You’ve heard about the issues, both on the court and off it. Seems like the Terp men’s basketball team is falling apart.
But how bad is the situation, really?
The Terps suffered a historically bad loss to the team everyone loves to hate, the Duke Blue Devils. They squandered two significant leads, against Boston College and Miami. The lineup and talent level can leave much to be desired. At 13-7 (2-4 ACC) and ninth place in the conference, the Terps are far off-pace in the race for an NCAA Tournament berth.
Sounds pretty bleak.
Let’s take a step back, though. Last season, the Terps were 12-8 (2-3 ACC) at this point in the season, nearly identical to this year’s record. Last year’s team did beat Morgan State, but lost to mid-majors Ohio and American. If you throw in this season’s win against then-No. 5 Michigan State in December, the Terps were even outperforming last year’s squad until this end-of-January slump.
So the Terps have not had a high-caliber ACC win, like they did last year against No. 1 North Carolina, to boost the fans’ spirits and maybe impres s the NCAA committee. And they did suffer a demoralizing 41-point defeat at the hands of Duke. But the conference schedule is less than halfway through.
Last year, the Terps won four in a row starting Jan. 30 and as March approached were even in contention for a spot in the NCAA tournament. They just missed March Madness, ending the season a respectable if disappointing 18-13 (8-8 ACC).
This season, 10 games, including five against top-10 opponents, remain, providing ample opportunity for the team to stage a (however unlikely) comeback.
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