GET UMD NEXT YEAR: Georgetown-Maryland Rivalry to Reboot in 2025

Hoyas announce home-and-home series starting at Maryland in the season after next

Your Georgetown Hoyas have made some schedule news—for 2025—by agreeing with the Maryland Terrapins to share a 4-year home-and-home series. It seems as though Ed Cooley and his pal Kevin Willard managed to persevere through immense scheduling challenges to get the two 15-miles-apart-former-rivals together and infuse excitement into the DMV college basketball conversation, albeit one year away. Bring on the Twerps! Hoya Saxa!

The series will begin in 2025-26 at Maryland and Georgetown will host at Capital One Arena in 2026-27 before returning to the Comcast Center at College Park in 2027-28 and coming back to Chinatown in 2028-29.

Ed Cooley had previously expressed to John Fanta that the series would start sooner (e.g., 2024), but the rumored series was pushed back a year a few weeks ago. While “scheduling difficulties” was fingered as the culprit for the delay, some fans questioned the excuse—especially after Maryland released their tumultuous, complex, and down-right-difficult schedule.

This year, as of right now, Georgetown’s schedule looks like this:

• Mount St. Mary’s (Georgetown MTE in mid/late-November)
• St. Francis (Georgetown MTE in mid/late-November)
• at WVU (Big East–Big 12 Battle; expected to be the week after Thanksgiving)
• Notre Dame (home; likely mid-December)
• at Syracuse (December 14th)

Georgetown could use some future scheduling help as Big East–Big 12 Battle will not be played after the 2024-25 season. The Gavitt Games will not be played during the 2024-25 season and any future for the event is doubtful. The Notre Dame agreement appears to be only a two-year, home-and-home series finishing this season. The Hoyas need high-profile games each year for their pre-conference-play preparations, as well as their audience.

Joining the MTE Feast Week circuit would be a nice touch to help drive NET metrics, but setting up must-see home games are how a program should work to engage and build back a fanbase. Contributors to this humble lunch blog have often been known to champion the concept of having alternating keynote non-conference matchups.

Having Maryland and Syracuse on the calendar each year would fulfill a lot of hopes from fans of various ages—it may also reveal what Ed Cooley thinks about his team’s progress year to year. Unless something happened behind the scenes, Georgetown’s agreement with Syracuse is likely set to lapse after this year.

Cooley, after last year’s loss to the Orange, said, “As long as I’m the head coach I want to play Syracuse every year.”

Syracuse Head Coach Adrian Autry echoed the sentiment, saying, “We want to continue to series, we want this series alive, and it’s a good series. I think as it continues to build and I continue to build, this series will get the pop and the respect that it deserves.” This is all very promising.

The folks in McDonough need to make sure the Syracuse and Maryland rivalries will continue in the future and alternate home and home. Scheduling a key December home non-conference game each year can certainly help with fan and alumni engagement, as well as help prepare a squad for the BIG EAST gauntlet.

Still, there are unanswered questions about Ed Cooley’s scheduling strategy and timetable for the Hoyas being “back.” And conference realignment is not looking to do the BIG EAST any favors any time soon. The BIG EAST is healthy,

With Maryland being announced 17 months ahead of tipoff, it’s a great sign of forward thinking by Cooley, Willard, and the respective programs. But, frankly, it seems a bit too far off to

Press Release from GUHoyas:

Georgetown and Maryland Agree to Four-Year Series Starting in 2025-26

WASHINGTON – Georgetown University’s men’s basketball team has inked a four-year deal with local foe, the University of Maryland Terrapins, starting in the 2025-26 season as announced by both teams on Tuesday. The first game will be during the 2025-26 season with the Terps hosting at Xfinity Center on Maryland’s campus and they will return as hosts in 2027-28 season. The Hoyas welcome the Terps to Capital One Arena during the 2026-27 and 2028-29 matchups.

ABOUT THE HOYAS

• Georgetown went 9-23 in the 2023-24 season with a 2-18 mark in BIG EAST play.
• Head Coach Ed Cooley has been on the short end of the stick in two matchups against UMD – once during his time at Fairfield (71-42) and again in his earlier seasons at Providence (58-52).
• For the upcoming season, the Hoyas return leading scorer Jayden Epps (18.5 ppg; 4.2 apg; 34.9 mpg), now in his junior season, and key reserve Drew Fielder (5.2 ppg; 3.1 rpg; 14.5 mpg) now in his sophomore year, from its rotation a season ago.
• The Blue & Gray added a wealth of talent in its freshman and transfer class combined as 247Sports.com ranks GU at No. 20 in its overall recruiting rankings.

ABOUT THE TERRAPINS

• Maryland went 16-17 during the 2023-24 season with a 7-13 mark in Big Ten action.
• The Terrapins are led by Head Coach Kevin Willard who will be in his third season at the helm in College Park during the 2024-25 season. He was previously the head coach at BIG EAST Conference foe Seton Hall from 2010-22.
• Associate Head Coach David Cox is formerly an assistant coach with the Hoyas from 2007-10.

ABOUT THE SERIES

• This will be the 68th meeting all-time between the two programs, dating back to the 1907-08 season, just the second year of Georgetown men’s basketball.
• The last two meetings were part of the Gavitt Tipoff Games during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons.
• The last matchup was a one-point affair with the Terps on the winning end at GU’s downtown home, now Capital One Arena. L.J. Peak led a quartet of Hoyas in double figures with 21 points followed up by Rodney Pryor (14), Isaac Copeland (13) and Jessie Govan (12). Late free throws in the waning minutes proved to be the difference as Maryland mounted a late comeback with eight free throws in the finals two minutes to seal the 76-75 win.
• The last Georgetown win was during the 2008-09 season at the Old Spice Classic in Orlando, Florida. The No. 21 Hoyas put four in double figures in Austin Freeman (18), DaJuan Summers (14), Greg Monroe (12) and Jessie Sapp (10) to seal the 75-48 win.
• This will be the first ever meeting between Cooley and Willard at their respective institutions. Cooley owns an 11-9 record against Willard going back to his time at Fairfield facing Willard’s Iona squads and through their previous stints at Providence and Seton Hall, respectively.

Press Release from UMTerps:

Much Anticipated Rivalry With Georgetown Set To Renew With Four-Game Series

SERIES HISTORY

COLLEGE PARK, MD – For the first time in nearly a decade, Maryland and Georgetown will meet on the hardwood as both teams have announced today a four-game series starting with the 2025-26 season.

The two programs will open the series next season (Fall 2025) at the XFINITY Center before then playing at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC, during the 2026-27 campaign. In 2027-28, the Terps will again host, while the Hoyas will host in 2028-29.

All-time, Maryland is 38-27 against Georgetown. The last time the two teams met was Nov. 15, 2016. From 1935-1980, the teams met at least once annually with the exception of a three-year pause due to World War II. The series dates back to the first game on Feb. 15, 1911 – a 31-25 win for Georgetown.

The teams have twice played in the NCAA Tournament. The first was in 1980 in Philadelphia and the second was in 2001 in Anaheim, California, during the Terps’ run to their first Final Four appearance.

Perhaps one of the most iconic meetings came in 1993 – the only time the two teams played between 1980 and 2001 – where Maryland upset No. 15 Georgetown 84-83 in overtime at USAir Arena in Landover. Joe Smith scored 26 points and Duane Simpkins hit the game-winner in overtime. That sparked a run during the season that saw the Terps ranked in the AP Top 25 for the first time since 1985-86 and a trip to the Sweet 16. It also marked the first of 11 straight trips to the NCAA Tournament for Maryland.

Season tickets for the 2024-25 season are now on sale starting at $199. Maryland Young Alumni (those who graduated within the last five years) receive a 48 percent discount on season tickets, while current Maryland Parents who have a student enrolled for the year are eligible for a 20 percent discount on two season tickets.

The Terps’ returning players are highlighted by rising senior Julian Reese, rising sophomore DeShawn Harris-Smith, and fifth-year senior Jordan Geronimo. Maryland has one of the top incoming transfer classes in the Big Ten: Ja’Kobi Gillespie (Belmont), Selton Miguel (South Florida), Rodney Rice (Virginia Tech) and Tafara Gapare (Georgia Tech). Additionally, the Terps signed five-star McDonald’s All-American Derik Queen (Baltimore) and four-star guard Malachi Palmer (Harrisburg, Pa.).

The non-conference slate for the 2024-25 season will officially open on Monday, Nov. 4 against Manhattan at the XFINITY Center. Tip-off times and television assignments, as well as dates for Big Ten games, will be announced at a later time. All games will air on the Maryland Sports Radio Network with legendary Voice of the Terps Johnny Holliday calling the action alongside Chris Knoche and Walt Williams.