For many years, Maryland Coach Gary Williams and Georgetown Coach John Thompson refused to play each other. Many reasons weighed on that decision. Terps fans claim that Big John's preference to play cupcakes before the brutal Big East schedule ended the rivalry. Hoyas fans will say that a Hoya "home" game at Verizon Center filled with Terps fans hardly seems fair.
Before 1980, the teams played each other regularly. The last regular season game between the two, in 1993, ended with the emergence of Joe Smith and an underdog Maryland team beating the Hoyas at the ol' Cap Center, the first signature win of Gary Williams career. After that, the teams met in the NCAA tournament once, a Maryland victory, and a preseason tournament, a Hoyas victory. Video after the jump.
Skip ahead to 2011, and Big John and Gary are enjoying retirement. Now, coaches at both institutions, John Thompson III and Mark Turgeon, seem to understand the value in playing one another.
Both coaches have publicly commented on playing, and it seems that both are open to the idea. The fan bases of the Terps and Hoyas hold a lot of vitriol for the other, and the game would be downright fun. At an open practice, JT3 said scheduling Maryland is "easier now," according to Casual Hoya. Whether that is a reference to a feud between his dad and Williams will probably never be answered, but Terps coach Mark Turgeon mentioned the possibility as well speaking with the Washington Post.
"I would like to sit down with John [Thompson III] and see if it's good for them and good for Maryland," Turgeon said. "I know it's good for their fans. I know it's good for Maryland fans."
For now we sit and wait. But at least it seems like the ice between the Hilltop and College Park is beginning to thaw.