Season Preview: #6 Maryland

Games against 2012 NCAA Tournament teams: 10

Games against ACC top 4: 6

Games against ACC bottom 4: 7

Best non-conference game: 11/9 vs. Kentucky (in Brooklyn)


Projected Starting Five:

C - Alex Len (Sophomore)

F - James Padgett (Senior)

G - Dez Wells (Sophomore)

G - Pe'Shon Howard (Junior)

G - Nick Faust (Sophomore)


There has been a little bit of a lull the last few years in College Park, with the lack of success by both the football and basketball teams.  I think at least in basketball, things are looking up though.  Last year Maryland brought in Mark Turgeon to follow in the big footsteps of Gary Williams, and he did pretty well.  The team didn't make the tournament, but they showed signs of progress as the year went on.  Last year a young Maryland team struggled on the road, getting five of their six conference wins at home.  They move into this season with one big departure, as Terrell Stoglin opted to leave school early for the NBA Draft.

It remains to be seen whether the team could be better without him.  Stoglin was a prolific scorer, but he also took entirely too many shots at times.  Looking at who's left, the best player could certainly be Alex Len.  Len had a lot of hype coming into his freshman year, and didn't have a great season.  That may be unfair, though, as he missed the first half of the year.  He's definitely capable of scoring more than six points per game this year.  I also like Nick Faust, who really came on at the end of last year.  There is a big question mark in that starting lineup, as right now Maryland is waiting to see if the NCAA will rule Dez Wells eligible to play this year.  He is a transfer from Xavier who could be a big boost to this team.

The Terps start out their year with a bang against Kentucky.  If there's ever a time to get the defending champs, it's in the first game, where the Wildcats are breaking in a whole new group of players.  If Maryland can somehow pull the upset, that will look huge on their resume in March.  After that, they have a stretch of 12 out of 14 games at home, almost all of those being against overmatched opponents.

Most Maryland fans are pretty high on Coach Turgeon, as he's had a strong record of success wherever he's been.  I think he takes the Terps up to the next level this year with a solid nucleus of players.  Even if Wells cannot play this year, they have enough balance between backcourt and frontcourt to beat a lot of the teams in this conference.  I think the Terps will be right there on the bubble when Selection Sunday hits.