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Terps Picked To Finish Third By ACC Writers
Read Quotes from ACC Kickoff
July 21, 2003 GREENSBORO, Ga. - The University of Maryland football team was picked to finish third by media members from Atlantic Coast Conference institutions today as the ACC Kickoff - the conference's annual media event for football -- draws to a close in Greensboro, Ga. The Terrapins trailed Florida State (672) and NC State (664) in the voting, but earned 18 first place votes while receiving 607 points from the 84 ballots received. This year marks the second-in-a-row that the Terps were selected to finish third in the conference while the team has been picked to finish lower that it has ultimately finished in each of the previous two seasons (Maryland was picked to finish seventh in 2001 before winning the conference and third last year before placing tied for second with an 11-3 record). The event, held at the Ritz-Carlton Lodge in the Reynolds Plantation development of Greensboro (approximately an hour-and-a-half outside of Atlanta), played host to the head coaches of each of the nine current ACC schools as well as two players from each institution. The Terps were represented by head coach Ralph Friedgen, tailback Bruce Perry and free safety Madieu Williams. Last season, Maryland finished 6-2 in conference play while winning 10 of its final 11 games culminating in a 30-3 win over SEC-power Tennessee in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. In Friedgen's first two years at the helm of the Terrapin program, Maryland has gone 13-3 in ACC play, a mark matched only by Florida State which has an identical conference record over that time period. The Terps open their 2003 campaign on August 28th as they will travel to DeKalb, Ill., to take on the Northern Illinois Huskies in a nationally-televised Thursday night affair. Results of the 2003 ACC Football Kickoff Preseason Media Ballot: Florida State (35) 672 NC State (26) 664 Maryland (18) 607 Virginia (5) 570 Clemson 379 North Carolina 269 Wake Forest 259 Georgia Tech 223 Duke 137
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