There is nothing like Maryland versus North Carolina and Duke. However, fans may burn out over coming weeks.
North Carolina’s No. 2 ranked women visit No. 3 Maryland on Sunday. Top-ranked Duke comes to Comcast Center on Feb. 18.
Conversely, Maryland’s men play No. 10 Duke on Feb. 11 and No. 4 North Carolina on Feb. 25. That’s four of five Sundays with the biggest rivalries in College Park. Rt. 1 may turn into Bourbon Street following so many postgame parties.
But here’s the biggest surprise — the women’s games are sold out, too. The Terrapins will break their own ACC women’s attendance mark on Sunday when 17,950 fill Comcast. Same goes for Duke. The North Carolina game will surpass Maryland’s 2006 overall attendance with three home contests remaining.
The women’s games have more ACC drama than the male counterparts. The nation’s top three teams look just as strong as last season when the trio went to the Final Four. Maryland (21-1, 5-1 ACC), North Carolina (22-0, 6-0) and Duke (20-0, 5-0) are so close it’s one of those on-any-given-day scenarios as to who wins.
Fortunately, Maryland doesn’t suffer stage fright. The Terps embarrassed No. 19 Michigan State, 97-57, at home before a CBS national audience. Maryland stumbled at Duke, 81-62, on ESPN, but ESPN2 is showing the North Carolina game so Comcast should be charged.
“It’s extremely special to show where this program is. It speaks to the fan support we’ve had from our fans,” said Terps coach Brenda Frese of the sellout. “Any time you’re a competitor, you want to play matchups like this. We have the experience from the Final Four and national championship game. It doesn’t get bigger than that stage.”
North Carolina has won 55 straight against teams other than Maryland, which beat the Tar Heels in the ACC Tournament and Final Four last season. North Carolina starts four players at least 6-foot-1 while averaging an ACC-best 89.9 points, 2.4more than runner-up Maryland.
North Carolina gained a week off readying for this rematch in the only regular-season meeting because of the 12-team conference’s unbalanced scheduling. The midweek reports included Tar Heels guard Ivory Latta talking of revenge and teammates admitting they have long awaited this game.
But so has Maryland. A second conference loss would make the ACC regular-season crown unlikely for the Terps. It might also force a No. 2 NCAA Tournament seed unless they win the conference tournament.
“This team is hungry and motivated from the last [Duke] loss,” Frese said. “Big picture for us is this is a very tough conference.”
Thankfully, Comcast will be a very tough room.
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Contact him at [email protected].
