Who can blame the Terps for feeling they were left for dead last week? Only one television camera joined the beat reporters for last Saturday’s regular pre-game media availability with coach Gary Williams.

But Tuesday, it became clear it’s not time to be making NIT plans just yet. Six local camera crews joined a throng of reporters who came to Comcast Center to talk to the coach and players about this weekend’s ACC tournament.

The stakes have risen, as the No. 6-seeded Terps (18-11, 8-8 ACC) play what is likely another must-win game tonight if they want to return to the NCAA tournament. And while the opening round opponent, No. 11 seed Georgia Tech (11-16, 4-12), is one the Terps are quite familiar with, it doesn’t necessarily make the challenge any easier. The Yellow Jackets lost by just three in College Park last month and know what to expect.

“It’s a little more difficult [playing them a third time] because they know our personnel really well,” senior forward Travis Garrison said. “They don’t want to get beat three times by the same team. We already know that they’re going to be ready – that’s nothing new for us – but we’re definitely going to be more ready than ever.”

The Terps needed a Mike Jones block to deter Georgia Tech guard Zam Fredrick’s potential game-winning 3-point attempt in the final second Feb. 18. Back on Jan. 25, the Terps got their first road victory of the season, winning their first game since losing Chris McCray by 12 points down in Atlanta.

Despite the early returns, the Yellow Jackets won’t count themselves out.

“I don’t think our guys are worried about who we play,” Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt said. “I think they realize that they have the talent to match up with almost anybody in the league. It’s a matter of finishing games off strong.”

While Hewitt’s team probably won’t participate in the postseason, analysts believe the Terps could get into the tournament with one or two more wins.

No ACC team has ever gone 8-8 in the league, won a tournament game and been left out of the NCAA tournament. But all of those previous teams won a quarterfinal game in the conference tournament, back before the league expanded to 12 teams and forced more than two teams to play in the opening round.

“Obviously we’re aware of that, and I hope history holds true,” Williams said. “You don’t want [the players] to feel tight, but you want them to really be focused and ready to play … Especially in the ACC tournament, it’s not so much how well you scout, it’s how well you execute yourself that wins a lot of times.”

With both teams knowing each others’ sets and personnel, the importance of playing sharp on both ends of the court intensifies.

Junior forward Ekene Ibekwe said he likes the Terps’ chances of advancing to tomorrow’s quarterfinal round to play No. 3 Boston College (24-6, 11-5) if they can just cut down on the mental miscues. The Terps turned the ball over a total of 51 times against Georgia Tech, despite winning twice.

Coming off two close victories to stay on the bubble, Williams still believes the Terps belong in the tournament, and noted with all of the automatic bids from small conferences in the NCAA tournament, his team “could probably beat 20 of those teams for sure.”

Still, there’s work to do, and the Terps season may be defined by what they can do in Greensboro this weekend.

“I’m not satisfied yet,” Williams said. “I just think we can continue to play well, continue to play better. The great thing about sports is [that] things have changed in terms of the interest and in terms of the number of people that have comments about you. And once you win a national championship, people expect different things. There’s not as much of a margin as there used to be, so you have to accept that.”

Several players said their season wouldn’t be a failure if they didn’t return to the NCAA tournament, but the Terps realize opportunity sits before them.

“We can’t control what’s happened in the past or what will happen in the future,” Garrison said. “The main thing is just playing against Georgia Tech and getting a win.”

2006 men’s ACC Tournament

WHEN: March 9-12

WHERE: Greensboro

Coliseum Complex,

Greensboro, N.C.

The 6th seeded Terps face off against 11th seeded Georgia Tech tonight at 9:30 p.m.

Contact reporter David Selig at dseligdbk@gmail.com.