Randy Edsall Happy Maryland "Not In A Basketball Conference Anymore"

The University of Maryland officially left the ACC for the Big Ten back on July 1, so you probably thought you'd heard the last from Terrapins football coach Randy Edsall ...

... Nope.

The fourth year Terrapins coach has been effusive in his praise of his new conference, telling a recent PressBox lunch event crowd how Maryland's new conference home is wayyyy better than his old one.

"As a football coach, I feel better," Edsall said to applause. "Because I'm going to a football conference; I'm not in a basketball conference anymore. And so from that standpoint, has this summer been difficult on me and my coaches? It has been, because we've had to do a lot more preparation in terms of looking at all the tape and studying the tape, personnel, schemes and all those things. But that's part of it. That you have to do regardless.

Hope Edsall and his coaching staff are studying the tape, like, 24/7, because his Terps were hardly successful playing football in a basketball conference. In three seasons in College Park, Edsall compiled a 13-24 record overall and 6-18 in conference play, including an 0-3 mark vs. Boston College (0-2 vs. Spaz #dropsmic). Over the last three seasons, the Terps never finished higher than fifth in the Atlantic Division -- out of six teams, but SEVEN last year! -- in a division which, outside of Florida State and Clemson, hasn't exactly been known for its powerhouse programs the last few years.

This season, the Terps join the Big Ten's newly realigned East Division, a division which includes Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State, or, all of the Big Ten champs of the last 10 years not named Wisconsin (7-of-10). Unfortunately for Maryland, their inaugural Big Ten sched not only includes games against all four of those division opponents, but Wisconsin as well. At least the Terps have yearly games against Indiana and Rutgers; winnable games that serve to provide fans some fleeting hope of reaching bowl eligibility before the season begins.

So if Edsall was successful in winning one out of every four football games playing in a basketball conference, what do you think will happen when Maryland starts playing football in a football conference?