With a record of 18-14 overall, 8-8 in the ACC, Maryland looks to be headed to the NIT for the 3rd time in 4 years. The Terps have dropped the ball big time with 3 straight losses and 6 losses in their past 8 games. Key wins against UNC and FSU recently have been mired by losses to Ohio (Sagarin ranking 89), American (156), and BC (116) twice. They have consistently proven that they can't win against the teams above them in the ACC, with no wins coming against Duke, Clemson, VTech, or Miami.
However, this article puts Maryland's odds of making the tournament at 80%. That seems a tad high for a team with an RPI around the low 70s, but according to this article the ACC is deserving of getting more than four bids. I think the commissioner of the ACC is just a little out of touch when he's saying that the ACC is the highest team in the nation in terms of RPI. The ACC, except for Duke and Carolina, has been one big rollercoaster (Remember when Maryland was last in the conference?). Fact is, the ACC is no stranger to getting four bids, and I think the selection committee will most likely follow this path. Unfortunately, unless the committee highly regards defense, Vtech will likely be left out of the tourney.
Conclusion: Maryland is going to lose in the third round of the NIT.
On another note, Bob Knight made his debut today on ESPN. I'm not gonna lie, he actually was quite good. You know the guy knows what he's talking about and you don't want to rip your ears out when listening to his voice like you do when you hear Jay Bilas. ESPN must have put him through etiquette class or something (meds?) because he didn't come off as a raving lunatic.
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