Terps Need a win and some help to make the Dance

The Maryland Terrapins wasted another chance to solidify their spot in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday with their loss to Virginia Tech. That makes Thursday's game at Noon against Clemson a must-win game in order to keep their NCAA chances alive. Even then, the Terps may have to put up another good showing against North Carolina in order to have a realistic chance.

The most frustrating thing about the Terps team is that they are better than a 16-11 bubble team. If they had only taken care of business against Miami and in the previous two games against Clemson, this team is 19-8 and jockeying for a 4 or 5 seed. Now, it is down to win as many as they can in the tournament this weekend and hope for the best.

The only good news this point for the Terps is that most of the serious Mid-Major contenders for at-large bids have held serve. Old Dominion has made it to the CAA title game. Davidson, despite a 16-0 regular season conference schedule lost in the semifinals of the Southern Conference tournament, effectively ending their at-large consideration. Gonzaga and St. Mary's advanced to the WCC finals, likely earning both squads an at-large bid. Only Southern Illinois, losing to Southwest Missouri State last night can be considered problematic for the Terps, and even that can be minimized if Creighton beats SMS tonight.

The long and the short of it is that the Terps need to win to make the Big Dance. If they do not, they only have themselves to blame.