Big Ten Thursday Lunch Club Memo

To - Big Ten Thursday Lunch Club members

Re - Rivalry Weekend

Hey everyone, how’s it going? Welcome back to another Big Ten Thursday Lunch Club meeting. I hope everyone had a great Easter & Passover.

As we near the end of April time is running out for teams and their postseason hopes. Indeed, Selection Sunday is ten days from today and the Big Ten Tournament starts a week from today. The regular season music is about to end and three of the four chairs for the Big Ten Tournament are already taken. Penn State & Maryland clinched a spot in the B1G Tournament last weekend. Additionally, while Rutgers is 2-2 in the conference, they are assured a spot in conference tournament due to Big Ten tiebreakers.

Essentially, aside from seeding, the only thing left to figure out about the Big Ten Tournament is whether Ohio State or Hopkins gets a spot in the conference tournament. If you want a clearer understanding of all the issues involved with the Big Ten tiebreakers and potential seeding this weekend, check out this great Twitter thread by Chris. Additionally, Matt Kinnear of Inside Lacrosse also posted an informative article about what needs to happen for Ohio State to get a bid to the Big Ten Tournament.

Bottom line: Hopkins is in the conference tournament with a win this weekend versus Maryland and Ohio State is in with a win this Friday versus Michigan, plus a Hopkins loss to Maryland and a Rutgers win over Penn State. As you can see, there’s a lot on the line this weekend for the Blue Jays & Buckeyes.

Moving on to this weekend, you can find the Big Ten Thursday Lunch Club Big Board for April 25, 2019 directly below. Links in the 2019 Overall Record column will take you to that team’s official 2019 schedule page. Links in the Last Game column will take you to the recap of that team’s most recent game, while links in the 2018 Overall Record column will take you to Chris’ 2018 Year in Review post for that particular team.

Johns Hopkins vs. Maryland

You know a rivalry is true when both teams can’t decide when the series started or the overall series record. According to Hopkins’ game notes from their last meeting with Maryland (the 2018 Big Ten Tournament title game) the series began in the 19th century:

This week’s game between Johns Hopkins and Maryland will be the 117th in a series that dates to a 10-0 Johns Hopkins victory in 1895. The Blue Jays lead the all-time series 71-44-1.

Maryland has a more progressive view on the issue. According to Maryland’s game notes from the same game the series didn’t start until 1924.

Maryland and Hopkins are the two most storied lacrosse programs in the nation, with the rivalry beginning back in 1895 as Hopkins defeated the Maryland Agricultural College. The Blue Jays (44) and Terps (40) have played in the first and second most NCAA Tournaments since the event began in 1971, respectively. Maryland and Hopkins have also produced the most first team All-Americans in the history of lacrosse dating to the first awards in 1922.

While this will be the 117th meeting between the two schools, Maryland’s official record vs. Hopkins is 45-64-1. The first seven meetings between the two occurred before lacrosse was recognized as an official varsity sport at Maryland.

Of course Hopkins won last year’s Big Ten Tournament championship game giving the Blue Jays a 72-44-1 advantage or a 65-45-1 advantage in the series, depending which SID you talk to. Anyway, you get the picture, these two have played each many times. This is the sport's biggest rivalry and a match-up that always delivers.

If you're going to the game, please be advised that Saturday is Maryland Day at College Park, so expect some delays and plan for traffic as the school is expecting big crowds all weekend.

Michigan vs. Ohio State

Michigan can’t turn back the clock on their underwhelming 2019 campaign, but they can make a lot of UM students, fans, & alums happy with a victory over their heated rivals this weekend. OSU vs. Michigan is a big deal in every sport, so you can put Michigan’s 3-9 record to the back of your mind, as the Wolverines will definitely be treating Friday’s game like it were an NCAA Tournament match-up.

It’s pretty simple for the OSU. Win this Friday and keep your dreams at making the Big Ten Tournament alive through the weekend. Lose and you’ll be out of the conference tournament discussion before the weekend even officially starts.

Rutgers vs. Penn State

This is going to be an interesting game. Penn State will be favored, but will they play all their starters? Will the starters play the entire game? This game has no impact on PSU’s position in the Big Ten Tournament, as the Nittany Lions have already captured the number one seed. If PSU rests some of their players you could see RU come out with the win in Happy Valley.

Hopefully you will have a chance to watch some of the action this weekend. The fun begins on Friday night with OSU vs. Michigan. Catch you next week with another Big Ten Lunch Club memo. I’ll see you out there.

Very truly yours,

@Eri_Barrister