2 out of the next 3 is a must.

[Mackus]

True. It's nowhere near as insightful as "if they play really, really well they will win."

I'm saying I saw absolutely nothing in that last game that showed me they belonged on the same court as Duke. I wasn't aware that the outcome of previous games with a common opponent were irrelevant.

What irrelevant is assuming that all the factors will be the same and that the outcome will be the same. Teams look bad from time to time. Duke looked like an NIT team against Georgetown then turned around and have played very well the last couple games. They barely beat a terrible UNC team on the road, that shows how hard road games are in the ACC. Its certainly disappointing how poorly we played, but things like that happen, and you have to look at how a team has played overall, not just one game. Last year MD lost at Duke by 41 and then a month later played them even until the last 5 minutes before fading.

What's irrelevant is an opinion that only looks at one source of information rather than the entire body of work of both teams. If Maryland played at Cameron 10 times, they probably only win once or twice at most. But play those ten games in Comcast, and its a much more even-up match up that we have a decent shot at winning, although like I said we still probably won't be the favorites unless we start playing even better or if Duke tails off a bit.

[VThokies]

But we should not be a team that talks about this year in and year out. Maybe I'm just getting old, but I remember when we would be talking about what kind of seed we'll get rather than whether or not we'll get in.

Like Mackus said, this is a senior-laden team in a down ACC year. The fact that we have to win some tough games down the stretch to make or break getting in means we are not in the position we should be in my opinion.

I don't follow this team or college basketball nearly as much as most of you on here, so I'll certainly differ to your knowledge of what it will take to get in, but it's still frustrating for me to see the Maryland basketball program continue to be an afterthought.

I won't beat my anti-Williams mantra again because I realize most on here like the ol' ball coach regardless or the current state of the program, but what I can't get over is how much hoopla I've heard about this team only to see people talking about having to win 3 of our last 4 to be certain of getting in.

I want the Terps to win (hell I'm going to the game tonight) and I want them to get into the tourney, but what I want more than anything is to get back to the point where if we didn't make it to the sweet-16 it was considered a down year.

I like Jordan Williams and Moseby gives me hope for the future, and maybe I'm just pessimistic, but I just don't see Williams' taking this team back to the glory.

I'll be happy to be wrong though.

I'm sure the research is out there somewhere, I just dont have the time to go look it up. I think that has been the case for most programs accross the country for the last decade. As more mid major programs get in the tournament each year, there are loss spots for the major conferences. Fewer spots, higher standards. I don't think 10 years ago, any MD fan would have been at all concerned about getting into the tournament with the current record, RPI, and SOS.

[ccbird]

But we should not be a team that talks about this year in and year out. Maybe I'm just getting old, but I remember when we would be talking about what kind of seed we'll get rather than whether or not we'll get in.

Like Mackus said, this is a senior-laden team in a down ACC year. The fact that we have to win some tough games down the stretch to make or break getting in means we are not in the position we should be in my opinion.

I don't follow this team or college basketball nearly as much as most of you on here, so I'll certainly differ to your knowledge of what it will take to get in, but it's still frustrating for me to see the Maryland basketball program continue to be an afterthought.

I won't beat my anti-Williams mantra again because I realize most on here like the ol' ball coach regardless or the current state of the program, but what I can't get over is how much hoopla I've heard about this team only to see people talking about having to win 3 of our last 4 to be certain of getting in.

I want the Terps to win (hell I'm going to the game tonight) and I want them to get into the tourney, but what I want more than anything is to get back to the point where if we didn't make it to the sweet-16 it was considered a down year.

I like Jordan Williams and Moseby gives me hope for the future, and maybe I'm just pessimistic, but I just don't see Williams' taking this team back to the glory.

I'll be happy to be wrong though.

To be fair, 9 wins usually doesn't have you on the bubble in the ACC. This year is different. The ACC is down, but getting 10 ACC wins in any year isn't going to be easy unless you're a top 10-15 team nationally.We aren't a top 15 team, but I do believe this is one of the better teams Gary has had since the National Championship. Still, I agree with you that things should be better in College Park overall. We shouldn't have to wait every 3 years for a senior laden team just to potentially be a Sweet 16 caliber team.

[Mackus]

Still, I agree with you that things should be better in College Park overall. We shouldn't have to wait every 3 years for a senior laden team just to potentially be a Sweet 16 caliber team.

I agree with this, and fortunately, I think Gary's done what needs to be done to have us well above the level of the past few years for the next several. We may fall back a bit just because of the loss of 3 really important seniors, but I think the core of Mosley and Williams plus next year's class and improvement from Padgett we'll be pretty close to where we are this year and very good the coming years after that.

I don't know if we'll ever get back, or if we ever really were, a perennial top-10 team, but I do think Gary will get us back to being a perennial NCAA-tournament team.