Terps Football:110 Yards

*First as you read this I hope you are well and taking the necessary precautions of staying in and limiting your exposure to the outside world as tempting as it may be, we all pray for a quick conclusion to this Covid-19 pandemic even if it may not be as quick as we like it to be. In this posting I am trying to cover a little of everything thus the 110 yards title.

(You can discuss this on the BSL Board here.)

COVID-19 / Spring Football:

Let’s get the bad news out of the way first from the Big Ten who released news on Friday afternoon that will extend the suspension of all organized activities through May 4^th. The league will reevaluate the decision at that time. They would go on to say:

 “This is an additional measure to the previously announced cancellation of all conference and non-conference competitions through the end of the academic year, including spring sports that compete beyond the academic year,” the statement read. “The Conference also has previously announced a moratorium on all on- and off-campus recruiting activities for the foreseeable future…

 The Big Ten Conference will continue to use this time to work with the appropriate medical experts and institutional leadership to determine next steps relative to the COVID-19 pandemic…

The main priority of the Big Ten Conference is to ensure the health, safety and wellness of our student-athletes, coaches, administrators, faculty, fans and media as we continue to monitor all developing and relevant information on the COVID-19 virus.”

I have already written in my last article the negative effects of missing all or part of spring practice so I will not repeat that again. All you can hope is that players are working out as best as they can at home.

In addition, something they don’t need a gym for and can do at home is looking at game video and breaking themselves down in greater detail and the opponents they have played against and will be playing against this season. They can learn from a technique standpoint and an Xs and Os standpoint. It’s the teams that make the most of this time, however creative they must get that will have a leg up when workouts and practice resume and when the regular season begins. It’s amazing what you can do with technology today so while this is a major pain for all programs there is a lot more you can do today than even 15-20 years ago if something like that had transpired then.

Big Recruiting News: 

On a positive note, Friday was also a big day in recruiting for the Terps as Maryland took another step in protecting the DMV with the verbal commitment of 4-Star Defensive End Demeioun Robinson out of Gaithersburg, MD powerhouse Quince Orchard. Right now, Maryland has the #7 Recruiting Class in the Country and #3 in the Big Ten. Now there is a lot of time left in the period and that could change but even if they ended up at say #18 or 22 that would be a huge improvement and a step in the right direction. Right now, Mike Locksley is showing off his recruiting pedigree. As I mentioned in a previous article, Locksley told me recently on my weekend show on 105-7 The Fan that recruiting classes take 2 years of work so 2021 will truly be the first one where he can put his imprint on the program. Robinson said this about his recruiting by Maryland:

“I see it, I believe it. Locks is a good dude, I like him. All he wants to do is be great and have his kids go as far as I can.”

You have to love that mindset; he is buying in to Locksley’s vision. It all starts with recruiting—great players make great teams that equal wins and filled stands. While coaching is important, great players make coaches look great.

Another quote on Robinson:

247Sports Director of Recruiting Steve Wiltfong: “He might be the best pass rusher prospect in the 2021 recruiting cycle.”

Maryland beat out Georgia, Ohio State, Penn State and Texas A&M. That is some sizeable competition, certainly we hope that commitment remains. Bottom line you go to MD and your good enough you play right away against some of the top team’s week in and week out in some of the biggest stadiums in the country. Your also in a huge Top 10 media market in the DC Metro and Baltimore right up the road, a Top 25 market. You will not lack for attention.

Thinking About Big Ten Realignment

When Maryland was added to the Big Ten and put in the East Division, we all talked about how difficult it would be to win against the likes of Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, and Michigan State. Indiana has also upped their game in the last few years as well. The East Division has been stronger than the West Division since Maryland entered the Conference in 2014. Recently however the West outside of Wisconsin and Iowa is getting stronger with PJ Fleck coming off a phenomenal year at Minnesota and Nebraska hiring Scott Frost who make no mistake will get that program back to respectability although it will take longer than some of the restless natives and outside world think. So, keep that in mind. I got thinking about a realignment which is purely just for fun, there has been no talk about that from the Conference and right now they have bigger fish to fry. Here is what I think would be a more balanced Big Ten noting that nothing will be perfect and that some programs go in cycles. I am not going to break it down as East and West, I am going to go with Leaders and Legends.

Mike Popovec’s Big Ten Conference Realignment:

Legends:

-Ohio State (Last Year’s Record: 13-1)

-Michigan (Last Year’s Record: 9-4)

-Wisconsin (Last Year’s Record: 10-4)

-Minnesota (Last Year’s Record: 11-2)

-Nebraska (Last Year’s Record: 5-7)

-Illinois (Last Year’s Record: 6-7)

-Northwestern (Last Year’s Record: 3-9)

Leaders:

-Penn State (Last Year’s Record: 11-2)

-Iowa (Last Year’s Record: 10-3)

-Michigan State (Last Year’s Record: 7-6)

-Indiana (Last Year’s Record: 8-5)

-Maryland (Last Year’s Record: 3-9)

-Purdue (Last Year’s Record: 3-9)

-Rutgers (Last Year’s Record: 2-10)

Some of this was also based on some history. As you look at it each Division has what is usually a Top 25 team each season with Michigan, Ohio State and Wisconsin in the Legends and Iowa, Michigan State and Penn State in the Leaders. Then each program has some middling teams with Minnesota and Nebraska in the Legends with Indiana and Purdue.

(Note: Minnesota did go 11-2 this past season but that’s on the very high end, it’s not likely that will be duplicated at that level going forward. Purdue would have been much better last year if they were not be-seized by injury).

Maryland and Rutgers still have a lot of work to do but are certainly capable of being 6-6 programs. You could argue the Legends is still a bit stronger if Minnesota continues to build on what they have done, and that sans last season Northwestern has been one of the winningest programs in the Conference over the last 5-7 years.  Illinois had a real good year last year as well by their standards at 6-7. Is that just a quick blip on the radar, history would say yes, 2020 will be critical for the Illini to build on that momentum. The good news for the Conference is doing this exercise is more difficult than it would have been a few years ago. Indiana has established themselves as pretty competitive and anywhere from a 5-7 to 8-4 team year and year out although this incoming recruiting class is not very strong. There are upward arrows on Minnesota and Purdue. In addition, Nebraska and Maryland are ones to watch. We really need to wait probably 2 full seasons before we can get an idea of Greg Schiano’s work at Rutgers, this current situation with the Coronavirus is the worst thing that could happen to a program rebuilding, the same can be said of Michigan State who has floundered recently but still has much more of a foundation and certainly history than Rutgers does. Michigan State is the Wild Card here, if Mel Tucker flounders in East Lansing you could make an argument to put them into Legends and put say Wisconsin in the Leaders or Minnesota if they continue to have steady success from a pure competitive standpoint.