GREENSBORO, N.C. — We’re under 25 minutes from tip-off here at Greensboro Coliseum, where the ninth-seeded Terrapin women’s basketball team is readying to face off against eighth-seeded North Carolina. There’s only been a trickle of spectators arriving so far, but that doesn’t diminish the importance of today’s game for the Terps.
To put it bluntly, if they don’t win today, they’re not going to the NCAA Tournament. If they don’t win two games here, the same can likely be said.
I got in touch with ESPN’s women’s college basketball bracketologist Charlie Creme to get a sense of just where the Terps stand in March Madness — if at all. As expected, it’s not too promising:
1.) You mentioned that two or three wins for the Terps this weekend would likely punch their ticket to the tournament, but do you think there’s any way one win and perhaps another strong showing against Duke might also do the trick?
It’s not always as simple as saying if one team does this then are they in or out because none of this happens in a vacuum. Everything else impacts everything else if that makes sense. That is always an important thing to remember in this process. For a team like Maryland there is no one magic formula, but I would say that simply a win over UNC and then a close loss to Duke won’t do it.
2.) Might “Maryland being Maryland” help the team in any way come selection time? Georgia advanced to the tournament last season even after an 18-14 season, so does name on the front of a team’s jersey have any sway at all?
This won’t matter at all. I’ve been in a mock selection and talked to committee members. As much as people want to think there are conspiracy theories and manipulated placings it just isn’t the case. There is nothing but integrity in the process, plus, and maybe, more importantly, this process of picking, seeding, and placing teams is really hard at times with all the rules and procedures to follow. To add personal agendas would make it nearly impossible. Trust me I do a bunch of brackets each season and it can be an extremely difficult process as is. Georgia made the tournament because they had a number of big wins among those 18. That kind of record is going to make the tournament again this year (Rutgers being a likely candidate). Maryland this year and Georgia last aren’t really comparable. Georgia had 4 wins against the RPI top-50, Maryland has one. Even with a win Thursday, that’s just two all season and they played a poor non-league schedule.
3.) Finally, are there any particular games, teams or conference tournaments that may affect the bubble picture this weekend that Terp fans should monitor?
Watch the WAC and WCC. Fresno State and Gonzaga are likely to get in as at-larges. If they don’t win their tournaments a bid is stolen. Also the Sun Belt and America East. They each have potential at-large candidates with their leaders (MTSU in the Sun Belt and Hartford/Vermont in the America East).
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Keep tabs on the action here by following me on Twitter @jonas_shaffer and checking in on the blog for any big news.
Jonas Shaffer is The Diamondback’s women’s basketball beat writer. He can be reached at shaffer@umdbk.com. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/jonas_shaffer.