Maryland women’s basketball stayed inside the top ten in Monday’s updated AP rankings as the men’s team continues to draw more points.
Maryland men’s basketball drew 24 votes in Monday’s updated AP poll, unofficially checking in at 35th nationally as they climb the rankings. Oregon (10), Purdue (16), UCLA (18), Michigan State (20) and Michigan (24) were all included while Maryland was one of five teams in the conference to draw votes. Marquette and Purdue, the only teams to beat Maryland so far this season, both fell in Monday’s ranking as the Golden Eagles fell three spots to ninth and Boilermakers five spots to 16th.
While Maryland found themselves on the outside-looking-in in Monday’s updated AP poll, they’re still ranked favorably in the rest of the postseason metrics. Entering Tuesday, Maryland is one of five Big Ten teams to be ranked inside the top-25 in the NET (15), Torvik (18), KenPom (20) and EvanMiya (25).
While Maryland now sits 0-2 in Quad One games this season, that hasn’t dampened their postseason projections with Maryland still expected to make the 68-team field.
Sure, it’s early, but the early postseason outlook has kept the Terps inside NCAA Tournament projections as head coach Kevin Willard looks to guide the program to its second tournament appearance over the last four seasons.
Two weeks after Maryland drew a potential second-round matchup against Duke, Maryland landed as an eight-seed in Tuesday’s updated bracket with a first-round matchup against Arkansas and a likely Round of 32 matchup against Kentucky. It’s an intriguing pairing given John Calipari’s departure from the Wildcats for Razorbacks last offseason as the Terps haven’t faced the longtime Kentucky head coach since the three-point loss to open the 2012 season. Mark Pope, who left BYU for Kentucky, has never faced Maryland though he became a popular coaching candidate among the fanbase following the Turgeon era. Maryland is one of eight Big Ten teams included while both Nebraska and Indiana are among the ‘First Four Out’.
As for Maryland women’s basketball, the Terps dropped one spot despite not playing last week, but that was because Notre Dame jumped five spots after defeating sixth-ranked Texas by ten in overtime. Only Texas (6) is ranked higher among Big Ten teams while the Longhorns and Terps are two of eight ranked teams. After a 12-day break, head coach Brenda Frese will lead her team back in action on Thursday vs. William & Mary for an 11 AM tipoff.
Maryland drew a two-seed in Tuesday’s updated bracketology, drawing a first-round matchup vs. Purdue Fort-Wayne with Ole Miss-Stanford next up. Maryland was one of 12 Big Ten teams included in the updated bracket, the most selections among any conference with top-ranked UCLA drawing the top overall seed.
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