Bubble Boys???
The Maryland Terrapins never cease to disappoint me and hordes of other fans. It may be premature to say this, but last night may be a possible sign of things to come during ACC play. I didn't watch most of the game, but I did get a chance to catch the radio broadcast. I imagine it was just as painful as watching the drama unfold on television.
To their credit, Maryland played pretty well defensively, limiting Miami to just 63 points. However, when you can manage just 13 field goals over the span of 40 minutes, that's never good. 15 turnovers to nine assists also leaves a lot to be desired. To sum it up, Maryland just looked flat against a team they really should have drubbed by 15.
In my opinion, the Terps are already on the tournament bubble. Let's take a look at their schedule. Their "quality" wins don't exactly jump out at you. Their big wins are against a young Michigan State team and an Illinois team that lost most of their starters. Granted, those two teams will probably make the NCAA tournament, but neither of those would be considered "wow" wins.
Their losses? A pretty good Notre Dame team at the MCI Center (AKA a home game), an up and down Boston College squad, and last night's debacle at home against the struggling 'Canes who had lost five of seven coming in.
Does that sound like the profile of a team that should go to the NCAA tournament if the season ended today?
Thankfully, though, the end of the regular season isn't for another two months, and the Terps will have plenty of opportunity to right their ship. In all honesty, all they have to do to get to the tournament is finish 9-7 in their league. That would put them at 23-10 going into the ACC tournament, and history shows that teams finishing .500 or better in one of the better leagues in the country tend to make the field of 65 (which honestly should have stayed at 64, but that's another blog entry entirely).
Saturday's game against Clemson, however, is going to be huge. 0-3 in the league would be almost impossible to overcome, and they have the Tigers at home, which is encouraging. It sounds crazy , but it's Jan. 11, and the Terps are already in a must-win situation.
To their credit, Maryland played pretty well defensively, limiting Miami to just 63 points. However, when you can manage just 13 field goals over the span of 40 minutes, that's never good. 15 turnovers to nine assists also leaves a lot to be desired. To sum it up, Maryland just looked flat against a team they really should have drubbed by 15.
In my opinion, the Terps are already on the tournament bubble. Let's take a look at their schedule. Their "quality" wins don't exactly jump out at you. Their big wins are against a young Michigan State team and an Illinois team that lost most of their starters. Granted, those two teams will probably make the NCAA tournament, but neither of those would be considered "wow" wins.
Their losses? A pretty good Notre Dame team at the MCI Center (AKA a home game), an up and down Boston College squad, and last night's debacle at home against the struggling 'Canes who had lost five of seven coming in.
Does that sound like the profile of a team that should go to the NCAA tournament if the season ended today?
Thankfully, though, the end of the regular season isn't for another two months, and the Terps will have plenty of opportunity to right their ship. In all honesty, all they have to do to get to the tournament is finish 9-7 in their league. That would put them at 23-10 going into the ACC tournament, and history shows that teams finishing .500 or better in one of the better leagues in the country tend to make the field of 65 (which honestly should have stayed at 64, but that's another blog entry entirely).
Saturday's game against Clemson, however, is going to be huge. 0-3 in the league would be almost impossible to overcome, and they have the Tigers at home, which is encouraging. It sounds crazy , but it's Jan. 11, and the Terps are already in a must-win situation.
posted by Justin Cherot @ 12:51 PM
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