COLLEGE PARK — Maryland and Morgan State have agreed in principle to meet in football during the 2010 season, officials from the schools said Tuesday.
It would be the first time the universities - located just 36 miles apart - have played in football.
The game, which would be played at Byrd Stadium in College Park, would mean that Maryland's nonconference schedule would include two in-state schools. The Terps are already scheduled to face Navy next season at M&T Bank Stadium.
Maryland is also scheduled to renew its rivalry with West Virginia next season in Morgantown.
No announcement has yet been made by Maryland or Morgan State pending the signing of contracts.
Reached by The Baltimore Sun, two Morgan athletic officials and a Maryland official said Tuesday that an agreement had been reached in principle and that details could be completed soon. They all said the game would be played in September.
Playing Maryland would give Morgan State, a Football Championship Subdivision team that plays in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, a chance to gain valuable media exposure. The men's basketball team upset Maryland last season and later reached the NCAA tournament.
The Bears began 5-1 in football last season and finished 6-5, 4-4 in the MEAC. The team's toughest nonconference game last season was against Akron, which won, 41-0.
Morgan State football coach Donald Hill-Eley declined to comment. "As soon as the school has a signed contract, he'll be the first one to speak with you," Morgan State athletics spokesman Leonard Haynes IV said.
Maryland athletic director Debbie Yow said in an e-mail: "We do not comment publicly about football schedules until they are finalized because they sometimes change late, so if we have commented/confirmed, and it changes later, people complain that they moved weddings, etc. We are waiting on the [Atlantic Coast Conference] schedule now." Maryland's ACC opponents on the road next season will be Clemson, Boston College, Virginia and Miami. The Terps will host Wake Forest, N.C. State, Florida State and Duke.
HOME: Morgan State*, Wake Forest, N.C. State, Florida State and Duke.
AWAY: West Virginia, Clemson, Boston College, Virginia and Miami.
Dates and times will be announced later.
*Assuming Morgan State deal is concluded.
