College basketball season is a little less than a month away, and while no official polls have been released, ESPN’s No-Longer-Way-Too-Early Top 25 places Maryland at 22.
The Terps were ranked at No. 14 on Eamonn Brennan’s original Way-Too-Early Rankings. Although Brennan correctly predicted that center Diamond Stone would leave Maryland after his first season, he did not anticipate redshirt junior Robert Carter Jr. foregoing his last season of eligibility.
In an updated list from May, Maryland dropped four spots to No. 18 following the declarations to the NBA Draft, most notably with Melo Trimble deciding to stay for his junior season. In addition, the Terps added an important small forward prospect Justin Jackson, who originally committed to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
On Thursday, Brennan updated his preseason rankings with the scent of college basketball in the air, and Maryland continued to slide four more spots. The article focused on the drop of talent Maryland will deal with this season as opposed to last season without talking about a draft class full of potential that includes Jackson and guards Kevin Huerter and Anthony Cowan, just to name a few.
Brennan made a fair point: Trimble struggled in the second half of his sophomore season, which is no secret to any avid Maryland fan. However, over the narrative of an offseason, Maryland’s outlook has become much more negative than positive, almost predicting that they could struggle to stay ranked throughout the season.
In CBS Sports’ recent Top 25 (and one) ranking, Maryland didn’t make the cut.
Basketball powerhouses Duke and Kentucky are atop of most early season predictions due to highly ranked incoming freshmen classes. Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan State are in cozy spots within the top 15, with Purdue not far behind them. Interesting to note: both Michigan and Ohio State were not ranked by CBS or ESPN.
Maryland fans should not be worried. The Terps did just fine in 2014-2015 when the they were not expected to finish in the top half of the Big Ten (let alone end the season ranked):
No other major outlet has released any preseason basketball rankings since the draft.
