Coach Mark Turgeon screams at fans after Terps came back to defeat Northwestern 68-67 in Xfinity Center on Jan. 25, 2015.
The Terrapins men’s basketball team kicks off its most anticipated season in recent memory against Mount St. Mary’s on Friday, and the preseason accolades keep rolling in.
In an article published Wednesday, 16 of ESPN’s 28 experts picked Maryland to make the Final Four, while five picked the Terps to win the NCAA championship this season.
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, who created “Bracketology“ and teaches a class on the subject at St. Joseph’s University, has Maryland as No. 1 seed in his first prediction, but doesn’t have the team in his Final Four. He did pick Melo Trimble as his Player of the Year, joining Dick Vitale, Craig Robinson (no, not that Craig Robinson) and Reggie Rankin. LSU freshman phenom Ben Simmons received the most love from the committee, garnering nine votes.
Following a full season after five players transferred from his program (in case you hadn’t heard), Mark Turgeon is a popular pick to win Coach of the Year. Five ESPN experts picked him to win the award, which tied for second in votes with Vanderbilt’s Kevin Stallings. Kansas’ Bill Self led the votes with six.
Last week, ESPN listed Maryland No. 1 in its preseason power rankings, and the network is giving the Terps plenty of coverage this preseason. Thirteen of the team’s 30-plus regular season games will air on the ESPN family of networks this season, and Maryland alumnus Scott Van Pelt will host an episode of SportsCenter live from Xfinity Center after Maryland’s game against Georgetown on Tuesday.
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