We're about an hour away from the Terps taking on No. 3 Michigan in College Park. Final home game for guys like Tagovailoa and Jeshaun Jones.

The line has actually dropped to +18.5 as we close in on kickoff.

No noteworthy injuries on the Terps side, but Michigan starting LT LaDarius Henderson is out today.

Terps in red helmets, red unis and white pants for today's game.

When you play a champion like Michigan, they aren't going to give it to you. You have to go take it. There are no moral victories, but I feel like this is a game that you can build off of. A game like this hurts because of the guys we lose after this season. They believed in us and they gave it all for this program. But this team will continue to fight. I'm proud of them. We fought the champion to the end and came up just short.

Most of Michigan's pressure came on a four-man rush. So when people play us in coverage, we have to check down a little quicker and not hold onto the football. An achilles heal for us has been not doing a better job of protecting the quarterback and we have to do that.

We were backup up inside our own 1 yard line and we have to learn how to execute better in those situations and we didn't get that done.

Says he thinks Lia has had several signature wins, has led them to multiple bowl wins and will likely end up the school's all-time best passer so he's had plenty of signatures.

The only way to get over the hump in games like this is to simply get it done. Not talk about it but just go out and do what you need to do.

When you look at how we're built on defense with an older group and two veteran safeties, they've played pretty good throughout the year. Has it been consistent? No, but the way they played today they gave us a chance and we didn't get it done on offense. But the fight and effort were there and its on me for us to get it done.

Says this team is built to work and feel good about this group keeping it going next week and into a bowl game, finishing the season out with a win. Kids bought in and did everything asked of them and now we need to send out our seniors the best possible way we can.

To be able to go get a guy like Prather, he's come in and done a really good job. He came in through the portal but he bought into the culture and he'll continue to get better because he's bought in and he has made plays because of it.

It's tough when you have the turnovers and good teams don't beat themselves. Lia is a fighter and a competitor and he'll show up next weekend and help lead us but proud of what he displayed today, we just didn't get the job done.

The player-led culture we've talked about is real. And it is made up of a group of guys who believed in our vision. And when you have kids who bought in that it was going to take a lot of work, I have no doubt they will give their all for one more game. Have to give credit to all the leadership this senior group has given.

Game story, stats and highlights at the link below.

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Watch the full press conference at the link below.

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With regard to score, I obviously was wrong.

STAMFORD, Conn. – November 18, 2023 – The University of Notre Dame and NBC Sports have agreed on a multi-year extension of their historic football partnership, through the 2029 season. The agreement extends the landmark partnership – the longest college media relationship dating to 1991 – to nearly four decades (39 seasons).

“We are thrilled to continue our historic collaboration with our partners at NBC Sports,” said University of Notre Dame Vice President and James E. Rohr Director of Athletics Jack Swarbrick. “In the next generation of this partnership, we will collaborate to provide our fans even more Notre Dame content through a variety of NBCUniversal’s distribution channels while continuing to put our student-athletes and their stories at the heart of our messaging.”

“There is no better tradition than Notre Dame Football in South Bend, and we are thrilled to keep that tradition within the NBC Sports family as we extend our relationship as the exclusive home of Fighting Irish home games through the end of the decade,” said Rick Cordella, President, NBC Sports. “With enhanced rights that allow us to present Notre Dame Football on NBC as well as across Peacock and additional platforms, we look forward to bringing the Fighting Irish to fans in more ways than ever before.”

NBC Sports retains global media rights on all platforms to all Notre Dame home football games. It also allows for select games to stream exclusively on Peacock, which has been the exclusive home of one Notre Dame Football game each season since 2021. Peacock will also be the exclusive home of a new, annual documentary series on Notre Dame Football, debuting in 2024.

NBC Sports’ Notre Dame Football games are averaging 5.1 million viewers this season – the largest audience through five game broadcasts since 2005 and up 86% from last year at this point. The Fighting Irish’s Sept. 23 primetime thriller against Ohio State averaged 10.6 million viewers across NBC, Peacock and NBC Sports Digital, ranking as NBC Sports’ second-most watched regular season college football game of all-time, behind only then-No. 2 Notre Dame’s “Game of the Century” 31-24 defeat of No. 1 Florida State on Nov. 13, 1993 (22 million viewers).

The new agreement also extends to other events on the Notre Dame Football calendar, including the annual Blue-Gold Game and Notre Dame’s Pro Day.

In 2023-24, NBC Sports also marks its 11th season presenting Notre Dame hockey coverage, as Peacock is exclusively live streaming the entire hockey 21-game home schedule.

Last November, NBC and Peacock presented the Notre Dame Fighting Irish women’s college basketball team against Cal -- marking the first-ever live presentation of a women’s college basketball game on NBC and Peacock. The series continued earlier today with the Notre Dame-Illinois women’s basketball game presented live on NBC and Peacock from Washington, D.C.

Revenues from the NBC partnership have played a key role in Notre Dame’s financial aid endowment since the start of the relationship in 1991 when University officers allocated a portion of the football television contract revenue for undergraduate scholarship endowment (not athletic scholarships). To date, Notre Dame undergraduate students have received over $100 million in aid from revenue generated through the NBC contract.

See what Willard had to say following the Terps' loss at Villanova at the link below. (including a 'no comment' on Hakim Hart)

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Nothing noteworthy ahead of today's game.

Sounds familiar around here

Terps will don the gold unis tonight inside Finneran Pavilion.

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when we beat Michigan tomorrow.

We’re about an hour away from tip-off on the Main Line.

I don’t want to call this must win, because there is still a ton of basketball left to play, but there are only a handful of chances left at a likely signature win that will possibly bolster the NCAA resume and this is one of those games.

They are likely going to need to limit the turnovers and shoot the three at a half decent clip if they want to come away with the victory.

They’ll be in the gold unis tonight. Game can be seen on FS1.

By tomorrow we may have the dubious distinction of having lost Thursday, Friday and Saturday by a combined 100+ points. Sad.

Here's a preview of tonight's game with broadcast info, rankings, stats, Willard pregame presser and some thoughts ahead of tipoff.

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I caught up with the Michigan site's Brock Heilig, who discusses the impact the Harbaugh scandal has had, why McCarthy is the most efficient QB in the country, why their defense is elite and of course he gives his prediction for tomorrow. I hate to say it, but I see the game playing out similarly. On paper, this is just an awful matchup for Maryland and their running game seems to be peaking at the right time.

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Spoke to a source last night who has had direct contact with Queen himself in the past few days and here is the latest info that I've gathered.

- With regards to Maryland, the source still believes it is between the Terps and Indiana as of right now. They said it is true that he says he wants to see what each team looks like over the next few weeks and wants to take a close look at how they use their bigs. It was also mentioned to me that in the case of Maryland, he wants to see if they did really well because he's heard that if Maryland got off to a hot start that Kevin Willard could be leaving Maryland for Louisville.

- With regards to Indiana, this source believes that the whole 'Liam McNeeley is his best friend, like a brother and his being at Indiana is helping the Hoosiers' is simply not true. They believe this is basically just a media narrative and there's nothing to it. He does like Indiana, but Liam McNeeley being already committed there will have zero bearing on his decision.

- With regards to Kansas, he remains in regular contact with the Kansas staff and while they seem to be possibly on the outside looking in, especially with Flory Bidunga already in the fold, they are not 100% out of it. With regards to the Jayhawks, it sounds like he has relayed to them that he is looking to see how Hunter Dickinson does in the early goings and whether or not he's projected as a first-round pick. If they believe he's coming back for a second season at Kansas, they basically have zero shot. If it seems like he's gone after this season, the door remains cracked for Kansas.

- With regards to Houston, from everything I've gathered, they appear to be completely out of it at this point.

- As far as when he will make a decision, this source still believes it is more than likely a decision will come at any time in the next month or so and he will not drag things out until the spring even though he can't officially sign until mid-April now. When exactly it will happen is still anyone's guess, but they still believe it will happen sometime during the season.

My take:

As far as the Willard to Louisville part of this, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. If he has a really great season at Maryland, why would he then want to leave for Louisville? I could see wanting to leave it if does NOT have a great season, but I would think if he had a 'great' season, Maryland would do whatever they had to do to keep him. I would also think this would obviously help recruiting at Maryland. So again, that part had me scratching my head a bit. It is probably coming from the Indiana staff, but the source wasn't sure where exactly it was coming from.

There was no mention of Derik wanting one thing, his mom wanting another or maybe even Mookie wanting something else. And this source usually has a pulse on that sort of thing. Makes me think that this is truly Queen's decision and he is genuinely struggling with it and trying to find what he believes is truly the right fit. Of course, the fact that Maryland had the final visit, seemed to be well positioned coming out of it and he decided he needed more time certainly doesn't seem great if you are a Terps fan, but it also doesn't seem like this is over for Maryland at all.

There was no mention of this, but given he's closely watching the play of Dickinson, I would think he's likely closely watching the play of Indiana 7-footer Kel'el Ware, also. He's had a strong start to the season. I would think his NBA Draft status would also likely play a role in Queen's decision. If he comes back to Indiana next season that would likely mean less minutes for Queen. So something else to keep an eye on. But there are numerous projections out there that have him currently in the first round and his play so far likely keeps him there.

So that is the latest. With the early signing period now in the rear view, he can't sign now until April, but getting a commitment in-season would be huge and is something I'll keep monitoring.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Maryland assistant coach/offensive coordinator Jake Bernhardt has been named head coach of the Colby Mules men's lacrosse team, the school announced Friday.

Bernhardt will be missed greatly in College Park.

"I am very excited for Jake and his family," head coach John Tillman said. "They are really looking forward to returning to the New England area and being closer to family. Jake has made such a positive impact on our program as a player and coach and I'm confident that he will continue to do the same at Colby. He is not just an outstanding coach, he is a terrific role model and person. The future is bright for Colby Lacrosse."

Bernhardt returned to College Park in July of 2022 and took over an offense that was without its top five point-scorers from the previous season. With the help of Bernhardt's guidance, the Terps made their 20th straight postseason appearance. Bernhardt also played a big role in the development of Braden Erksa who went on to lead the Terps in points as a freshman and became the school's first-ever Big Ten Freshman of the Year.

During his playing days in College Park, Bernhardt was a two-time team captain known for his hard work and leadership. A fantastic midfielder, Bernhardt racked up 49 goals, 14 assists, and 63 points. After graduation he spent the 2014 season as the team's Director of Operations before spending five seasons coaching at the University of Vermont.

Bernhardt becomes the sixth assistant coach under Tillman to become a head coach since Tillman became Maryland's head coach in 2011.

His two younger brothers, Jesse and Jared Bernhardt both remain on the staff.

Sorry, just noticed I didn't post this on the board yesterday. Michigan obviously extremely talented with a number of top 100 and top 250 starters and numerous four-stars in the starting lineup. But it is also interesting that you see a lot of development from their lower rated guys. Also interesting that of their portal starters, one is a DeMatha kid by way of UMass. More at the link below.

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Why not?

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BTW, beat up Corum!

This is what Maryland is competing against.

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8:30 on FS1