I did not respond to an earlier thread where someone claimed that the Terps had the toughest D1 schedule in 2003. Look now; Terp opponents this year have a combined record of 66-60-15. Weak. The most telling fact however, is that the Terps will play 14 home games and only 4 games on the road during the regular season. These facts raise serious questions about the Terps and will hurt them if they make the college cup and have to travel after such an easy schedule.
Lastword this is the kind of stuff that makes you the joke of these boards. Maryland's schedule is set several years in advance and is always one of the strongest in the nation. This year they play 12 teams that made the NCAA Tournament last season so if that's not difficult tell me who's playing one more difficult. They played a very similar schedule last year and it didn't seem to hurt too much. But hey, don't be persuaded by logic just keep hating the terps.
what's up... are you guys like suck buddies gone bad? You both have good content, but spare us the panty waste.
Re: what's up... Good point, I didn't start this but I'm finished with it now, that's my last word on the negative stuff.
Well, considering that at the current rate they're going, Maryland would have the #1 seed in the tournament, they wouldn't have to go on the road before the College Cup anyway. And barring Ohio State making it there, which would be a huge surprise, it would be a neutral venue, thus the lack of road games wouldn't matter anyway. Anyway, playing non-home games against Furman, UNC, Duke, and Penn State isn't exactly a cakewalk either. I'd like to see your example of a team with a tougher schedule based on opponents, since you seem to think we're playing a bunch of cupcakes.
In addition, Maryland faces Loyola every year. The Terps faced Loyola in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament in 2001 and lost in a game played at Maryland's Ludwig Field; the Greyhounds also beat Maryland in a regular season game at Ludwig the same year. It is not generally appreciated that the local non-ACC teams are traditionally very good. Maryland faced American in the first round of the NCAAs last year and got a tough 1-0 win; lost to them in the 2nd round of the tournament in 1997 when AU was the host and higher seed. The Terps lost to William & Mary in the 2nd round of the tournament in 1996 after beating a tough James Madison team in OT in the first round; Georgetown held the Terps to a 1-1 tie in a regular season game in 2000; George Mason beat them 1-0 in the regular season in 2001 in a game at Ludwig. Maryland's 5-1 win over Mason this year was deceptively easy as the Terps were down 1-0 at halftime, the first time they have trailed all year. So if you know anything about DI soccer in this region, you know that you cannot take anybody lightly; that teams like GMU, Loyola, AU, etc are always going to have at least a few talented players supported by solid role players, and that also have good coaches who know how to get the best out of what they have. And if we don't have them on the schedule in the regular season, we inevitably face them in an early round of the tournament. That is the way it has always been. Only thing that is different these days is that, back in the day when I was first in College Park as a student, the team that everybody was worried about was Howard. Those great Bison teams under Lincoln Phillips were a joy to watch. They brought so much excitement to the sport and it is really too bad they have not recently reached the levels that they once achieved. Hope that changes some day, because they were always a creative, attack-minded club and that is good for soccer.