Big Ten: Maryland
Like the ACC, the Big Ten also gave me several options to choose from with Michigan, Maryland, Rutgers, and even Penn State and Nebraska. In the end, the letdown of a preseason Top 25 team that is currently 5-4, ranked No. 155 in the NET, and just fired its head coach was too much to pass up.
The Mark Turgeon era has come to end after a decade in College Park. Maryland has made the NCAA Tournament in six of the last seven seasons but has only made it to the Sweet Sixteen once back in 2016. The Terps have finished in the top 3 of the Big Ten four times in the seven years since they made the move from the ACC, highlighted by a regular-season title in 2019-20.
At almost every other Division I program, Turgeon’s success would be covetable, but Maryland fans rightly expect NCAA Tournament success which Turgeon quite simply did not provide. The Terps were No. 21 in the Preseason AP Top 25 before losing to George Mason, Louisville, and Virginia Tech and struggling with Hofstra and George Washington at home. Maryland was 5-3 when they “parted ways” with Turgeon but is now 5-4 after losing at home to Northwestern in their Big Ten opener.
Georgetown transfer center Qudus Wahab has been a bright spot so far, averaging 11.1 PPG and 6.8 RPG in just 20.7 MPG. Wahab leads the team in Box +/-, offensive rating, and adjusted defensive rating. That said, Maryland ranks No. 276 in effective FG% and 301st in 3P%—an objectively dreadful shooting team.
The future is up in the air as the Terps look for their next head coach, but this season still has the slightest bit of hope based purely on potential. While their No. 21 preseason ranking was clearly a stretch, this team does have more than enough talent to earn quality wins in Big Ten play and sneak into the NCAA Tournament as a bubble team, although I certainly wouldn’t count on it.