Some conference tournament games that could impact Maryland’s NCAA Tournament seeding

With Maryland basketball’s loss to Nebraska on Thursday in the second round of the Big Ten tournament, all the Terps can do is wait until Selection Sunday.

While Maryland has been comfortably in the tournament for almost a month, its seed is still up in the air with three days of conference tournaments to go. The Terps would probably have been a No. 5 seed with a 1-1 weekend, but will likely drop in the committee’s rankings this weekend. Whether that means dropping a seed line or two depends on what happens the rest of the weekend.

There’s a sizable gap among tournament teams between the No. 6 and No. 7 seeds, and Maryland is currently competing with about six teams for the No. 5 and No. 6 seeds. Here’s the games Terp fans should follow that could impact Maryland’s seedings.

Big 12 semifinals, Iowa State vs. Kansas State, 7 p.m.: The Wildcats are likely higher than the Terps in the committee’s rankings, but this game would be another boost for the Cylcones’ resume. Iowa State has a higher NET and KenPom ranking, but until the start of conference tournament play, did not have as many quality wins. Iowa State now has many Quadrant 1 wins as Maryland (6) and a win over Kansas State and possibly another over Kansas in the final could be enough to jump them over the Terps.

Big East semifinals, Xavier vs. Villanova, Seton Hall vs. Marquette (first game 6:30 p.m.): Like Maryland, both Villanova and Marquette entered the postseason in a bit of a slump. But unlike the Terps, both teams won their Big East quarterfinal matchup. Despite somewhat sketchy metrics, the Golden Eagles got a bump in the committee’s early top-16 reveal due to five wins over teams in the NET top 25, but none of those have come since the committee’s top 16 reveal in early February. Villanova has been up-and-down all season, but still won the Big East regular season title and has 16 of their 23 wins against Quadrant 1 and 2 opponents.

SEC quarterfinals, Mississippi State vs. Tennessee, 9:30 p.m.: The Bulldogs have finally turned the corner under Ben Howland, and are a lock to make their first NCAA Tournament since 2009. I had both Maryland and Mississippi State as neck-and-neck coming into Thursday, but a win over the Volunteers would probably put it ahead of Maryland if it wasn’t already.

In other news

Lamar has the good, the bad and the ugly from Maryland’s loss, and Thomas wrote about how the Terps were once again looking for answers in another postseason loss.

Lila has the photos.

All three of Maryland basketball’s 2019 recruits will play in the Nations Classic All-Star game in April.

Maryland volleyball officially announced its 2019 signing class, with two more players joining November signee Cara Lewis.

Maryland softball opened the Maryland Invitational with wins against UMBC and Rhode Island.