Battle of the Beltway?

Maryland Athletic Director Kevin Anderson has recently turned up the heat in trying to schedule a men’s basketball game against Georgetown. Anderson has said that until the two schools agree upon a men's basketball game, they will no longer schedule games against each other in any sport. Men's Lacrosse, both men's and women's soccer, swimming and diving and baseball are teams that have either yearly or regular games between each other. These smaller sport rivalries are at risk until an agreement can be made. 

It appeared that progress was being made when last year the two AD's sat down to discuss the issue. However, according to Kevin Anderson there has been no talk of restarting the game since then. The two schools which are 11.2 miles apart have not played in a regular season game scheduled by the two schools since 1993. Since then the teams have only played twice. They met in the 2001 Sweet 16 in Anaheim, California on their way to a Final Four birth and more recently in the 2008 Old Spice Classic in Orlando, Fla. 

All time the Terps are 36-26 against the Hoyas and this is a rivalry that fans have been calling for in recent years. The two teams are by far the most successful of the DC area schools in men's basketball. They battle for the same recruits, news coverage, and even fans in some cases. Why shouldn't the two teams play on the courts?

The main argument that I have seen is that because of them fighting for regional superiority neither wants to lose to the other. If they did lose this would certainly hurt in recruiting as you could no longer say we have been more successful than them lately. Also, since both are in competitive conferences (Big East and ACC) they may not want to schedule another tough out of conference game. They would rather schedule home games against the likes of N.J.I.T, FIU, Radford, and IUPUI. Why instead replace one of these games against a sub par easy win and put the local rival in instead. While this may hurt them in taking away a win, it would help the strength of schedule as well as give them an opportunity for a marquee win. 

An idea that could come from this is a Big Five type situation in DC. While DC may not have the history of the Palestra and UPenn, La Salle, St. Joes, Temple and Villanova, this still would be something that could garner a lot of interest in the region and be a real success. Georgetown already has American University and Howard on its schedule for this season. These three schools with the addition of Maryland, George Mason, and George Washington would form a great little tournament. 

My proposal is if a home and home between Maryland and Georgetown can't be figured out make a tournament at a neutral site, while this would be Georgetown's home court the Verizon Center, and involve all six teams. Howard, American, George Washington and George Mason could all play against each other in two separate games that would serve as the quarterfinal round. Georgetown and Maryland would receive first round byes. So for example, George Washington would beat American, and George Mason would beat Howard in the quarterfinals, possibly setting up Georgetown/George Washington and Maryland/George Mason semifinals, with the winners meeting in the championship. This would be much better in my opinion than the BB&T Classic that is currently in place. This has in recent years turned into a home and home for Maryland and the other big school in the tournament. Instead of bringing in Temple, Villanova or Notre Dame why not have the two local giants fight it out for local superiority.

Aside from the local and possible national interest that the game between Maryland and Georgetown would generate, the other benefit (or drawback) to the game is local recruiting. The hotbed of the DMV (DC-Maryland-Virginia) area for high school basketball has been well documented, and over the years both Maryland and Georgetown have fought it out off the court for the services of big time recruits. Lately, Georgetown has won those battles as players such as Jeff Green (Hyattsville, Northwestern HS), DaJuan Summers (Owings Mills, McDonogh), Henry Sims (Baltimore, Mount St. Joseph), Greg Whittington (Columbia, Oakland Mills HS), and many others have chosen the Hoyas over the Terps, while others such as Kevin Durant, Ty Lawson, Kendall Marshall, Tyler Thornton and Quinn Cook have chosen to go elsewhere. The idea is that playing this game would make local recruits want to play at either of the schools, with the winner of the game gaining a big advantage: a reason that scares a school like Georgetown. Why play a game that you could risk losing to a local rival that you have been getting the big recruits over in recent years? My argument is this: the game wouldn't have as big of an impact on recruiting as you would expect, big time recruits are still going to go to both schools. This game is for the fans. This game is to get ESPN or CBS to broadcast the game and spotlight these historic programs on national TV. This game is to create excitement in otherwise dull non-conference season.

It doesn't seem like any conclusion to this issue will come in the near future. Both sides are releasing statements placing blame on the other. This is the classic situation where egos and the "he said, she siad" mentality are preventing the public and each school's fans from benefiting from a rivalry that is waiting to happen. However, this would be a great idea and something that could sell a lot of tickets and get a lot of interest in the DC metro region.