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Maryland basketball’s loss to Minnesota Tuesday night was a letdown for a team that had just returned from two hard road games, but it doesn’t have to make much of an effect on the Terps’ season.
Keeping a top-four seed in the Big Ten Tournament seemed assured a few weeks ago, and that hasn’t necessarily changed. Staying in the top four means Maryland would have a first-round bye in the tournament, and that still seems likely.
Big Ten Standings
| Team | Overall | Conf | Proj | AdjO | AdjD | AdjT | Conf SOS | Next Game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Overall | Conf | Proj | AdjO | AdjD | AdjT | Conf SOS | Next Game |
| Purdue | 23-5 | 12-3 | 14-4 | 117.9 | 92.8 | 69.9 | 11.53 | Sat, at Michigan 4:00 PM |
| Wisconsin | 22-5 | 11-3 | 14-4 | 114.5 | 90.8 | 64.1 | 12.56 | Thu, at Ohio St. 9:00 PM |
| Maryland | 22-6 | 10-5 | 12-6 | 113.7 | 97.8 | 68.8 | 13.7 | Sat, vs Iowa 6:00 PM |
| Minnesota | 21-7 | 9-6 | 11-7 | 109.8 | 92.9 | 70 | 13.83 | Sat, vs Penn St. 3:00 PM |
| Northwestern | 20-8 | 9-6 | 10-8 | 111.6 | 96 | 66.4 | 12.1 | Sat, at Indiana 8:00 PM |
| Michigan St. | 16-11 | 8-6 | 10-8 | 109.4 | 96.4 | 67.8 | 13.98 | Thu, vs Nebraska 7:00 PM |
| Michigan | 18-10 | 8-7 | 9-9 | 119.8 | 101.4 | 63.4 | 12.27 | Sat, vs Purdue 4:00 PM |
| Iowa | 15-13 | 7-8 | 8-10 | 112.1 | 102.9 | 72.4 | 12.71 | Sat, at Maryland 6:00 PM |
| Nebraska | 12-14 | 6-8 | 7-11 | 106.8 | 98.2 | 68.5 | 13.55 | Thu, at Michigan St. 7:00 PM |
| Illinois | 16-12 | 6-9 | 8-10 | 108.1 | 97.6 | 67 | 14.3 | Sun, at Nebraska 7:30 PM |
| Penn St. | 14-14 | 6-9 | 7-11 | 105.3 | 96.6 | 71.7 | 14.07 | Sat, at Minnesota 3:00 PM |
| Indiana | 15-13 | 5-10 | 6-12 | 116.2 | 101.8 | 68.9 | 14.03 | Sat, vs Northwestern 8:00 PM |
| Ohio St. | 15-13 | 5-10 | 6-12 | 110.7 | 100 | 68.7 | 14.52 | Thu, vs Wisconsin 9:00 PM |
| Rutgers | 13-16 | 2-14 | 3-15 | 101.4 | 98.2 | 67.7 | 15.35 | Tue, vs Maryland 6:30 PM |
Maryland sits third in the conference at the moment, and its schedule really doesn’t look bad. With only games at home against Iowa, at Rutgers and at home against Michigan State left on the schedule, a 3-0 record is certainly attainable.
With Wisconsin and Purdue virtual locks in the top two spots, that leaves two challengers contending with Maryland for the last two first-round byes. Northwestern and Minnesota are both waiting for the Terps to fall, but both would have to surpass Maryland for the Terps to miss out on that first-round bye.
This would be especially hard for Northwestern. The Wildcats play Indiana, Michigan and Purdue to end the season. Minnesota’s schedule is easier, with Penn State and Nebraska lurking before a showdown with Wisconsin to end it.
Maryland isn’t assured a top-four spot, but it’s hard to see it slipping away just yet.
In other news
The Ringer’s Mark Titus is here to tell you why the Big Ten is trash this year.
Ole Miss football finally received its sanctions, and, yikes.
Oregon hit a buzzer-beater last night. So did Syracuse (over Duke!). A good time was had by all.
In our latest podcast, we discussed what fans should expect from the rest of this season (we recorded this before Maryland lost to Minnesota).
Frank Iasola tweeted out about how Maryland wouldn’t storm the court after beating Duke, even though that’s demonstrably false.
At Maryland, beating Duke was no biggie. We certainly didn't storm the court. It got so old we moved to a better academic conference.
— Frank Isola (@FisolaNYDN) February 23, 2017