I wish my team (terps) could play OSU

[BearBuck27]

Originally Posted by gregorylee

after having 14 players drafted off the previous years team.

Which I believe is a seven-round NFL Draft record if I'm not mistaken.

[jwinslow]

Originally Posted by terps4eva

I think we are a little better than Northwestern because over last 3 years we have consistently have had good recruiting. I dont know if that can be said about NW

p.s. tell me your a skins fan.... *holds up hand to high five if you are*

I think you are better than NW, I would put you at around a Purdue level. It would be fun to have a defensive/special teams battle, however I think next year's squad for OSU will finally have some offensive firepower.

I am a diehard skins fan, but Snyder makes me terrified to open a newspaper and see which horrible trade/signing he's made lately. I grew up 5 min from Maryland in Franklin County PA.

I think your team would be outmatched. We had a down year last year, but that was thanks to having to replace tons of starters with underclassmen that took half a season to mature (and it wasn't until halfway that many of the starters were benched for a better lineup).

So while it would be an interesting matchup in terms of our teams' strategy, I do not think it was close.

[Oh8ch]

I will try to be a bit less arrogant this time.

Let's talk first about programs.

Marlyand is a program on the rise - for the short term at least. I think of them much as I do NC St. Three years ago when we were slated for a home-and-home those fans were excited about where their program was going and many were arguing they were on a par with OSU. Now they are rebuilding again.

But a program like OSU wins consistently. We have off years - 8-4, 7-5, even 6-6. But those are bad years. We don't do that for long without a coaching change. As stated we went 8-4 with 14 players drafted into the NFL. THAT is rebuilding.

Yes, Maryland recently won 10 games three seasons in a row. But before that you have to go back to 1985 to find a season where they won more than 6. OSU has won 8 or more games 15 times since 1985.

To move to the next level requires a huge investment in the program. The NC St fans were great - really enjoyed swapping messages with them. They just did a major upgrade. Before our first game they were arguing they had comparable facitlities to ours. Then the came for a visit. They - by their own comments - were humbled.

You can also look at recruiting. The star rankings for any individual player can be pretty meaningless. But for large numbers across time they do say something. Maryland has recruited 8 players in the past three years who were rated 4 or more stars. That means that from that group you can field a team with four players of that caliber on either side of the ball.

In those same three years OSU has recruited 26 such players. That translates to a full team on O and D with four players left over to serve prison terms and suspensions.

If the OSU BBall team puts up 25 wins this year and finishes second in the Big Ten and we start talking like we are now on a par with ACC schools like Maryland we are blowing smoke. If you think Maryland is on a par with OSU right now you are blowing smoke as well.

Now, if you are not talking about programs - if you just mean this season - you are completely out of your mind. We will be fielding the best team we have had in recent memory. Don't even start talking stats or records or anything else. This team is just flat loaded at every position. You do not want to go there.

[daddyphatsacs]

Welcome aboard! Depending on the season, it could be an interesting matchup. If OSU had a down year, and the Terps were having some success, you never know. I'm not going to sit here and say that we'd kill Maryland every year, I don't think that's a very logical comment.

That being said, I don't see it being a very beneficial matchup unless Maryland came to Ohio Stadium.

[Bucky Katt]

In those same three years OSU has recruited 26 such players. That translates to a full team on O and D with four players left over to serve prison terms and suspensions.

It's funny because its true!!!!

[LordJeffBuck]

Well, various posters have suggested that Maryland's football program is roughly equivalent to Minnesota, Northwestern, and/or Purdue. Let's just assume that such suggestions are reasonable, and they do seem so to me. Ohio State's all-time record versus Minnesota is 37-7-0 (84.1%); versus Northwestern is 55-14-1 (79.3%); and versus Purdue is 35-12-2 (73.5%). If our assumption is valid, then Ohio State fans could expect to beat Maryland 8 out of every 10 times the two teams squared off, and their expectation would be reasonable.

A college football website called "rec.sports" (link below) has rated all of the D-1 teams based on their respective combined records from 1986 through 2004 - Ohio State comes in 7th on the list, and Maryland comes in at 55th. While the Bucks did win a national championship during the particular period in question, and finished second a couple of other times, Ohio State also had some pretty lean years in the late 80's and early 90's. If the teams were rated over a longer period of time (say from 1936, the beginning of the AP poll), then Ohio State would probably have finished even higher on the list.

College Football Power Rankings, 1986-2004

Rec.Sports Home Page

The same site ranks the best individual teams during the same 1986-2004 period. Five Buckeye teams made that list (95 selections total):

The 2002 team (14-0) ranked no. 9 overall (a bit low, IMHO)
The 1996 team (11-1) ranked no. 34 overall
The 1998 team (11-1) ranked no. 42 overall
The 2003 team (11-2) ranked no. 90 overall
The 1995 team (11-2) ranked no. 93 overall

No Maryland team made the list. It is interesting to note that MAC powers Marshall (1999 team) and Miami of Ohio (2003) made the list, placing at nos. 86 and 91, respectively.

Of course, the list covers the period from 1986 to present, and does not include some of the greatest Buckeye teams of all time, such as 1933, 1942, 1944, 1954, 1957, 1961, 1968 (all NC's), plus 1969, 1973, 1974, 1975, and 1979 (all top 5 finishes).

The Best Individual Teams, 1986-2004

According to Billingsley's, Ohio State's football prgram ranks no. 4 all-time (1869-2004), behind Notre Dame, Michigan, and Alabama, and just ahead of Southern Cal, Texas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska; Maryland ranks 55th (behind Northwestern, at no. 53).

Billingsley's Top Programs, 1869-2004

Billingsley's also rates the top 200 individual teams of all-time:

No. 16: 2002 Ohio State (14-0)
No. 37: 1954 Ohio State (10-0)
No. 57: 1968 Ohio State (10-0)
No. 72: 1996 Ohio State (11-1)
No. 98: 1973 Ohio State (10-0-1)
No. 99: 1975 Ohio State (11-1)
No. 110: 1955 Maryland (10-1)
No. 118: 1944 Ohio State (9-0)
No. 140: 1961 Ohio State (8-0-1)
No. 145: 1957 Ohio State (9-1)
No. 152: 1970 Ohio State (9-1)
No. 158: 1951 Maryland (10-0)
No. 166: 1951 Maryland (10-0)
No. 167: 1998 Ohio State (11-1)
No. 184: 1949 Ohio State (7-1-2)

12 Ohio State teams made the list, only 3 for Maryland.

Billingsley's Top 200

In terms of National Championships, Ohio State has five undisputed (1942, 1954, 1957, 1968, 2002), plus several others "partial" national championships (1933, 1944, 1961, 1970, plus various other "computer" championships from the likes of Sagarin and others). Maryland has one undisputed NC (1953), and another partial NC (1951). Ohio State has 31 conference championships to 11 for Maryland.

Ohio State's all-time record is 757-294-53, for a winning percentage of .710 (top 5 overall); Maryland's all-time record is 567-494-43, for a winning percentage of .533.

So, the answer to your question is, "yes" - we'd love to play Maryland, this year and every year. Now Texas might be another story....