The future of Navy and Maryland football rivalry will likely be decided in the next few days when Maryland athletics director Debbie Yow and Navy athletics director Chet Glachuk meet to determine if the schools will play each other to open the 2010 and 2014 seasons.

Yow said Wednesday she had no choice but to seek another opponent after negotiations for a potential two-game series against the Midshipmen came to an impasse. Yow added Maryland had three opponents pull out of potential games while the Terrapins waited for a response from Navy.

“We’ve sent three e-mails to Navy in the last week and Chet has yet to respond to any of them,” said Yow. “I’ve said and will still say that we want to schedule a game with Navy and we’re sorry it didn’t come to fruition. I’m just not sure why this happened.”

But Gladchuk disagrees with Yow’s assessment.

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“Our position has never changed on this issue,” he said. “We’ve had dozens of communications over the last few months, but for whatever reason they’ve wanted to delay any progress. I have no idea why they don’t want to play us except for the fact that they have nothing to gain and everything to lose. They appear ready to move on and so do we.”

Both Gladchuck and Yow confirmed there was a tentative deal for games between the state’s two Bowl Championship Subdivision teams to play in 2010 and 2014.

“I don’t understand what’s going on here,” Gladchuck said. “There was a deal on the table that was equitable to both sides.”

Much of the animosity between Navy and Maryland dates to the end of last season when the Terrapins chose to play in the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, Fla. instead of in the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte, N.C.

Yow said Maryland selected the higher bowl on the team’s pecking order while Gladchuck believes Maryland didn’t want to play Navy. The schools played in front of more than 67,000 fans to open the 2005 season at M&T Bank Stadium — the schools’ first meeting since 1965.

Yow will not apologize for deciding to play in Orlando instead of Charlotte, saying she selected the bowl game favored by her players and coaching staff.

“This process was very nerve-wracking,” Yow said. “It takes two sides to come to an agreement. We tried to be patient, but Navy eventually forced our hand.”

— rsnyder@baltimoreexaminer.com