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Most of the Maryland students who were opposed to the move to the Big 10 unified under the same basic principle.
The principle of tradition.
Maryland has certainly had countless magical moments in the ACC, highlighted of course by their 2002 national championship for men’s basketball.
The most popular tradition for students are the annual games against Duke and North Carolina.
When Maryland hosts Duke, the student body delegates an entire week in preparation for the game. If Maryland beats Duke, the student body often reacts excessively.
The fact is that Maryland fans hate Duke. From the players to the coaches, their jersey to their sneakers, Maryland students hate everything about Duke basketball.
That being said, this rivalry is not very mutual.
The rivalry between Duke and UNC is one of the more historic and fiery rivalries in all of sports. Maryland has always found themselves as the outsider looking in.
A friend of mine who goes to Duke (I swear I only have one), explained Duke’s relationship with Maryland as “we’re forced to hate you because you hate us so much but we don’t really have a real reason to hate you.”
Point is, it is childish for Maryland fans to be upset about the move to the Big 1o due to the loss of our rivalry with Duke.
Yes, the Duke game at Comcast Center is one of the best and most intense atmospheres in all of college basketball. But Maryland is ready to establish themselves as a program that no longer needs to beg at the heels (PUN) of UNC and Duke.
As Maryland leaves the ACC for the Big 10, new rivalries will be made. Maryland has an opportunity to start on a new slate against some extremely legitimate competition. With Maryland’s “enthusiastic” fan base, I can’t imagine that Big 10 schools are going to fall in love with terpnation.
So Maryland, there is no reason to worry. The Terps will find another school to hate, and lot knows other schools are going to hate us.
Maryland’s rivalry with Duke is going to live on in the minds of the luck students who go to experience it. For future students, they have no reason to worry. Maryland basketball is going to continue to excel, and it will surely establish new historic rivalries in the Big 10.
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