Maryland vs. West Virginia I

So this Saturday the Terps roll into West Virginia to take on the alleged #7 team in the country, the WVU Mountaineers. This article does a pretty good job of both making Terp fans look good, and highlighting what a pathetic conference the Big East has become.

First, read about their fans.

Shay said he believes the reputation of the fans is tied to the image of the state."I don't really notice it being asinine," said Shay, a West Virginia native who lives in Crownsville and is married to a 1988 graduate. "I think we catch a lot of guff because the people from around here think the people from West Virginia are hillbillies."

That's about right. I mean the part about their fans being hillbillies. Not many states in this country have the same astronomical percentage of adulterous relationships with sheep as would be found in Virginia's ugly cousin. Speaking of cousins...oh, nevermind.

Second, read about what a powerhouse conference the Big East is.

"This will be a wild and woolly place. ... They're looking for that Maryland team," said Don Nehlen, who coached West Virginia for 21 years before retiring after the 2000 season. "Since Miami and Virginia Tech left the league [the Big East] ... that's about all anybody's talking about is the Maryland game."

"It's all anybody asked about in the offseason," said fourth-year coach Rich Rodriguez, a former Mountaineer player. "'How are you going to do against Maryland? Will you be able to beat Maryland?'"

The answer of course is no. And furthermore, what kind of conference doesn't even look forward to its own games? And further furthermore, what kind of conference's best team is only looking forward to playing a non-conference team that beat them twice last season by a combined score of 75-14?

The Big Least, that's who.

WVU won't beat Maryland this weekend. That's a cold, hard fact.

UPDATE: Here's another good one. How about this for confidence:

[WVU Coach Rich Rodriguez] even acknowledged that if West Virginia does not win, he at least hopes to make the game close for once. Later asked if the community would be satisfied with a close loss to a border rival it hasn't beaten since 2000, Rodriguez said, "No."

And how about this lie:

"You always look for another shot," West Virginia quarterback Rasheed Marshall said. "But it's not one of those games that I put a big 'X' on my calendar for."

So where is his 'X'? On the UConn game? Rutgers? Syracuse?

This article even speaks of WVU playing for the national championship. Yikes. I don't think they'd get within 50 points of Oklahoma or USC.