As promised, I wanted to provide a transcript of what Ralph had to say during his three-minute slide show during Tuesday's press conference.

At best, it seemed a little unusual. Maybe this would be something to show fans (and perhaps that was the point, since it can be seen on the athletic department website now; you'll have to go about 15 minutes or so in).

But airing a laundry list of accomplishments over the last seven years isn't going to make me (and the other reporters assembled) forget the program has three losing seasons out of four. Or that the overall record in that span is 25-23.

So maybe there was a shaky audience choice. One other nit to pick: It takes a little gumption to count finishing tied for second in a division as a second-place finish, as the Terps did in 2006.

As much as I hate to lend credence to basketball coach Gary Williams' protests about football, he's right in this case. You split a league into two halves, go 5-3 and you finish second in your division and can boast about that. In basketball, the league is one entity, you finish at or around .500 and you are fifth or sixth. But in reality, you're about the same as that 5-3 football team. But it sounds a whole lot different being "second" than "fifth."

There is only one true second-place team in football in the expanded ACC, and that's the team that loses the league title game. Any other claim is disingenuous.

Anyway, here's what Ralph had to say about the program. What are your thoughts on his comments --- and his motivations for making such a case five months before the first snap of the 2008 season?

"$51 million expansion broke ground in December. 64 luxury suites, 500 mezzanine level seats and a presidential suite and a state of the art scoreboard you can see is already up.

Out of the top 25 crowds in Maryland football history, 20 have occurred in the last seven years. If you take the top 25 crowds EVER in Byrd Stadium or Chevy Chase Field, 20 of them have happened in the last seven years. Our home attendance last year was 51,280, third highest in school history. Our Maryland Gridiron Network, in 2001 we were 200 members raising $40,000. Now we're 1,200 members raising $500,000 which goes to football.

Our class, we had 14 Terps participate in winter graduation this year. Three of the Terps had eligibility remaining. Two of the Terps are currently enrolled in graduate school. Graduation rates and academic honors. In 1986 to 2000, 32 all-ACC academic honors in that time period. [From] 2001 to 2007, 32 all-ACC academic honors. Graduated 131 players, 19 players per year. 60.3 percent graduation rate is higher than the normal student population. 19 of our 23 2004 freshmen class will graduate, three of which transferred.

Thirteen All-American selections since 2001, OK, 26 first-team all-ACC choices since 2001, 28 current Terps on NFL rosters, including 14 local products. Seven first-day draft picks in the last five years, including No. 6 overall Vernon Davis and including No. 12 overall Shawne Merriman.

On the field, from 1986 to 2000, 15 years, four head coaches with zero ACC championships and one bowl game. Highest finish was fourth place. From 2001 to 2007, one ACC championship, five bowl appearances with three wins, three victories over top 10 teams, three second-place finishes and one of four ACC schools to play in a BCS bowl ever.

Those are just some of the things I think this regime has accomplished. We haven't even talked about facilities and things we've been able to improve in that area. I think we've grown a lot in seven years, but I still think we're only scratching the tip of the iceberg of what can be accomplished here.

--- Patrick Stevens