Maryland men’s basketball dropped seven spots to No. 24 in Monday’s Associated Press poll, returning to the same ranking the team possessed before going 0-2 last week with losses to Penn State and No. 7 Michigan.
The Terps’ blowout 78-61 loss to the Nittany Lions and 69-62 defeat at the hand of the Wolverines, who moved up two spots from No. 9 this week, dropped them to fifth place in the Big Ten, a half-game behind No. 21 Wisconsin in the battle for a double-bye in the conference tournament.
The Badgers dropped in the ranking this week, moving from No. 19 to No. 21 after a double-overtime loss at Indiana. Wisconsin has two games remaining in the regular season, hosting newly unranked Iowa and traveling to Ohio State, while Maryland has only a home game against Minnesota left on the schedule.
[Read more: Behind Ignas Brazdeikis, No. 9 Michigan tops No. 17 Maryland men’s basketball, 69-62]
Should the Terps and Badgers finish tied for fourth in the Big Ten, the tiebreaker depends on how the standings shake out above them. If No. 11 Purdue, which sits at the top of the conference and controls its own destiny, wins the Big Ten, Maryland would earn the No. 4-seed in the tournament.
Michigan leapfrogged Michigan State in this week’s rankings, but both remain ranked ahead of No. 11 Purdue, despite the Boilermakers leading the conference.
If the second-place Wolverines, who are a half-game behind Purdue and a half-game ahead of Michigan State, win the conference, Wisconsin would get the double-bye. If the Spartans take first place, the double-bye tiebreaker would depend on the second- and third-place finishers.
