Only a few months after being voted 10th in the Big Ten’s preseason poll, Maryland has earned the No. 10 spot in the entire country in the latest Associated Press poll released Monday afternoon.
Coming off home wins over No. 5 Wisconsin and Michigan this past week, the Terrapins (24-5, 12-4) have cracked the AP’s top 10 for the first time since the 2002-2003 season and finished a perfect 9-0 home mark in Big Ten play, an impressive feat for their first season in their new conference. Many currently project Maryland to be a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament, which would be quite an accomplishment for a program that hasn’t made the “Big Dance” since 2010.
After suffering a number of transfers last offseason and failing to make the tournament in his first three seasons in College Park, head coach Mark Turgeon was feeling pressure from an unhappy fan base before senior Dez Wells, junior Jake Layman, and freshman sensation Melo Trimble formed one of the more productive trios in all of college basketball this year. Maryland has won five straight games and concludes the regular season this week with trips to Rutgers on Tuesday and Nebraska on Sunday.
The Terps currently sit second in the Big Ten behind Wisconsin and could clinch a share of the conference title with two wins and the Badgers falling on the road to Minnesota and Ohio State this week.
