I like Morocco. Best keeper in the Cup. Most want to see France vs Argentina, not me. I’d like to see Morocco vs Argentina. Messi vs Bono!

As I've mentioned numerous times now, I really like this pickup. This is a kid who was stuck behind his former roommate (the No. 4 pick in this year's draft) and flourished once he finally earned a starting spot. He played the boundary this season and has similar size and physicality to Banks. This should be a plug and play guy from Day 1. Bonus, he still has two years of eligibility should he choose to use them due to COVID.

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Has he used his covid year or does he have another year left should he choose?

Despite the loss yesterday, Maryland moved up from 19 to 17. In addition, we're behind Miss. State, West Va., Florida Atlantic and Utah State, so I think that translates to 13 or 14. Tennessee is 4 there and UCLA is 10.

Here are my three takeaways from Maryland's loss to Tennessee in Brooklyn. Another stiff test coming up Wednesday when they host the UCLA Bruins. Hopefully the shots start falling again at home. More at the link.

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Up by 4. I am surrounded by obnoxious UConn fans. Gotta make our shots and take care of ball!

Ummmmmmm...........

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COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The University of Maryland football team held its annual awards banquet Sunday evening at The Hotel in College Park.

Maryland head coach Michael Locksley addressed an audience that included members of the team, coaching staff, administration and support staff following the awards session in which he recapped the 2022 season. Locksley also discussed the team’s upcoming matchup with No. 23 NC State in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl on December 30.

The Terrapins capped the night off by naming three permanent team captains in defensive back Jakorian Bennett, wide receiver Dontay Demus Jr. and quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa. The trio was chosen by their teammates as the representatives for the 2022 team.

The complete list of award winners is as follows.

Scout Team Special Teams Player of the Year: Eli Mason
Freshman Special Teams Player of the Year: Octavian Smith Jr.
Scout Team Defensive Player of the Year: David Brownlee
Freshman Defensive Player of the Year: Jaishawn Barham
Scout Team Offensive Player of the Year: David Foust
Freshman Offensive Player of the Year: Ramon Brown
Dr. John E. Faber Iron Man Award: Alex Simet
George Boutselis Memorial Award (letterman with highest GPA): Dante Trader Jr.
George C. Cook Memorial Award (senior with highest GPA): Eric Najarian
Alvin L. Aubinoe Unsung Hero Award: Spencer Anderson, Austin Fontaine
Public Service Award: Isaac Bunyun
A.V. Williams Award (outstanding & conspicuous sportsmanship): Jeshaun Jones
James M. Tatum Memorial Award (Lineman of the Year): Ami Finau, Johari Branch
Jordan McNair Memorial Award: Dontay Demus Jr., Jakorian Bennett
Special Teams Player of the Year: Chad Ryland
Defensive Player of the Year: Jaishawn Barham
Offensive Player of the Year: Roman Hemby
Ray Krouse Memorial Award (MVP): Taulia Tagovailoa
2022 Team Captains (voted on by players): Jakorian Bennett, Dontay Demus Jr., Taulia Tagovailoa

On the support from the NY fans, says they were great and the fans have been great all year.

On the three-point woes, says it means they need to start shooting it better.

Says they were trying to press the entire game, but you have to make baskets in order to do that. When you only have 3 field goals like they did in the first half, it makes it hard to wear them down.

Jahmir Young on having some chances at the end, says he was just trying to hit the big shot for the team to win.

Willards says the good thing about these games this time of year is you really get to learn a lot about these teams. Moving forward, not sure we will see as many of these games moving forward. You can't play Illinois and Wisconsin in league play and then play a tough top 10 opponent on a neutral floor without being able to practice. We've learned a lot, but we've regressed in part because we aren't getting to practice. These games are great, but you can take a step back because you just aren't getting as much time to work on things and practice.

Says they let Tennessee push us around too much, early in the game, we let them set the tone with their physicality. Let them get 21 offensive rebounds.

This team is resilient and they are a good group to coach. The biggest thing we've got to work on is in-game kind of stuff. They showed they are a tough group, resilient. Hard working we just need to get them back into the practice gym to work with them a bit.

On Reese's foul trouble again, says he has to keep JuJu in the game a little bit, says they didn't handle his foul trouble well at all. Can't have Emilien at 6'6" guarding a 7-footer. And Cal has regressed a bit. But Julian will figure it out and I have confidence in him.

Says Jahmir is progressing faster than he thought he would, especially as a point guard. This is a moster difference from what he went through at Charlotte so been impressed with his progress.

We HAVE to win the three-point battle and we have lost it the past two games. We simply aren't going to beat teams with more physicality. But again, we have to win that battle. That's going to be my message to them the next two weeks. Because that's what we practice.

Got his 2nd TD and a 2pt conversion 1 handed catch
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Haven't seen this for awhile,just now.....
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many of the players were entering into the NFL draft or portal? I mean talk about pissing on the fans. Will we play like Virginia Tech did last year. It's a shame because once they expand to 12 teams in the CFP, I expect many of the minor bowls like the Mayo Bowl to dry up. The minor bowl season will become like the NIT. This sucks!

Crespi... who was Chris Turner's father John (the original drummer for RATT). He passed away yesterday after a two year battle with stomach cancer. I only had a chance to hang out with him a few times out here in California, but he was a good dude. Always had time for anyone.

Maryland (8-1) vs. Tennessee (8-1)

When: Sunday, Dec. 11 | 4:30 p.m. ET
Where: Barclays Center (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
Television: FS1 (Streaming on FoxSports) - Watch Live
Broadcasters: Jason Benetti (play-by-play), Jim Jackson (color)
Radio: Maryland Sports Radio Network | Listen Online

Line: Terps +5.5
Over/Under: 134.5

Series history: The all-time series is tied, 2-2, with the Terps winning the most recent meeting 72-49 on Nov. 25, 1984 in Anchorage, Alaska.

Projected Starting Lineups


Tennessee
Tyreke Key (6-foot-2, Senior, G) - The Indiana State transfer is averaging 11.5 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game to start the season.
Jahmai Mashack (6-foot-4, Soph., G) - Averaging 6.3 points and 3.3 rebounds through the first nine games of the season.
Julian Phillips (6-foot-8, Fr., F) - The former Rivals five-star is averaging a team-high 12.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game so far this season.
Olivier Nkamhoua (6-foot-9, Senior F) - Averaging 10.8 points and 5.0 rebounds per game.
Uros Plavsic (7-foot-1, Senior, C) - Averaging 5.3 points and 4.1 rebounds per game so far this season.

Maryland
Jahmir Young (6-foot-1, Senior, PG) - Averaging a team-high 15.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists through nine games.
Don Carey (6-foot-5, Senior, SG) - Averaging 7.9 points and 2.9 rebounds per game to start the season.
Hakim Hart (6-foot-8, Senior, G/F) - Averaging 12.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists to start the season.
Donta Scott (6-foot-8, Senior, F) - Averaging a team-high 14.7 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists so far this season.
Julian Reese (6-foot-9, Soph., F/C) - Averaging 12.3 points and a team-high 7.6 rebounds per game to start the season.

The Terps enter Sunday's game with Tennessee coming off of a loss for the first time this season. This top-20 matchup will be played in Brooklyn at the Barclays Center, which has been good to the Terps in recent years. Maryland has a strong alumni presence in NYC, including a number of basketball boosters and they show up in full force when the Terps are in town. Maryland defeated Florida in Brooklyn last season, one of the few bright spots in an otherwise poor season. The Terps should be fired up to play a top-10 opponent coming off of a tough loss at Wisconsin.

The Terps will likely need to be strong on the defensive end and need to shoot the ball well if they want to come away victorious. But perhaps the biggest key for Maryland on Sunday will be keeping JuJu Reese out of foul trouble. Tennessee is both big and deep and they will need Reese in the lineup for the majority of the game as a rim protector and to rebound. If Reese can remain on the floor and be productive on the offensive end, the Terps should have a real shot.

As for Tennessee, they enter Sunday's game a bit banged up, despite all of their depth. Starting guard Santiago Vescovi has missed the previous two games due to a shoulder injury, while fellow guard Josiah-Jordan James has been on a pitch count as he has dealt with knee soreness all season long. If Vescovi is to miss Sunday's game, that is a big loss for the Vols, while James playing limited minutes would also likely benefit the Terps as he is often described as the Vols' most complete player.

This will be a big test coming off of a loss and a real measuring stick for head coach Kevin Willard as the Terps are in the midst of a four-game stretch that will conclude Wednesday at home versus UCLA. A win would be a real statement to the rest of the country that the Terps are for real.

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Anyone know?

Women host UConn at 3:00 on ABC (Mowins/Lobo/Carter on the call, blackout game for fans/crowd, UConn only has 7 available players, possibly as few as 5 at full strength) followed at 4:30 by men at Barclay’s Center vs Tennessee on FS1. Terps men looking for first non-conference win vs top-10 opponent since 2008.

Brenda just won career game #600 in last game, looking for career win #1 vs Geno and UConn (0-7)

So the B1G refs ONCE AGAIN f up and in OT save Purdue at Nebraska on a bs foul when P had turned it over up 1 with 12 seconds to go.

Someone tweeted this
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The BS Call
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SO TRUE
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Up 16, 8 to go

A little Saturday morning exercise, because why not. I took a look at the current roster, recruit list, portal entries and Sr/going pro. Gonna lay the numbers out here, by position, and then ask the question - where does this leave us and what do we need to get from the portal.

Seniors who have gone in the portal are listed in that column, and subtracted from the SR column to keep the numbers straight. Realize that some of those may decide to come back, do a grad transfer, or move on - TBD.

If you really want to slice and dice the numbers, we could look at the class make-up for each position group. But then we'd need TSR to tell us how good the youngsters are. For instance, the OL group has quite a few FR and SOPHs, but I have no idea how many of those gutys are ready to take on starting roles.

Time to opine.

Quote from SI's review of the first month of mens basketball.

Maryland got it right with Kevin Willard​

It’s usually best not to judge coaching hires after one season, let alone one month of one season. But it’s hard not to take notice of the job Willard has done early on at Maryland, which is off to a magnificent 8–1 start in Year 1.


Willard has seamlessly integrated a pair of transfer newcomers in Jahmir Young and Don Carey into the starting rotation after retaining three key cogs in Donta Scott, Julian Reese and Hakim Hart. Young, Carey and the Terps’ loaded 2023 recruiting class show a clear improvement from the Mark Turgeon era in recruiting the talent-rich state of Maryland, and the nonconference woes against high-level competition that were often evident under Turgeon have vanished.

The Willard hire wasn’t universally lauded because of his past struggles in the NCAA tournament, but it’s hard to argue with the success he had at Seton Hall in revitalizing a program that had fallen off. So far, Willard has made all the right moves, hiring a strong staff and making a good early impression. This feels like a marriage that could last a while.

Iowa up 40-20 vs #20 Iowa St at half. Wow.

Crazy ending Rut at OSU. Rut up 3, fouls OSU with 6 sec so not to give up 3, but fouled to early. Make 2 FT, then fouls Rut with 5 sec. Up 1, makes 1st, missed 2nd and OSU makes 3 to win it atthe buzzer.

A quick rundown of this weekend's official visitors, including a pair of portal transfers, a five-star and a current commit. More at the link below.

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