Whooo-hoooo! Maryland is the #1 Seed in the Spokane Region!

Not that we don't think Maryland is one of the 4 best teams in the nation . . . we do. But did we think the selection committee would think that too? Well, to be honest, no. So, yes, we are surprised. But this is a happy surprise! Wow!

Now here's what you need to know:

First up for the Terps at Comcast Center on Easter Sunday (March 23rd): Coppin State from the great state of . . . Maryland . . . Baltimore, to be exact! The last time these two teams met was December 12, 2005. The Terps won, 69-38.

If the seeds hold: Maryland's next opponent will be another red team, Nebraska, on Tuesday, March 25th.

Then, again assuming the seeds hold, it's on to Spokane! We have only two words for Terps fans . . . United . . . Airlines. Well, you can get there by other carriers, but UAL has the most flights with the fewest connections. Of course, you could drive.

All those bracketologists that we weren't paying much attention to had already ordained Stanford as the #1 seed in the Spokane Region, but they were wrong, as the selection committee made the Cardinal the #2 seed in that Region. This made for an interesting split screen on ESPN's selection show this evening, as both the Terps and the Cardinal were being shown live when Maryland's Number 1 seeding was announced. Needless to say, there were some pretty stunned expressions on the faces of the Stanford players and coaches . . . and some pretty happy grins on the faces of the Terps. Heck, we even saw Markus (or was it Tyler) giving the "we're #1" sign. And those of you who watched the broadcast undoubtedly heard one of the twins shouting "Whoo hoo!" while Mom B was on camera.

But, of course (sadly as we learned last year) you first have to play the games. Perhaps we are getting way too far ahead of ourselves now talking about the Sweet Sixteen and the Elite 8 match-ups. So, returning to our regular programming, here are the match-ups you'll see in College Park on Sunday (not in chronological order): Maryland vs Coppin State; Xavier vs Nebraska; Arizona State vs Temple; and last, but not least, Duke (!) vs Murray State.

So dust off your Easter Bonnets, don your Terrapin Red and we'll see you on Sunday!

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(Tuesday AM) And more (good) news . . . yesterday, soon-to-be Terp Dee Liles was named WBCA JC/CC Player of the Year! Wow! Congratulations, Dee! And good luck in the NJCAA Championships, which begin today!