On Selection Sunday, it was officially announced that Maryland would return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009-2010.  Despite a 27-6 record in the Big Ten Conference, the Terps were selected as a No. 4 seed in the Midwest region and will open with Valparaiso on Friday, March 20.

(Discuss this on the BSL Board here.)

Terps WP

“It feels great to be back in the tournament,” Head Coach Mark Turgeon said.  “It’s been three years since I’ve been in it and just want to be a part of it.”

The selection committee must not be a strong believer in the Terps since they were placed as not only a No. 4 seed, but also in overall No. 1 Kentucky’s region.  The Terps and Wildcats are joined in the region by No. 2 Kansas and No. 3 Notre Dame.  

The Terps entered postseason play as the No. 8 team in the Associated Press Polls, but are now essentially placed as the No. 16 team, being the lowest No. 4 seed in the tournament.

“I think we put too much into Lunardi and his Bracketology, we thought we were going to be a three,” Turgeon said. “Our guys are fine, I just think they were a little shocked.”

The puzzling part of the Terps being placed as a No. 4 seed is that three teams from the Big 12 Conference were given No. 3 seeds with more losses than Maryland.  

Iowa State, a 25-8 team that the Terps beat 72-63 on a neutral floor on Nov. 24, were selected as the No. 3 seed in the South region.  However, the Cyclones did win the Big 12 tournament championship, 70-66 over Kansas.

Oklahoma is the No. 3 seed in the East region with a 22-10 record and Baylor is the No. 3 seed in the West region with a 24-9 record. This shows the lack of confidence the selection committee has in the teams atop the Big Ten, outside of Wisconsin.

The Big Ten had seven teams selected to the tournament, tied with the Big 12 for the most of any conference.  The ACC had the second most bids with six teams getting invites.  Due to how competitive the conference was in the Terps’ first year, the Big Ten getting seven teams selected came as no shock to Turgeon.

“I wasn’t surprised,” Turgeon said.  “It’s a great league. The reason we were able to do that is because we all played pretty good non-conference schedules, but we really didn’t have a bad team in the league. Everyone was pretty solid.”

Even though the Big Ten got the most teams selected, they did not get many favorable seedings. Iowa and Michigan State had the next highest seeding behind the Terps, with both teams getting No. 7 seeds.  Despite the unfavorable seeding for the Terps and others, Turgeon has his team’s focused on their opponent ahead.  

“The number in front of your name is just a number, it’s who you’re playing is what’s really important,” Turgeon said.  “We’re playing a good Valpo team, but the seeding really didn’t affect our reaction.”

Quick Glance at Valparaiso

The Valparaiso Crusaders (28-5, 13-3 Horizon League) are the champions of the Horizon League and will make their ninth appearance in the NCAA Tournament.  Head Coach Bryce Drew is in his fourth year with the team and will coach in his second NCAA Tournament with the program.

The Crusaders are led by sophomore forward Alec Peters who averages 16.7 points per game and 6.8 rebounds per game.  Peters is team’s top three-point shooter, shooting 46.2 percent (79-for-171) from beyond the arc.

The team’s other scoring options come from two of their guards.  Junior Darien Walker averages 10.8 ppg and freshman Tavon Walker averages 10.2 ppg.  The offense runs through point guard Keith Carter, who averages 8.5 ppg to go along with 3.7 assists per game.  The Crusaders also have the Horizon League Sixth Man of the Year in sophomore Jubril Adekoya who scores 4.8 ppg and grabs 4.2 rpg.

Drew’s team is strong defensively and Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year Vashil Fernandez is a major reason why.  The 6-foot-10-inch senior blocked 98 shots this season and has been a significant presence in the paint.  The Crusaders led the Horizon League in scoring defense, allowing 59.3 ppg and has held opponents to 38 percent shooting on the season.

The Crusaders are also a good rebounding team, especially on the offensive end.  The team averages 37.7 rpg, with 11.7 rpg coming on the offensive glass.  

Finally, the Crusaders are a great three-point shooting team.  Led by Peters, the team has shot 38 percent from beyond the arc this season.  

The most glaring weaknesses for the Crusaders when looking at the stat sheet is their ball security and inability to capitalize at the foul line.  The Crusaders commit 12.5 turnovers per game and have a -.3 turnover margin.  At the charity stripe, the team shoots an abysmal 68 percent.  

The Midwest Region

The obvious headline of the region is, can anyone beat Kentucky? The Terps could potentially face the Wildcats in the Sweet 16, but it will not be an easy road for Maryland to reach that point.  Aside from a quality mid-major in Valpo, the Terps would face either No. 5 West Virginia or No. 12 Buffalo in the Round of 32.  

This is an early favorite for the annual 5 vs 12 upset as the Bulls are a tough draw for the Mountaineers.  Early in the season, Buffalo gave Kentucky their first potential scare to ruin the dreams of a perfect season.  The Bulls led 38-33 at halftime in Lexington, Ky. until the Wildcats talent just took over the game in the second half.

The Terps are joined by two other Big Ten school in the region, No. 9 Purdue and No. 10 Indiana.  The Hoosiers were considered to be on the bubble heading into Selection Sunday and drew No. 7 Wichita State in their opening game.  The Boilermakers are set to face No. 8 Cincinnati with Kentucky looming for the winner.  

Another bubble team that was placed in the region is Texas.  The Longhorns were given a No. 11 seed and will face No. 6 Butler. The selection of Texas sums up the committee’s view of the Big 12.  Texas finished the with a 20-13 record and 8-10 in the Big 12.

An intriguing potential matchup in the Sweet 16 would be No. 2 Kansas against No. 3 Notre Dame.  The Fighting Irish are coming off an ACC Tournament championship and the Jayhawks are the Big 12 regular-season champions. These are two of the leading teams in what most analysts consider the two top conferences and would be an exciting game to watch.

The Terps Return

Turgeon will make his first appearance in the NCAA Tournament as the Terps’ head coach.  If the Terps would have had another subpar season and failed to make the tournament, Turgeon’s job could have been in serious danger.

Now, all has seemed to be forgotten from the previous seasons and Turgeon is showing what his teams can do with players who buy in to his system.  The fan base has been re-energized and the Terps have been an exciting team to follow throughout the season.  The historic season in the Big Ten and the NCAA Tournament bid has reduced the heat on Turgeon’s seat.

“Unfortunately in our business everything is about the NCAA Tournament,” Turgeon said. “To be a part of this tournament is huge. It’s huge for aspects of our program, recruiting, fan base, everything. We’re unbelievably excited. Not a lot of people had us playing in this tournament before the year started, so to be a part of it is a great accomplishment for us and hopefully a great start for a lot of years to come.”

What the Analysts are Saying

To gain a little extra insight on the Terps and their No. 4 seed in the Midwest region, BSL reached out to some national college basketball analysts for their take.  Here’s what they are saying:

BSL: The Terps participated in their first Big Ten Conference tournament where they beat Indiana, before losing to Michigan State in the semifinals. Entering the NCAA Tournament, Maryland is 27-6 (including 15-5 overall in Big Ten play). General thoughts on what you’ve seen from Maryland down the stretch?

Scott Phillips / NBC Sports – College Basketball Talk: It’s concerning for Maryland that they blew a big early lead and lost to Michigan State in the Big Ten Tournament. They made some uncharacteristic mistakes down the stretch that they haven’t made all season. That being said, it’s only one game and Maryland was bound to lose a close game at some point. Better for that to happen before the Big Dance. In spending time in the Maryland locker room after the Michigan State game, this team is still very confident and they understand what it’s going to take to make a run in this tournament.

Stewart Mandel / FOX Sports: They’re playing very well down the stretch. It would have been nice to pull one out against Michigan State. All in all, a fantastic first season in the Big Ten.

Reid Forgrave / FOX Sports: I am someone who hasn’t fully bought in on Maryland yet this year. A good team, certainly, and frankly one of the most surprising teams in college basketball this year. But a top-10 in nation team? No way. Going into the season, I thought there was a much greater chance of Maryland missing the postseason than Maryland being a 4-seed in the NCAAs. Bully to Mark Turgeon for reinventing this program on the fly. Anyway, I always figured it was just my problem with Maryland — maybe that I hadn’t seen enough of them this year, maybe that I thought some of their wins were fluky, maybe that I still had a bad taste in my mouth from the past few years of disappointing Maryland basketball. Then I saw a statistic on the wonderful college hoops stat site KenPom.com that made me think, Hey, maybe I was right to not get on the Maryland bandwagon. Out of 351 teams in college basketball, Maryland ranks NUMBER ONE in luck. (Yes, there’s a statistic for luck.) Basically, it means they’ve won most of their close games (one-possession games are considered essentially toss-ups) but many of their losses have been blow-outs (in other words, they had zero chance of winning.) That’s not meant to take away from an amazing season. There’s no shame in losing to a hot Michigan State team in the Big Ten tourney. 27-6 is nothing to sneeze at. Mark Turgeon ought to be rewarded. But my faith is not high leading into the NCAA tournament, especially with a tough first-round matchup with Valparaiso.

BSL: The Brackets have been announced, and Maryland is a No. 4 seed in the Midwest region. In their opening game, the Terps will face Valparaiso. If the Terrpains advanced, they would face the winner of West Virginia and Buffalo. Maryland could face the No. 1 seed overall Kentucky in the Sweet 16. Expectations for Maryland, and thoughts on the region as a whole?

Phillips: The Midwest is Kentucky’s to lose and it’s really not even close. The Wildcats need to play a ‘C’ game and receive an opponents ‘A’ game to not make it to Indianapolis out of this region. As for Maryland, Valparaiso is a difficult Round of 64 opponent. The Crusaders are very well-coached, they’ve overcome a lot of adversity by losing their starting point guard before the season while also losing their new starting point guard during most of conference play. They still won the Horizon League and beat a talented Green Bay team twice during the year. Sophomore Alec Peters is a stretch forward with a chance to do a lot of damage against Maryland and he had a tremendous season. If the Terps advance — which they should — West Virginia and Buffalo both pose a potentially interesting matchup. Bob Huggins will press Maryland coming off of the bus and their pressure is as good as team’s in the country in terms of forcing turnovers. Buffalo has a chance to be in the Round of 32, however, because they can get up and down and score. Justin Moss is the MAC’s best player and freshman point guard Lamonte Bearden had legitimate high-major offers. It won’t be easy, but I see Maryland reaching the Sweet 16 and succumbing to Kentucky.

Mandel: The regions are fairly balanced, but thats a tough draw starting with Valpo. I thought Maryland would get a 3 seed, but West Virginia has been up and down will likely be a popular upset choice against Buffalo. Best case scenario is Sweet 16. They’re not beating Kentucky.

Forgrave: Making the Sweet 16 for Maryland should be considered their Final Four. Win two games and the Terps should cut down the nets right there. Because they are not getting past Kentucky in a possible Sweet 16 matchup. Look — CAN they beat Kentucky? Of course they can. Anything can happen in March. But they won’t. Kentucky is too talented, too tall, and most of all, too deep. Even if you can hang with them for 35 minutes, you’ll start to wear down, and they’ll keep trotting out a new, fresh 7-footer. Kentucky’s biggest problem (if there were any problems) this season was that they would sometimes come out with low energy. That’s not going to be a problem in the tournament. The Sweet 16 is this Maryland team’s ceiling. But that’s a deceptively tough matchup in the first round with Valparaiso. I’d be on red-alert for an upset if I’m a Terps fan. (I’m a Mizzou grad, so I know about being upset. And it sucks. Norfolk State, man.)

———-

Follow Chris on Twitter @Garmelo10

Chris Garman
Chris Garman

Chris Garman attended Mount St. Mary’s University where he studied in Communications. He is a native of Steelton, Pa. and has covered Maryland Men’s Basketball and Football for PressBox since 2012. Chris previously covered High School Football for The Patriot News in Harrisburg, Pa. He can be reached by email at: [email protected].

X