One of the area's most missed rivalries is officially back on as Maryland and Georgetown have announced a four-year series set to begin during the 2025-26 season, marking the first matchup between the two regional foes since 2016. Maryland, who leads the all-time series 38-27, will host Georgetown in the fall of 2025 and 2027-28, while traveling to the Capital One Arena to face the Hoyas in both 2026-27 and 2028-29. “We’re close. Just trying to see if I can get some more golf out of Ed before I sign. But we should start the Georgetown series again, Empire Classic. So next year will be a little bit more balanced,” Willard said heading into the 2023-24 season. Momentum for a rekindled series began when the Hoyas turned to Ed Cooley to replace Patrick Ewing as the program's next head coach, giving a pair of former Big East coaches the keys to the two storied local programs. Willard admitted it was "a date thing" on Maryland's end that prevented the two sides from squaring off during the 2023-24 season, but aspirations for a return of the local rivalry have loomed large over the last 12 months. “Ed’s a really good friend and I understand from the fan bases how important that game is for this area. I get it. He gets it. We were going to start it this year. It was like done and it was a date thing. It was our date. I couldn’t find the date. So next year I’m pretty confident that we’ll start, but percentage-wise, maybe another dinner on Ed. He’s got a new contract. So that’s how close we are. Probably just one more night in DC,” Willard joked at the time. Maryland hosted Georgetown back in 2015 and pulled out a 75-71 win behind 24 points from Melo Trimble, one of four double-digit scorers in the win. The following year, the Terps trailed by as many as nine with 2:21 left and seven with 1:11 left, but that would prove to be temporary as an 8-2 run over the final 19 seconds handed Maryland a 76-76 win over Georgetown. Trimble yet again finished with a game-high 22 points in the win, while then-freshman Justin Jackson added 17 points and seven rebounds off the bench. Related Links
Latest Maryland football rumblings from the recruiting trailChargers CB Tarheeb Still named a minicamp surprise by ESPNFlorida OT Lamar Williams commits to Maryland, breaks down decisionHighland Springs DB Brennan Johnson talks Maryland OV highlight, next stepsNotes from final OV weekend (+)Four-star Jeff Exinor down to final two ahead of Friday commitment