2006-2007 in Review

Entering this season, the state of Terrapin athletics was very much a situation where the glass was either half full or half empty depending on how one chose to view it. On the positive side, the Terps were coming off a season where they won three NCAA Championships - men's soccer, women's basketball and field hockey. That success pointed to the overall strength of the Terps' programs.

But at the same time, the revenue sports, men's basketball and football, were both in the midst of a rocky stretch. Football was coming off back to back 5-6 seasons, having failed to qualify for a bowl either year. The men's basketball team won 19 games each of the previous two seasons, but had only 2 NIT berths to show for it, including one that culminated in a first round loss to Manhattan at home. Maryland was, at the time, one of a small handful of BCS programs to miss a bowl and the NCAA Tournament in each of the previous two seasons. Maryland hadn't missed a bowl and the Dance in the same year for 11 seasons.

In college sports, so much of the success can be attributed to the man in charge. I suppose that's true in any sport, but with college coaches ultimately responsible for both acquiring and developing the talent, they have a much larger role than other coaches. Luckily, Maryland has two outstanding coaches in Ralph Friedgen and Gary Williams.

Friedgen's football Terps set the tone for the year with a very strong 9-4 season, capped by a victory in the Champs Sports Bowl over Purdue. The Terps beat perennial powerhouses Miami and Florida State (albeit in down years for both) while also beating three other bowl teams. The season included thrilling, down to the wire wins over Miami, Florida State, Virginia, and Clemson. The team walked the tightrope between success and failure all year, at least until a 24-7 demolition of the Boilermakers down in Orlando to end the season on a high note.

While the last two years had been more successful for the basketball team than the football team (including an NIT Final Four appearance in 2005), more was expected from the basketball program. And rightfully so.

But the team responded. Fueled by the play of its three starting seniors as well as the play of three newcomers (and let's not forget the emergence of Junior James Gist), the Terps started the year strong with wins over Michigan State, Illinois, and Winthrop in November and December. The team looked to be headed for another NIT after starting the ACC season witha 3-6 record. But the team regrouped, running off seven straight ACC victories to end the season, including a sweep of Duke (their second in three seasons), as well as a victory over a top five North Carolina team. Despite a loss to Butler in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, the Terps finished a very strong season with a 25-9 record - the team's best since the '02 National Championship squad.

But what of the non-revenue sports that had been so strong last year? Well, it was definitely a step back, but not a terrible effort.

The women's basketball team returned everyone from their National Title team, but while the season was good, it was ultimately very disappointing. The Terps failed to score a single win against rivals Duke and North Carolina, going 0-4 against the ACC's other flagship programs. The team still headed into the NCAA tournament with 27 wins, good enough for a #2 seed. But in the second round the Terps were dominated by Ole Miss to the tune of 29 turnovers in a surprising, but perhaps not completely stunning, upset. The team still finished with a more than respectable 28-6 record, but more was expected coming off of a championship.

The men's soccer team was not expected to repeat. The team suffered key losses after winning the championship, though they were still expected to be competitive in the brutal ACC. And competitive they were, getting the #5 seed overall in the NCAA tournament before being upset by Notre Dame 1-0 in OT in the Round of 16. The Terps failed to make their sixth College Cup appearance under Sasho Cirovski, but they did finish 16-5-1 as one of 7 ACC teams to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

The third of the defending champions was Missy Meharg's field hockey team. And repeat they did, winning their fifth NCAA title with a 1-0 win over rival Wake Forest. The team finished 23-2, losing only to fellow Final Four participants Duke and Wake Forest (in the ACC Championship). Just another sport where the ACC showed off its superiority.

In lacrosse, the results were disappointing again. The men's team followed up its Final Four appearance from 2006 with a thrashing at the hands of its little brother UMBC in the first round of the tournament despite the Terps being one of eight seeded teams in the tournament. The women's team couldn't quite get back to where they were a few years ago, but they did finish the season 16-4 before being upended by #2 Penn in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals.

Baseball started out strong, winning enough early season games to think about having a nice season, but the team collapsed completely as the ACC season continued, finishing just 27-30, dead last in the Atlantic division, and once again failing to make the ACC Tournament. Even Brett Cecil, drafted 38th overall in the MLB Draft by the Blue Jays, was shaky, blowing a number of late leads throughout the season.

The wrestling program continued its rise to respectability with a second place finish in the ACC Championships after a regular season that saw the team go undefeated in duel meets within the conference.

Aside from that, it was a lean year in the non-revenue sports with the cross country, track, softball, golf, swimming and diving, volleyball and women's soccer teams bringing up the rear of the conference. But while that might seem to be a lot of teams that weren't competitive within the conference, it's important to note that Maryland sponsors every single sports contested in the ACC with exception of rowing. This in itself is a nice accomplishment, and hopefully one day the Athletic Department can be successful in building up the sports that lag behind competitively.

All in all, it was a solid season for Maryland athletics. Now let's improve on that in '07-'08 -- Go Terps!