On Wednesday, CBS Sports released their 2018 rankings of the best college athletics programs in the country based on how successful their respective teams were during the 2017-2018 academic year.
The rankings take into consideration if a school made a bowl game for football, the NCAA tournament for men’s and women’s basketball, and the two best performances from other sports not named basketball or football.
Maryland was ranked 50th on the list with 216 points, down from last year, where they finished 18th overall with 376.5 points.
The Terps lost ground this year due to the football and men’s basketball team not making the postseason, and the women’s and men’s lacrosse teams both failing to repeat as national champions.
Maryland had a down year across their athletics programs, but is 50th place the right spot for the Terps?
Football, men’s and women’s basketball, all suffered significant injuries during the season that caused all three teams to regress in 2017-2018.
However, that isn’t an indication for next year, as those three teams in particular have strengthened their teams greatly for next season.
The mainstays at Maryland like men’s and women’s lacrosse, men’s soccer and field hockey, should have the same relative success next season, and who knows about other sports within the program.
If the CBS rankings gave greater weight to sports outside of basketball and football, Maryland would have likely been higher on this list. By counting only two sports outside of basketball and football, Maryland’s run to the Final Four in field hockey gets left out. While failing to make the postseason for men’s basketball and football was bad, going to the Final Four in three different sports is quite the accomplishment.
Ultimately, it’s hard to really judge a program with these metrics because peaks and valleys exist and can’t be avoided. However, based on what happened last season, 50th is deserving, but don’t expect Maryland to finish that low this upcoming year.
