Big Ten Basketball power rankings: Michigan State, Wisconsin takes big jumps

11. Maryland (6-4, 0-1)

Bring back Eric Ayala and Donta Scott and throw in some high profile transfers and you’ve got a rejuvenated Maryland basketball team; or at least we thought. Mark Turgeon is already gone as head coach and that tells you just about how this season is going. Expected to finish in the top half of the Big Ten again, the Terrapins instead look like a team that could be struggling for wins against those top-tier teams in the conference.

A home loss to George Mason back in mid-November was the first sign of trouble, but this team has been struggling ever since then. After eking out close wins over Hofstra and Richmond, Maryland proceeded to lose three straight games, including home affairs to Virginia Tech and Northwestern. They picked up their most impressive win of the season this past weekend against Florida, but with the way the Gators are playing the last couple of weeks, how impressive is that win going to look?

With interim head coach Danny Manning leading the charge, it remains to be seen if this is going to be a lost season for the Terrapins. There’s certainly still talent on this team, and the defense has actually played well in recent weeks, but the offense hasn’t kept up, even with four double-digit scorers. In that loss to Northwestern, Maryland somehow shot just 7 of 36 from 2, an abhorrent performance in the interior. Clearly, those kinds of performances cannot continue.