Seal the Deal

Personally, I think that after resoundingly beating Wake Forest yesterday, 75-64, Maryland has all but punched it's card to the big dance. But in an increasingly tight fight for those at large bids I wouldn't mind another win to shore up a spot. I mean, I wouldn't mind an automatic bid by winning the tournament either. That would be pretty ideal. But I'm nowhere near that hopeful and confident. If the Terps don't make the tournament with this resume I'll be screaming about a snub on Sunday night.

They have 4 really quality wins, three of those against top 10 teams. They have a few bad losses, but overall, they've stepped up as the season has gone on. And they only have two losses to really bad teams. And UVA beat Clemson when they were a top ranked team. So that loss isn't really that terrible, kinda, sorta.

Whatever, I'll save my arguments for later. Right now I want to focus on Duke. They beat Maryland twice during the regular season. The first time it was almost comical to watch. But Maryland seems to have tapped a new enthusiasm. They actually played better against Wake than they did against NC State. Stringing two wins together has been hard for the Terps this year, and two wins where they played better the second game seems even less likely. But that gives me hope that they'll show up again today ready to play and win.

The team seems to have rallied around Gary. Taking the criticism to heart and playing for to vindicate him as much as to win for themselves. It's very reminiscent of the 2004 ACC tournament. Duke is a really good team. And they tend to shine in the tournament, but if Maryland can keep buckling down and playing their hearts out, they have a good shot at beating Duke. Duke played a hard game against BC last night and I think Maryland will be able to challenge them again today.

LET'S GO TERPS!!! Silence the critics and stop the skepticism. Win today and show the selection committee that there is no doubt you belong in that field of 65.