Sometimes ESPN's Selection Monday Show is a nail-biter. Tonight's . . . not so much. Ever since the Terps won the ACC Championship, a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament was pretty much guaranteed. Thus, there was little drama (though still great excitement) when ESPN revealed that (no surprise!) the Terps were named the #1 seed in the Raleigh Region. Congratulations to Coach B and the entire team!
The Terps kick off their NCAA Tournament run right here at Comcast Center this Sunday afternoon. Maryland will face the #16 seed in the region, Dartmouth, winner of the Ivy League. Then on Tuesday evening, that game's winner (our money's on the Terps . . . and we're giving great odds!) will play the winner of the #8/#9 match-up between Villanova and Utah. If Maryland and the Utes win their first round games, this would set up a replay of the 2006 Elite Eight match-up . . . only, in that meeting, Assistant Coach Daron Park was an Assistant Coach on Utah's bench. Small world.
Regardless of Tuesday's opponent, a win would send the Terps to the Sweet Sixteen game at the RBC Center in Raleigh (road trip!) on Saturday, March 28th. If the seeds in the region's first two rounds hold up, Maryland would be playing SEC Tournament Champion Vanderbilt, followed by an Elite Eight game against the Raleigh Region's #2 seed, Big 12 Champion Baylor (ironically another team in the Terps' bracket in 2006). But if #2 Baylor falters, Coach B and the Terps might have to slug it out with former Maryland Associate Head Coach, Jeff Walz, and his #3 seeded Louisville Cardinals for a trip to the Final Four in St. Louis. The plot thickens!
But we're getting waaay too far ahead of ourselves here. . . As the Terps well know, there's no looking past any team at any time, particularly during March Madness.
In the other parts of the bracket, UConn (the overall #1 seed) will be headed for the Trenton regional. Perhaps the only real suspense of an otherwise excruciatingly dull ESPN Selection Show would have have been learning the identity of the other two top seeds. But earlier today, ESPN.com stepped all over that possibility by putting up a poll on its website (later taken down) containing questions that actually named the four Number 1 seeds: Connecticut, Maryland, Oklahoma, and Duke. So much for the Selection Monday Show!
So congratulations again to the Terps on an incredible season, their ACC Championship, and their #1 seed! Let the games begin. Go Maryland! Beat Dartmouth!
Thanks to RebKell poster Rothum for the quick eye on that ESPN.com poll
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Tuesday Morning Observation . . . Last week, an editorial in the Baltimore Sun wondered why the public does not pay sufficient attention to women's sports. Well, we have at least part of the answer: Monday's Washington Post devoted an entire, separate, 14-page section to the men's NCAA Tournament. Today's paper give's the women's Tournament a few pages inside the sports section. As we said last week, the Sun's editorial made no mention of the role that the media play in this disparity, but it should have.
posted by BasketCases @ 9:32 PM
15 comments
15 Comments:
After the Terp announcement, the selection show was a total snooze with one exception. Finally Geno Auriemma said something I COMPLETELY agreed with - that I was tired of hearing about UConn and Geno Auriemma!!
I'm surprised Duke was a #1 seed, but we'll play whoever shows up. I was thrilled to see everyone's comments about the only team who could beat the Huskies....and that would be the TERPS!
Fear the Turtle!
Hey BCs check out the experts picks on ESPN. Your shout-out bubby didn't even pick the Terps to go to the Final 4. She picked Baylor.
Dang, Mechelle, I thought you were a fan of the Terps.
Oh well, GO TERPS!!!!
Dear X,
MV already used her up quota of "Terp luv" this week on Coach B, so she had to go with her homies in the Big XII. LOL!
-- BC
Excellent post! Ya'll always do a great job covering the local women's teams. GO TERPS!!
The second-round possible matchup with Texas could be interesting because of the rivalry Friese once had with Goestenkors.
Actually I think that Stanford got shafted. They really deserved the #1 seed over Duke. And remember, Stanford beat Connecticut last year.
I'm ecstatic that the Terps will get to play in Raleigh at the RBC Center. We can all afford to take this trip.
I hope and pray UConn loses to someone, if anything to send some humility Geno Auriemma's way. Is any human being more arrogant than this guy?
Charles...are you on hallucinogens? Texas is not a possible match-up for Maryland/Coach FRESE in the 2nd round. It would be Villanova or Utah for the Dartmouth-Maryland winner.
I readily affirm your Tuesday morning observation. Major media outlets render women's sports into the dark confines of oblivion.
Frankly, I enjoy women's basketball as much, or more, than the men's game.
Now women's basketball is achieving record-setting fanbases across the country. I think the Terps averaged close to 10,000 for women's basketball this year.
What are the odds someone would know how to spell Goestenkors and not Frese?
Better odds than we are giving for Maryland/Dartmouth! :-)
-- BC
It's a shame women's sports still isn't getting the recognition they deserve. I find it ironic that they're practically worshipped overseas when they go there to play (monetarily, especially), but can't get the love they deserve in their own home country. I especially can't tell you how frustrated it is to read all of the wisecracks in the comments section for WNBA and women's college basketball stories on ESPN's Web site. Well, I for one am proud to say that I'm a man and I LOVE women's sports. If the ladies have game, let them play!
does anyone know if there is an open practice today?? (Tuesday)
practice is always open.
I was heartened to see that the local CBS station sent their sports anchor for the selection show. I remember 2 years ago when we had local coverage but only field reporters showed to do interviews. 3 cheers to Brent Haber and CBS!! I'm surprised Lindsay Czarniak wasn't there. She's usually a pretty strong supporter of the Terps. NBC sent one of Lindsay's backup anchors. I will give 1 cheer to Lindsay who led with the MD story and in her report last night referred to our team as the Terps and not the Lady Terps. I sent an email about a month back to let her know that our women are not called the "Lady" Terps like some other schools choose to do with their women's sports programs. Glad to see Lindsay listens. 3 boos to ABC. I saw no one from the reporting staff although they had a camera there. And to think that Tim Brant calls himself a MD grad. He didn't even lead with the story on the 11:00 news. Both NBC and CBS did. But, we're making progress with coverage. Shame that it takes a #1 seed to get almost any attention at all.
I had mistaken Charlie Creme's last proposed bracket for the real one because it was still on the ESPN Women's Basketball home page at 7 pm Monday night.
His proposed bracket ended up being amazingly similar to the actual one.
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