Maryland men’s basketball saw its season come to an end on Saturday with a defeat to LSU. Now that the Terps’ season is over, it gives us a chance to reflect on what the expectations were for the team before the season, with the help of the some Twitter polls.
Maryland men's hoops season is right around the corner. Let's do some polls for how y'all think the season will go!
— Terps Watch (@TerpsWatch) October 28, 2018
In late October, we sampled our Terps Watch followers to get an idea of what they expected before the season so we could revisit it when the season ended. Now, let’s go poll-by-poll to see how fans felt in October and how it looks now in March.
Maryland's season ends with…
— Terps Watch (@TerpsWatch) October 28, 2018
Maryland was coming off a season with no postseason tournament in 2017-18, but 81 percent of our followers didn’t let that damper their expectations for this season of Maryland hoops. That 81 wound up being correct, while the other 19 percent we now know were too pessimistic about the Terps.
Will Maryland appear in the AP Top 25 at any point?
— Terps Watch (@TerpsWatch) October 28, 2018
Our followers not only thought Maryland was making the tournament, but they would also spend time in the AP Top 25 during the season, once again being correct. Maryland spent several weeks in the top 25, including every week from the Jan. 14 poll to the March 11 poll.
If Maryland appears in the AP Top 25, how high do they make it?
— Terps Watch (@TerpsWatch) October 28, 2018
Half of our followers were correct in thinking Maryland wouldn’t crack the top ten of the AP Poll but would make it higher than No. 21. Maryland’s ranking for the season peaked at No. 13 after the Terps were fresh off a 75-61 win over Ohio State in Columbus.
Will Maryland finish above .500 in Big Ten play?
— Terps Watch (@TerpsWatch) October 28, 2018
Maryland failed to crack .500 in Big Ten play the prior season, but our followers were virtually unanimous in thinking Maryland would get to being above .500 this season and they were absolutely correct.
Maryland's leading scorer will be?
— Terps Watch (@TerpsWatch) October 28, 2018
By exactly two points per game, Cowan was Maryland’s leading scorer for this season. The junior had 15.6 points per game, while Fernando finished second with 13.6 points per game. Cowan’s points per game did see a very minor decrease from last season, where he had 15.8 per game.
How many draft picks will Maryland have this season?
— Terps Watch (@TerpsWatch) October 28, 2018
This one is still to be determined. The latest CBS mock draft has Bruno Fernando being taken at No. 18, while Sports Illustrated sees Fernando going 21st. As we learned from Kevin Huerter last season, a player’s performance at the NBA Draft Combine can go a long way to determine if they’re ready to go pro, so we’ll likely not have a good grasp on how many Terps will hear their name called until after the combine.
Does Maryland beat a ranked team on the road this season?
— Terps Watch (@TerpsWatch) October 28, 2018
The streak was killed this season when Maryland was able to beat