Maryland had an opportunity to continue climbing towards a No. 1 seed entering last Saturday's game against Wisconsin at Xfinity Center. The Terps were riding a 27-game home winning streak and hoped to remained tied atop the Big Ten conference standings. Unfortunately, the Terps were unable to overcome some issues that have plagued them over the last several games, suffering their first ever Big Ten home loss.
That loss dropped Maryland to No. 5 in the Coaches Poll and No. 6 in this week's AP Top 25. It also caused Maryland to drop from a No. 1 seed or high No. 2, down to a lower 2 or even No. 3 seed. Maryland's biggest fall happened in Ken Pomeroy's rankings, where the Terps dropped from No. 6 to No. 14.
If you want to take something positive away from Wisconsin's win over Maryland, it moved the Badgers up to No. 47 in the latest RPI rankings, which means the Terps loss was inside the top 50 and that Maryland's previous win over the Badgers is now a top 50 win.
Maryland needs to take care of business over the final few weeks of the season if it wants to make a case for a No. 1 seed. The Terps have opportunities to pick up more top-50 wins with games against Michigan, Purdue in Indiana, but the Terps also need to take care of business against Minnesota and Illinois.
Here is where a variety of brackets are projecting the Terps following the Wisconsin loss:
Maryland finds themselves still holding onto one of the number two seeds in this weeks SB Nation's bracketology.
Based on RPI, Maryland would be a No. 1 seed.
CBS Sports Bracketology
Maryland is a No. 3 seed in the South, where Kansas is the No. 1 seed.
Yahoo! Sports Big Board - Brad Evans
Currently has Maryland as a No. 2 seed (No. 6 overall) and thinks a No.
Bracket Watch: Villanova rises to No. 1 | SI.com
Ouch. Maryland is a No. 3 seed in the West. Not only would they have to travel far, but its bracket includes Kansas as the No. 1 seed and Virginia as the No. 2.
Nobody can touch Kansas' resume in latest mock bracket | FOX Sports
Maryland is a No. 3 seed, again in the West, and again where UVA is the No. 1 seed.
The Bracket Project: Bracket - February 16
Maryland is a No. 2 seed in the West, where Virginia is the No. 1. That would be a sweet Elite Eight game, knocking UVA out of the tournament to punch a ticket to the Final Four.
KPI Sports | D-I Men's College Basketball
They do an interesting rating system, in which Maryland is ranked 10th, meaning they'd currently get a 3 seed.
Other Bracketology related links:
The Big Ten is looking like a
The Magic Eight: One of these teams will win the national title | SI.com
In an annual SI.com tradition, Luke Winn narrows the national-title contender field to eight in February. Maryland makes the cut.