out in numbers large enough to fill the stadium.

[BSLMikeLowe]

First of all, a Big Ten team with 8 or 9 wins isn't getting a lower tier bowl. They're getting a mid-upper tier game depending on who they've beaten.

 

And are you saying 8 or 9 wins aren't enough? I'd say doing that on a regular basis constitutes being a successful football program, and the fans would certainly start turning out in numbers large enough to fill the stadium.

 

I'd say results like that would excite fans more than what the basketball team has produced of late.

[You Play to Win the Game]

I'd say results like that would excite fans more than what the basketball team has produced of late.

Which IMO is due in part to the football program which they keep pouring money into, which is why they can't move on from Turge and probably why the new basketball facility is on hold too.

But let's keep dreaming that one day we'll be a good football school. Lol. I just don't get it.

[BSLMikeLowe]

Which IMO has come at the expense of the football program which they keep pouring money into, which is why they can't move on from Turge and probably why the new basketball facility is on hold too.

But let's keep dreaming that one day we'll be a good football school. Lol. I just don't get it.

 

Considering they just handed him an extension, I'd say their inability to get out from under Turgeon is due to incompetence much more than money. Which, to be frank, is mostly why they've been so lousy at football for the past decade plus as well.

[BSLRoseKatz]

First of all, a Big Ten team with 8 or 9 wins isn't getting a lower tier bowl. They're getting a mid-upper tier game depending on who they've beaten.

 

And are you saying 8 or 9 wins aren't enough? I'd say doing that on a regular basis constitutes being a successful football program, and the fans would certainly start turning out in numbers large enough to fill the stadium.

Yeah if Maryland goes 8-4 they're playing an SEC team in Florida  

[You Play to Win the Game]

Considering they just handed him an extension, I'd say their inability to get out from under Turgeon is due to incompetence much more than money. Which, to be frank, is mostly why they've been so lousy at football for the past decade plus as well.

It's both.