Category:University of Maryland History

The University of Maryland is a founding member of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Team Colors: Black, Gold, Red, and White (as appears on the state flag) Fight Songs: ?? Nickname: Terrapins Mascot: Testudo (latin for "protective shell")

Since 2000, the university's athletics program has regained the national prominence it enjoyed in the past.

Football
The football program won the national championship in 1953, and was a perennial bowl game invitee in the late 1970s and early 80s, but had achieved little success for many years until Ralph Friedgen, a 1970 Maryland graduate, was hired as head coach in November 2000. Friedgen dramatically reversed the fortunes of Terrapin football in his first three seasons, leading the team to 31 wins, an appearance in the BCS Orange Bowl, commanding victories in the Peach Bowl and the Gator Bowl, consecutive top-3 finishes in conference, and the only outright ACC regular season title since Florida State's entry into the conference in 1992.

Basketball
Men's basketball is the most popular sport at Maryland and is under the guidance of another Maryland graduate, Gary Williams of the class of 1968. Williams, who returned to his alma mate] in 1989 after successful stints at other universities, inherited a once-successful program that was suffering the aftereffects of the death of Len Bias as well as NCAA rules infractions under Williams's predecessor. After several years of competing under recruiting sanctions related to these events, Williams has elevated the Terp program to the level of conference foes Duke and North Carolina. Williams led Maryland to eleven consecutive NCAA tournament appearances (1993-2004) and eight consecutive seasons with 20 or more wins (1996–2004). In addition, he has taken the Terps to the tournament's Regional Semifinals (Sweet Sixteen) seven times, to the Final Four twice, and led the school to its first NCAA title in men's basketball in 2002. With one of the youngest teams in the nation, Williams led his team to his first ACC Tournament title in 2004.

Other Sports
Maryland excels in other areas as well. Women's basketball is in the midst of a resurgence under former Minnesota coach Brenda Frese, having advanced to the second round of the 2004 women's NCAA tournament. This was the first tournament win for the program in twelve years. Coach Sasho Cirovski has taken the men's soccer team to four Final Fours since 1998. In 2005, the squad claimed the NCAA College Cup National Championship with a 1-0 win over New Mexico. The field hockey team has made ten Final Four appearances (through 2005) and won the 1987, 1993, 1999, and 2005 national titles. The volleyball team won the ACC tournament in 2003 and qualified for their own NCAA tournament. In lacrosse, Maryland has been a consistent national leader. The women's lacrosse team has won a total of ten national championships since 1981, eight of which came under the direction of Cindy Timchal, who has coached the team to eight NCAA national championships, including a run of seven straight (1995 through 2001). Additionally, the women's lacrosse team has been an NCAA finalist in eleven of the last fourteen years, and produced more All-Americans in the sport than any other school. The men's program is consistently ranked among the top 10 programs nationally.

Fans
"Fear the Turtle" and "Hell in a Shell" are commonly used slogans by fans.