Maryland men’s basketball is a No. 3 seed in first NCAA Tournament bracket reveal

After a monumental win on the road against No. 20 Illinois Friday night, No. 9 Maryland men’s basketball received a glowing review from the NCAA Tournament selection committee.

In the first reveal of a bracket — in which the top-16 seeds are shown to the world six weeks before March Madness — the Terps were named a No. 3 seed in the East Region.

Joining Mark Turgeon’s team in that corner of the initial slate are No. 1-seed San Diego State, No. 2-seed Duke and No. 4-seed Butler. For the second weekend of the tournament (the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games), the teams in the East Region would be playing at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Maryland is currently in the midst of a six-game winning streak, striking a perfect balance with three victories each at home and on the road during that span. And two of those wins have come against ranked opponents, as the Terps defeated then-No. 18 Iowa on Jan. 30 before the aforementioned win over the No. 20-ranked Illini on Friday in Champaign.

The committee placing the Terps as a 3-seed falls in line with the rest of the rankings out there. In the NCAA’s latest NET Rankings, they are ranked No. 9 in the nation, which is where they sit in the AP Top 25 as well. That’s also where the team falls in the KenPom metrics, though Sagarin currently ranks the Terps No. 5.

Maryland will be back in action Tuesday night when it hosts Nebraska before heading on the road for perhaps the biggest game of the season — a battle against Michigan State, currently a No. 4 in the Midwest region, in East Lansing — on Feb. 15.