Maryland men’s basketball returned to the top 25 of the AP poll on Monday for the first time since early December, slotting in at No. 21 after defeating Minnesota and then-No. 21 Northwestern at home last week.
The Terps completed the regular season unbeaten at home in conference play. Their win over the Wildcats vaulted them into a four-way tie for second place in the Big Ten standings at 11-7 in conference play.
Coach Kevin Willard’s squad currently holds the tie-breaker for the second seed in the conference tournament, putting the Terps in position to receive a double-bye to the Big Ten quarterfinals along with the other top four seeds in the tournament.
Maryland is the third-highest ranked Big Ten team in this week’s AP poll behind No. 5 Purdue and No. 15 Indiana, teams the Terps are 2-1 against. Willard’s squad is one of four Big Ten programs receiving votes.
[Maryland men’s basketball powers past No. 21 Northwestern, 75-59]
The Terps slot in at No. 17 in the KenPom rankings and No. 21 in the NET rankings, two statistical measures, with a week remaining in the regular season. Maryland currently holds a 3-8 record against quad one opponents but has just one loss outside of the top quadrant in the NET rankings.
The Terps are currently projected to earn an at-large bid and a No. 7 seed in the NCAA tournament by Bracket Matrix, which aggregates 89 different projections to produce an average projected seed.
Maryland will look to resolve its road struggles after starting Big Ten play 1-7 in away games in its last two regular season games at Ohio State on Wednesday and Penn State on Sunday.
