Maryland Sports

Baltimore Sun reporters Jeff Barker and Don Markus and editor Matt Bracken weigh in on the three biggest topics of the past week in Maryland  sports. Maryland begins Atlantic Coast Conference play in less than a month. Where do you see the Terps finishing? Jeff Barker: Let's begin with a caveat. In the last week, coach Mark Turgeon has seemed to take issue with media members and fans ready to proclaim the Terps a top team. “I just think our perception is a lot better than reality right now with us,” the coach said.

Baltimore Sun reporters Jeff Barker and Don Markus and editor Matt Bracken weigh in on the three biggest topics of the past week in Maryland  sports. What is the biggest surprise of this young Maryland basketball season? Jeff Barker: Well, it's not the contributions of all the newcomers. We all knew the freshmen - plus transfers Dez Wells and Logan Aronhalt - would assert themselves early. There was too much talent in the group for them not to. At one point during Tuesday night's Northwestern victory, coach Mark Turgeon had five players on the floor who weren't on the team last season: Charles Mitchell, Shaquille Cleare, Jake Layman, Seth Allen and Wells.

Baltimore Sun reporters Jeff Barker and Don Markus and editor Matt Bracken weigh in on the three biggest topics of the past week in Maryland  sports. How well will Maryland fit into the Big Ten? Jeff Barker: Maryland should do fine in basketball. Mark Turgeon recruits nationally anyways -- an approach that has impressed his coaching colleagues at other schools. Sure, Turgeon will need to redecorate his office a bit. It contains -- as a recruiting tool -- the logos of all the ACC schools.

Let the news sink in: The University of Maryland is headed for the Big Ten Conference in 2014. Even 72 hours after it became public knowledge that the school was negotiating to join the Big Ten and a day after it was made official, that's still pretty hard to believe. Hook up with those football powerhouses in the Midwest? Wasn't Maryland a founding member of the Atlantic Coast Conference? What happened to six decades of tradition? Small wonder that many Maryland fans, students, athletes and boosters are angry about what can only be described as an abrupt decision.

As the Maryland basketball beat writer for The Sun for more than a decade, I always enjoyed making multiple trips to the state of North Carolina every winter. I saw Len Bias single-handedly give North Carolina its first defeat in a then brand-new Dean Dome. I witnessed the obnoxious Duke students at Cameron Indoor Stadium chanting “CBA ... CBA ... CBA ...”  in the direction of future NBA player Walt Williams.  I had a front-row seat for more than a few great ACC tournament games.

Baltimore Sun reporters Jeff Barker and Don Markus and editor Matt Bracken weigh in on the three biggest topics of the past week in Maryland  sports. How would you evaluate Maryland football's senior class that will appear in its last home game on Saturday? Jeff Barker: This year's outgoing class possessed good talent, particularly on defense. There was Joe Vellano, A.J. Francis, Demetrius Hartsfield, Kenneth Tate, Justin Gilbert and Kevin Dorsey, among others. But it's hard not to feel for this class a bit. It just didn't end right for these guys.

Users voted online Oct. 29-Nov.9 to choose Maryland's best blogs and social media accounts in The Baltimore Sun's fourth annual Mobbies. Best Baltimore Sun Blog - Baltimore Diner A blog about Baltimore restaurant news, Maryland cooking and food 2) Baltimore Crime Beat 3) The Darkroom 4) BaltTech 5) Maryland Weather 6) Ravens Insider 7) Only in Baltimore 7) Orioles Insider 9) Midnight Sun 10) B'More Green 10) The Real Estate Wonk 12)

Baltimore Sun reporters Jeff Barker and Don Markus and editor Matt Bracken weigh in on the three biggest topics of the past week in Maryland  sports. Who will be Maryland's quarterback next season -- or at least who will be in the mix? Jeff Barker: Coaches won't discuss this yet -- they've been asked. They typically don't like looking that far ahead. They've got their hands full finding enough healthy bodies at the position to make it through the rest of this season.

Baltimore Sun reporters Jeff Barker and Don Markus and editor Matt Bracken weigh in on the three biggest topics of the past week in Maryland  sports. How much can linebacker-turned-quarterback Shawn Petty realistically do in his first start as a fill-in for the Terps against Georgia Tech? Jeff Barker: It's really quite an experiment, isn't it? Albeit a necessary one after four quarterbacks were lost to injury. Take one linebacker who was a high school quarterback and try to gauge just what he can handle.

Baltimore Sun reporters Jeff Barker and Don Markus and editor Matt Bracken weigh in on the three biggest topics of the past week in Maryland  sports. Can Maryland survive the loss of three quarterbacks and still make a run at becoming bowl eligible? Jeff Barker: The answer is yes, provided Maryland's offensive line can keep Caleb Rowe healthy. I've said before that there wasn't that much separation in training camp among Rowe, Perry Hills and Devin Burns. It's a shame that Hills and Burns went down last week -- it's terrible to see these guys endure injuries, especially when you know there are long, demanding rehabilitation periods ahead of them.