From the College Park Football Rumor Mill

Sorry about that two-day operational pause there. I've been rather busy of late.

Anyway, despite predictions of the Terps bowling in Nashville, I have strong information that the Terps are being strongly courted by the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte. The current scenario is that if the Terps finish with no more than 7 wins (they currently have 6) and should Navy become bowl eligible (they currently have 5 wins and have Dook and Temple on the schedule ahead of them), that Meineke will invite Maryland and Navy to play each other in Charlotte, NC.

Meineke was in College Park this past weekend along with the Champs Sports Bowl scouting the Terps. Should Maryland get to 8 wins, they would be looking at another Peach Bowl bid and 9 could get them the Gator Bowl (Virginia Tech has the inside track on that one, but the Gator Bowl will be at Clemson tomorrow watching the Terps and the Tigers). Alas, the Terps would need to get to 11 wins (run the table including the ACC Championship Game) to end up the BCS this year with the Orange Bowl.

In other rumors, the Terps have begun negotiations with a border rival to resume their series at a neutral site either in Bhawlmuher or the Joisey swamps. The schools are looking for open dates in their future football schedules and are trying to line up TV and corporate sponsorships to ensure a $2 million payout to both schools. This border rival has been ducking all sorts of comers in recent years by insisting on a 2 for 1 deal. This game however would be like the Maryland-Navy game was last year, a one shot deal to see just how well it works for both schools with the possibility of it becoming a regular event every year in the future.