Guard Melo Trimble drives past guard Jaylen Brantley when the Terps hosted Magic Maryland Madness on Oct. 17, 2015.
ESPN just released its college basketball power rankings for the 2015-16 season, and the Terrapins men’s basketball team is on top.
Many rankings systems had the Terps in the 3-to-5 range, but ESPN is high on the Terps, putting them at No. 1 and saying:
“It has been a remarkable — and remarkably fast — turnaround for Turgeon and his Terps, whose already stunning ascent to 28 wins and a No. 4 seed a season ago was followed by an offseason chock-full of good news, future lottery pick center Diamond Stone and graduate transfers.”
We’re on the doorstep of one of the most anticipated Maryland basketball seasons ever, and almost every major sports outlet has released some sort of ranking system. Here’s where the Terps stand in some of the major basketball rankings and polls:
| ESPN | 1 |
| Associated Press Poll | 3 |
| Coaches Poll | 3 |
| Sports Illustrated | 5 |
| Kenpom | 24 |
| Massey | 34 |
That Maryland is No. 1 on ESPN’s rankings shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. The Terps were also No.1 in ESPN’s no-longer-way-too-early top 25 back in August, and haven’t had any injuries since then, so it makes sense for them to retain the poll positon.
You’ll notice that Maryland is ranked significantly lower in the final two rankings, KenPom and Massey. Both of these are statistical rankings, which only use algorithms, not actual people, to determine teams’ spots.
It’s hard for these rankings to include big recruiting splashes and transfers, which are two ingredients that could make this Maryland team so successful. Adding Diamond Stone, Rasheed Sulaimon and Robert Carter Jr. to the lineup certainly helps.
This isn’t to say KenPom’s and Massey’s rankings are useless. Once the season starts, both of these ratings tend to be some of the most accurate representations of team performance.
Maryland plays its first exhibition game Friday against Southern New Hampshire University and opens the season Nov. 13 against Mount St. Mary’s at Xfinity Center.
