79 And Counting! Just when the BasketCases and other Mystics fans needed a little something to re-focus our basketball energy, the Terps today published their schedule for the upcoming 2007-08 season. And what an exciting schedule it is!

The past few seasons, the Terps have come under some criticism for having too much dessert and too few entrees on their non-conference menu. Well, one look at the new schedule tells you that those days are over!

In only their second game of the season, the Terps will square off against Oklahoma in the nationally televised State Farm Tip-Off Classic on November 11 at UNC. Yes, a chance to see Lang and Harp (the Terps, not the pub) go up against their Gold Medal winning U21 teammate Courtney Paris. The Terps will also be playing in another prestigious televised game. On December 3rd, in the Jimmy V Classic (which raises money for cancer research), Maryland meets one of last season's Final Four teams, the Scarlet Knights, at Rutgers. Sounds like a couple of road trips for the BasketCases!

Speaking of road trips, the Terps have one that takes them pretty far from Comcast. Coach B and her squad will spend Thanksgiving in sunny California, where they will play UC Santa Barbara and a team predicted to be quite competitive this season, the UCLA Bruins. Back at Comcast, the Terps close out the month of November against Ohio State on the 30th, as they represent the ACC in the (women's) inaugural Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Then in December, the Terps play host to two teams that gave them a bit of a scare last year, Middle Tennessee State and Temple. Let's hope this year things go a little more smoothly!

Probably, though, the Terps' toughest non-conference matchup will come at home on opening night, November 9, when they will take on that perennial powerhouse from the Ivy League, Princeton University! (Okay, we're just kidding . . . one of the BasketCases [the smart one] graduated from Princeton, so we're just giving her alma mater the benefit of the doubt. We can only hope the Terps don't hurt the Tigers too badly.) Seriously, the game against the Princeton Tigers is the opening match of the preseason Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT). Assuming the Terps advance (and why wouldn't they?), Maryland could also meet Notre Dame, Michigan State or LSU (another 2007 Final Four contender) in the later rounds. And all this before ACC conference play starts on January 3. Of course we needn't remind our loyal readers how tough and exciting that schedule will be!

If you still haven't purchased your season tickets, all we can say is: what are you waiting for?