Maryland had no idea what to expect after a huge roster turnover but now finds itself as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament.
All of those players had strong résumés, but no one knew how well they would fit in a new system and how quickly they would come together.
The Terps enter the tournament at No. 7 in the AP poll, the second-biggest in-season improvement for the program since Brenda Frese took over. The biggest? Maryland began the 2005-06 season ranked 14th and went on to win the national championship. The Terps open the NCAA tournament Friday afternoon in College Park with a first-round game against No. 15 seed Holy Cross in the Greenville 1 Region. A victory means the winner of No. 7 Arizona and No. 10 West Virginia in a second-round game Sunday.team’s going to go down as a really special group,” Frese said. “Last year, we all know, it was a tough year personally and professionally.
One of the biggest challenges has been the schedule, which Frese put together with a different roster in mind. There was a feeling afterthat those record-setting Terps weren’t properly tested before the postseason. The Big Ten wasn’t as strong as it is now and the 2020-21 nonconference slate featured just two ranked teams — No. 24 Missouri State and No. 14 Arkansas.
Compare that with this season’s schedule that included No. 1 South Carolina, No. 17 Baylor, No. 7 Notre Dame and No. 6 Connecticut. There are four other Big Ten teams ranked in the top 18, including No. 2 Indiana and No. 3 Iowa, and Maryland played each of them at least once. The Terrapins have seven wins over ranked opponents and four against top-10 teams. Rankings website
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