ESPN Reaches 12-Year Deal With ACC

By Jesse Jones

The ACC will finally be getting national attention!

For years, ACC fans have only been able to watch the ACC on Raycom Sports, with ESPN games here and there.  That is, until now.

The Atlantic Coast Conference and ESPN have agreed to a 12-year deal that would give the network exclusive rights to conference football and men’s basketball games.  Women’s basketball, lacrosse, and other sports will be shown as well.  The family of networks (ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN 3, ESPN U, ABC on certain occasions) will all broadcast the games.  The deal is believed to be worth 1.86 billion over the 12 years.

The two sides were in negotiation for the past 15 months, a span that saw the ACC win a record setting eight national championships across sports.

“This is the first time we at ESPN have basically done an all-in deal with a conference where we worked to be able to acquire all their product,” ESPN executive vice president of content John Skipper said. “I think that speaks to how much we value the product that’s in the ACC.”

During football season, ESPN would broadcast conference-controlled games on Saturdays, Thursday nights and Labor Day on one of its channels or online.  ESPN would also broadcast the ACC Championship.  ESPN will do the same during basketball season, and broadcast the women’s ACC tournament.

Big Day For Terps Basketball

By Jesse Jones

April 1st was a big day for the Maryland Terrapins men’s basketball program in two ways.

The Bob Cousy award, given to the nation’s best point guard, was awarded yesterday.  The winner?  Who else but Greivis Vasquez.  The senior guard plays with the highest level of intensity and spirit, and this year limited his poor decisions while increasing his great decisions to lead the Terps to a record of 24-9, a share of the ACC regular season title and a win in the NCAA tournament.  In his senior year, Vasquez averaged 19.6 points, 6.3 assists, and 4.6 rebounds per game.  Vasquez ranks second on Maryland’s all-time lists in points (2,171) and assists (772).  He is also the only player in ACC history to record at least 2,000 points, 700 assists and 600 rebounds in his career.  Vasquez also stayed in the top 10 nationally for most assists per game the whole season.  This year was great for Vasquez as he came back an extra year in order to improve his game for the pros, and do great things for Maryland.

Maryland Terrapin senior Eric Hayes participated in last night’s college basketball three-point challenge last night.  In each of the three rounds, Hayes had the highest score.  In the final round, Cornell’s Randy Wittman shot first and got a score of 15.  Hayes followed, and with the last money ball to go, had a score of 15.  With the final shot, Hayes swished it and gave him the 17-15 win.

Congrats Greivis and Eric.

Maryland Loses Heart Breaker

By Jesse Jones

With a birth to the Sweet 16 and a chance to play Northern Iowa on the line, the Michigan State Spartans and Maryland Terrapins knew what they could gain from a victory over the other.

Maryland was coming off a win against Houston, and Michigan State had just beaten New Mexico State.

The first half was controlled by the Spartans, who took a 48-39 lead into the half. They dominated the boards, and capitalized on more of their scoring chances than the Terrapins had.

For much of the second half, nothing had changed. Michigan State had taken complete control of the game. They increased their lead to as much as 16 points, but everything went downhill soon after. Senior star Kalin Lucas suffered an Achilles injury that sidelined him for the rest of the game. Greivis Vasquez, Maryland’s star player and one of the best in school history, took over the game. Vasquez (26 total points) scored 9 of the Terrapins last 11 points, who took an 83-82 lead with 6.6 seconds left. However, this proved to be more than enough time for the Spartans, who hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to win 85-83 and earn their trip to St. Louis.

Although the game was so close down the stretch, Michigan State had controlled much of the game with their key shooting. Overall, the Spartans shot 55%, and went 56% from behind the arc. They also outrebounded the Terps 35-21. What allowed Maryland to stay so close was the 18 turnovers they made Michigan State commit.

At the end of the day though, it will be Michigan State playing in St. Louis, not Maryland.

Nicholas Shot Made It To Final Four

By Jesse Jones

Remember Drew Nicholas and the 2003 Maryland Terrapins? Well, one huge moment from that season was relived today on ESPN’s SportsNation.

The show did a bracket for the best buzzer-beaters in NCAA Tournament history. The shot by Drew Nicholas against UNC Wilmington in the first round of the tournament received the 11 seed. That didn’t stop them as they made it to the Final Four, but lost with only 43% of the votes against NC States’ game-winner against Houston for the national championship. Who can argue that one?

If you don’t remember the shot, here it is:

Terps Move Up In AP, ESPN Polls

By Jesse Jones

After beating the Duke Blue Devils at home on senior night, and going to Virginia and beating them on their senior night, the Maryland Terrapins have moved up in the AP poll and the ESPN/USA Today poll.

The Associated Press has ranked the Terps as the 19th best team in the nation, and ESPN and the USA Today ranked them at the same place.

The Terps have finished the regular season with a record of 23-7, and a 13-3 conference record.

Maryland has the second seed in the ACC Tournament, which will be held in Greensboro, North Carolina.  The Terps will play the winner of the Georgia Tech/UNC game Friday.

Never Seen This Before…

By Jesse Jones

In last night’s Kansas-Texas game, Kansas guard Brady Morningstar had a little mishap shooting free throws. See for yourself:

UVA-UMD Game Postponed

By Jesse Jones

Due to the blizzard that took place this weekend, and the extra foot-plus that is expected to hit the area tonight into tomorrow, the ACC and the University of Maryland has postponed tomorrow’s game against the University of Virginia to February 15. All tickets for the game will be valid on the 15th.

The University of Maryland has been closed since February 5th, and there are still large parts of sidewalks and parking lots that have not been cleared.

The time of the game has yet to be determined.

Maryland at Indiana for Big Ten-ACC Challenge

By Ben Linton

On December 1, the Maryland Terrapins will travel to Bloomington, Indiana to take on the Indiana Hoosiers in the 2009 Big Ten-ACC Challenge. It will take place at 7:30 pm and be broadcasted on ESPN2. This will be the first time the teams have met since 2003, where the Terps traveled to Indianapolis to play the Hoosiers, a game which they lost 80-74. The Most Memorable matchup between these two teams came on April 1, 2002, when Maryland beat Indiana 64-52 to win the National Championship. The Terps return four of five starters from last year’s squad and have a group of young, talented big men coming in. Indiana, on the otherhand, is at a rebuilding stage with coach Tom Crean. The Hoosiers won only six game last season. This will be the Terps’ first ever trip to Assembly Hall, a historic venue.

Here is the rest of the 2009 ACC-Big Ten Challenge lineup:

Monday, November 30
Penn State @ Virginia – 7pm ET on ESPN2

Tuesday, December 1
Wake Forest @ Purdue – 7pm ET on ESPN
Maryland @ Indiana – 7:30pm ET on ESPN2
Northwestern @ NC State – 7pm ET on ESPNU
Michigan State @ North Carolina – 9pm ET on ESPN
Virginia Tech @ Iowa – 9:30pm ET on ESPN2

Wednesday, December 2
Illinois @ Clemson – 7:15pm ET on ESPN
Boston College @ Michigan – 7:30pm ET on ESPN2
Minnesota @ Miami – 7:15pm ET on ESPNU
Duke @ Wisconsin – 9:15pm ET on ESPN
Florida State @ Ohio State – 9:30pm ET on ESPN2