Maryland men’s basketball stays at No. 9 in latest AP Top 25

The last AP Top 25 rankings of the regular season are out with the best month of college basketball officially underway.

Maryland men’s basketball stays at No. 9 in the latest poll released Monday after going 1-1 for the second consecutive week.

The Terps put together a 17-point comeback to defeat Minnesota on the road last Wednesday, but were outmatched in a 78-66 loss to then-No. 24 Michigan State Saturday night.

Head coach Mark Turgeon’s squad could have clinched at least a share of the Big Ten regular season championship with a victory over the Spartans, but now holds just a one-game lead in the conference standings with two contests remaining before postseason play.

Maryland could have dropped in the Week 18 poll, but benefitted from losses to the three teams directly behind it — then-No. 10 Creighton, then-No. 11 Louisville and then-No. 12 Villanova. Seton Hall leapfrogs all four, coming in at No. 8.

For the second week in a row, the Big Ten has the most teams in the poll of any conference, though this time with a whopping eight teams ranked — the most for the league all season.

Michigan State, which picked up a win over then-No. 18 Iowa in addition to defeating Maryland, made a big jump to No. 16. Joining the Spartans and Terps in the poll are No. 18 Iowa, No. 19 Ohio State, No. 20 Penn State, No. 23 Illinois, No. 24 Wisconsin and No. 25 Michigan.

The Terps have just two games left in the regular season as they look to clinch the Big Ten title. They’ll head on the road to face Rutgers for a 7 p.m. tip Tuesday before concluding their schedule at home against against the No. 25 Wolverines — their third ranked matchup in five games.

Check out the rest of the poll here.