On Sunday, Maryland men’s basketball blew a 13-point lead to No. 6 Michigan State, and eventually falling to the Spartans, 74-68.
The most notable reason Maryland lost had to be the 19 offensive rebounds they allowed, which gave Michigan State no shortage of second chances on offense.
Obviously the offensive rebounds were costly, but there’s another reason why Maryland lost: the flash mobs are cursed.
Maryland had its sixth annual flash mob during the first half of the game, continuing its tradition of having the students participate in a highly coordinated performance that started in 2013.
While the flash mobs are definitely fun, a trend has emerged from what is now a six-game sample: Maryland tends to lose when the flash mobs happen.
The Terps have now lost three straight flash mob games and have fallen to 2-4 in those games over the past six years.
Against Wisconsin in 2016, Maryland suffered a 70-57 defeat in a game that also led to Diamond Stone being suspended for a flagrant foul. It was the first time they lost a home conference game as a member of the Big Ten.
Last year, Maryland suffered a defeat at the hands of an Iowa Hawkeyes squad that failed to make the NCAA Tournament. Iowa won by 14 in a game where they led by as many as 22 points.
So the past three flash mobs have led to a suspension, a loss to a team that wasn’t good enough to make the NCAA Tournament and blowing a 13-point lead in a loss that has made the Terps an awfully likely NIT participant. Seems bad.
Of course it is important to note Maryland’s two wins in flash mob games have been wins over top five opponents. A 2013 win over No. 2 Duke led to raucous celebrations on Route 1 and their 2015 win over No. 5 Wisconsin remains Maryland’s most impressive victory as a member of the Big Ten.
That being said, Maryland has lost three straight flash mob games, each in a particularly painful way. While I don’t earnestly think the flash mobs are cursed, if they lose again next year, the superstitious side of me will start to think that maybe they are.
