NCAA Basketball Power Rankings: Michigan, Texas Tech climb further

18. Maryland Terrapins

Last Week: No. 22

Despite dropping a home game to Virginia this week, Maryland moved by nature of bouncing back with a strong performance against Penn State. And while the Terps still lack a high-quality win that warrants significant movement in the power rankings, they have been impressive to this point in the year. As long as they continue to play at this level, an NCAA Tournament berth will surely come at the end of the year.

For now, though, Maryland has a few tough challenges left prior to the end of non-conference play. Excluding the fact that they play Purdue, a Big Ten foe, in their next game, the Terps also face Loyola-Chicago, Seton Hall, and Radford in their final four non-conference games. If they are able to perform well in these matchups, then the team will surely continue to rise up these rankings.

As was expected heading into the year, returning stars Anthony Cowan (16.4 points, 4.5 assists) and Bruno Fernando (15.4 points, 10.0 rebounds) are leading the way for head coach Mark Turgeon. However, they are far from alone as four other Terps are all averaging over nine points per game as well. Maryland is not the deepest team in the country but they have plenty of weapons.