West Virginia And Maryland Should Play In Basketball Too

The Mountaineers and Terrapins playing in basketball, and not just football, makes too much sense to ignore.

• For starters, the two campuses are only a 3:30 hour bus ride apart. 204 miles to be exact. An easy trip for both teams that require a heavy dose of traveling being in the Big 12 and B1G.
• The two schools have a lively rivalry in football that is a relatively big deal to both fan bases.
• WVU and Maryland have met a total of 51 times since 1919 in football. The Mountaineers currently hold a 27-22-2 series lead over the Terrapins.
• WVU and Maryland used to play each other with fairly regularity, playing 37 times from 1926-2003 (most of those games were in 60's & 80's). WVU leads the series 23-14.
• Maryland has one NCAA Championship (2002), two Final Four appearances (2001, 2002), and four Elite Eight appearances (1973, 1975, 2001, 2002) to go with four conference championships.
• WVU was an NCAA Championship runner up in 1959, two Final Four appearances (1959, 2010), and three Elite Eight appearances (1959, 2005, 2010) to go with 13 conference championships.
• Both schools have recruited many of the same players over the years, trading off in grabbing some over the other.
• Both the Mountaineers and the Terrapins have great basketball venues in the Coliseum (14,000) and the Comcast Center (17,950).
• Both the WVU and Maryland programs are on a big upswing. The Terrapins are currently ranked 14th in the AP Poll while the Mountaineers are ranked 16th. Maryland currently stands at 15-2 and WVU is 14-2.

There aren't many reasons for the Mountaineers and Terrapins to not face each other in football AND basketball. Geographically it makes sense, they play in other sports, they both have great program histories, they have many of each others recruit targets, they both have great venues, and both programs are going to be dominate forces for the next couple of years.

What do you think about Maryland and WVU playing in basketball?