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NCAA Tournament 2019: Buy or sell Iowa State, Villanova, Buffalo and Maryland?

By Nick Hemming

LINCOLN, NE - FEBRUARY 6: The Maryland Terrapins bench celebrates a score against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Pinnacle Bank Arena on February 6, 2019 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)
LINCOLN, NE - FEBRUARY 6: The Maryland Terrapins bench celebrates a score against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Pinnacle Bank Arena on February 6, 2019 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 01: Bruno Fernando #23 of the Maryland Terrapins reacts after he is called for a foul late in the second half against the Wisconsin Badgers during the second round of the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 1, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 01: Bruno Fernando #23 of the Maryland Terrapins reacts after he is called for a foul late in the second half against the Wisconsin Badgers during the second round of the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 1, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

With the 2019 NCAA Tournament a mere two days away, The Buffalo Bulls, Villanova Wildcats, Iowa State Cyclones, and Maryland Terrapins prepare to take on their respective #11-seeds. Which #6 seeds are worth buying stock in, and which ones should you steer clear of?

It’s finally that glorious time of year when the smell of upsets are in the air! With Selection Sunday officially come and gone, the match-ups are set and it’s only a matter of time before we tip off March Madness 2019. Today, I’m going to take a closer look at the #6 seeds: Maryland, Buffalo, Villanova, and Iowa State. I’ll let you know whether each #6 is worth buying (at least winning their first game), or selling (packing their bags early). Let’s take a look!

*Sports Illustrated Realtime Brackets is the first bracket game that lets college basketball fans switch their picks, in exchange for points, between and during live tournament games to keep their brackets alive all month long. Sign up now!

* All figures as of March 18th

Maryland Terrapins | 22-10 (13-7 in Big Ten)

First Round Opponent: #11 Belmont/Temple (Thursday, 3/21 @ 3:10 PM)

In March, you don’t have to necessarily have the most talented team in order to make a deep tourney run, but your team had better be gelling together and playing their best basketball of the year. Unfortunately for Coach Mark Turgeon, Maryland doesn’t particularly fall into either of those categories.

The Terrapins enter the East Region as a #6 seed, set to square off against the winner of Temple and Belmont. Although the team showed promise early in the year, racking up wins against mediocre opponents and even besting Purdue in early February, they seemingly ran out of gas coming down the finish line, dropping their three final season games and capping it off with an embarrassing loss to Nebraska in the Big Ten Tournament.

Do the Terrapins have the weapons to turn it around and make a run? Sure! Junior point guard Anthony Cowan Jr. is a capable scorer and distributor, averaging roughly 16 PPG with four APG, and sophomore forward Bruno Fernando, the second-best rebounder in the Big 10, is dangerous down-low.

That being said, Maryland simply lacks the depth, discipline and experience to play their way into the weekend. They committed an average of 13.1 turnovers per game, the second-worst of any team in the Big Ten, and Cowan is the only player who has witnessed the pressure of the tournament firsthand. I suspect the Terrapins to find a way to beat themselves on Thursday, regardless of who they end up playing.

Verdict: SELL

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