Late in my senior year of high school, I didn’t know where I wanted to go to college. I knew what I wanted to study and that I wanted to go to a big school, but staying in-state to attend this university just didn’t seem that appealing compared to going somewhere like Oregon or Missouri.
As is the case with 17-year-olds, it was going to take something besides academics to get me to choose where I wanted to go to college. And on March 3, 2010, I watched the Terrapins men’s basketball team beat Duke, 79-72, triggering a massive celebration at Comcast Center and in College Park.
And though I didn’t officially decide where I was going to college for another month, at some point after the game, I texted my prom date something to the effect of, “I think I can see myself there.”
Over the past four years, the Duke game became a landmark of the school year. Each one had something special attached to it, something that made it stand out above everything else. The excitement and electricity before, during and after the games has been absolutely unmatched.
Maybe it’s because my generation of classmates was raised on the Duke-Terps games of the early 2000s featuring Terps Juan Dixon and Steve Blake and Duke’s Jay Williams and Shane Battier. Maybe it’s because dislike of the Blue Devils becomes innate for some reason as soon as you set foot on the campus. Maybe it was the “riots.” Whatever the reason, it’s a part of this university. Whenever the Terps’ schedule was released, you looked for the Duke game.
It’s unfortunate the series likely has to end in Durham, N.C., tomorrow without a game in College Park this season — special shoutout to ACC commissioner John Swofford — because an awesome part of the rivalry was each team reacting to the opposing fans.
When I look back at college, I’m probably not going to remember every first day of school, rad party or cool class. I’m going to remember those games at Comcast Center, where the crowds were never louder or more frenzied than when coach Mike Krzyzewski brought the Blue Devils to College Park.
I went to the 2011 game, an 80-62 loss, by myself. On the first day of the spring semester in 2012, I watched a 74-61 defeat with my then-girlfriend’s roommate’s boyfriend. And in February, I watched thousands of fans storm the court from the last row of section 119 on the wall with some of my best friends. Each year was something different.
After this university moves to the Big Ten in July, a new team will emerge to replace Duke as the hottest ticket each year. It could be Michigan State, with coach Tom Izzo’s strong personality a top contender to dislike and the wound of Korie Lucious’ 2010 buzzer-beater that knocked Greivis Vasquez out of the NCAA tournament still relatively fresh. Or it could be Indiana, the team the Terps beat in 2002 for the national championship and a Midwest basketball blue blood.
We’ve already seen some adaptation to change in the absence of a home game against Duke, as the Feb. 24 matchup with No. 1 Syracuse has been sold out for the public for two weeks.
But for our generation — and the generations before us — the Terps-Duke rivalry remains the emotional pinnacle of college sports. The hate, vitriol and intensity are unlike anything on this campus.
And it’s going to disappear. Sure, the Big Ten/ACC Challenge remains a possibility, as does a matchup in the NCAA tournament or even the NIT. But it’ll be different, and different things are weird, at least in the beginning.
So tomorrow night, whether you’re one of the lucky few to sneak into Cameron Indoor Stadium or you’re in College Park watching at Cornerstone Grill and Loft, R.J. Bentley’s or your favorite watering hole, savor it, because it’s something you’ll probably always remember.
