In Maryland’s first foray into the Big Ten conference during the 2014-15 season, we were able to have a number of different takeaways. First, as a newbie, the program was welcomed with open arms in virtually every Big Ten arena after migrating away from the ACC gulag. Then a funny thing happened.
We kicked ass.
(You can discuss this on the BSL Board here.)
Picked somewhere between 8th and 12th in preseason conference predictions last year, the team came in a clear second and beat conference badass Wisconsin in a critical February game after leading wire to wire and swept the conference heavyweight Michigan State in two regular season meetings. But wait…things got even better in the Spring than they were in the Winter.
Two critical returning players – Melo Trimble and Jake Layman – decided to come back to College Park for another season. Then Head Coach Mark Turgeon and his staff pulled of a couple of coups. First, they were able to recruit center Diamond Stone right out of the heart of traditional Big Ten country and – as if that weren’t enough – they added Rasheed Sulaimon as a graduate transfer after he had spent a tumultuous three seasons at Duke. Those four would join transfer redshirt Junior Robert Carter, Jr in a starting five that –at least on paper – is national championship good. ON PAPER.
Just a guess here….all that gracious and charming Big Ten hospitality is out the window. I’m not sure the program was supposed to be this good, this fast.
So where are we now as this year’s conference play starts this week?
Much like last year, the conference appears to be top heavy. Last year, Wisconsin spent almost the entire year in the top five. Maryland, while unranked early, entered the top 25 just after Thanksgiving and stayed there the entire season, ascending as high as number 8. Michigan and Ohio State spent some time being ranked. The Wolverines dropped out early due to some injuries and the Buckeyes never really became what it appeared they could become. Then there was Michigan State doing the annual Michigan State thing. They began the season ranked, had some head scratching loss to Texas Southern just before Christmas, then totally caught fire in the post-season and took advantage of every conceivable break on their way to yet another final four run.
The rest of the league? Meh….
The same sort of delta appears to exist this season. Purdue has most certainly improved and has some impressive early season returns to show for it. They boast some really impressive size, a rabid fan base and a great home court. The question may be how good their backcourt is. Michigan State jumped out of the gate very quickly and seized the number one ranking early on. Then, they lost the runaway early leader for National Player of the Year in Denzel Valentine for a few weeks. Needless to say, his return is critical. Tonight the Spartans open up conference play against a good Iowa team on the road without their best player. The bet here is that there will be a new number one next week.
For now, this Maryland team is perfectly on course for where they want to be at this point and, more importantly, where they want to be in March. The strength and balance of their starting five and the depth and versatility of their front court is what appears to set them apart from the rest of the league at this point. There will certainly be some places along the way where they are challenged greatly. The unbalanced schedule means that they’ll only get the chance to play Sparty one time, for instance, and that game is in East Lansing. It’ll be a circus. And there are two games against Purdue that will be of national interest and significance. The unbalanced schedule last season allowed the Terps to forego making a trip to Madison to play Wisconsin. This year Maryland will play there early. Even with middling results and a brand new interim coach in place, that game promises to be very interesting given the Terps win in their only meeting last year.
Iowa and Indiana are on the next tier but the rest of the league has a long way to go.
Honestly, it was not a great non-conference run for most of the league. Wisconsin loses at home to Western Illinois and Milwaukee. Ohio State loses back to back games in November to Louisiana Tech and UT-Arlington before finding a way to upset then number four Kentucky in December. Penn State lost back to back games to Duquesne and Radford.
Even with those losses, each of those teams will be hard outs in conference play. After opening at home against Penn State the Terps will open up the road portion of their schedule at Northwestern just after New Year’s Day. On the one hand, that Wildcat team has not beaten anybody of consequence. But, on the other hand, they are 12-1 at this writing and stand a good chance at being 13-1 after starting the season at Nebraska this Wednesday. Say what you want about who they’ve played but their results have gotten them used to the taste of winning and beating Maryland on their home court might be a program changing event for that team and their coach, Chris Collins.
The fact is, it will be like that for every road game the Terps play. They better get used to it early.
When you coach you never, ever, have the luxury of looking past the next team you play. It’s a major distraction and incredibly bad karma, to boot.
But I’m just writing, not coaching.
Barring an illness or injury I see the Terps in very good shape as it approaches what looks to be their most important two weeks of the season. Starting with a game in East Lansing against the current top ranked Spartans on Jan. 23, Maryland will play on the road at MSU and two of the tougher venues in the league – Ohio State and Nebraska. They will also have two difficult home games against Iowa and Purdue tossed in. That’s the kind of five game stretch that will tell you a lot about who you are and where you’re headed.
I can only promise one thing. It won’t always be rainbows and fairy dust. College hoops has become like most every other sport on the national landscape. Parity abounds and there are players everywhere. No doubt there will be a stretch or two- or even a game or two that- that will have Maryland fans reaching for their Maalox and wondering how things went sideways. When that happens just take a deep breath and look at the next stretch or the next game, confident that what you have is good enough and will carry the day.
Bring ‘em on.
Terps Analyst
A fixture in the Washington sports scene since his days as a player and a coach, Chris Knoche has accumulated a diverse resume as a media presence in town for more than two decades. That resume has earned him opportunities on both national and local stages and made him a Washington DC staple on radio, television and in digital media.