Terrapins Await NCAA Fate, Hope to Secure a No. 1 Seed
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Monday, March 16, 2009
The fourth-ranked Maryland women's basketball team officially wrapped up its NCAA tournament bid eight days ago when it won the ACC tournament, and tonight the Terrapins will finally learn whom they will have to face in their pursuit of a second national title.
The 64-team field will be unveiled at 7 p.m. on ESPN, and the Terrapins, who will watch the selection show at Comcast Center, are a strong candidate to earn a No. 1 seed for the second straight year. Maryland (28-4) swept the ACC regular season and tournament crowns, beat seven teams ranked in the top 25 of the RPI (according to CollegeRPI.com) and won its past 12 games.
"They're playing as well as anybody in the country, sans U-Conn.," Charlie Creme, who predicts the NCAA tournament field for ESPN.com, said last week. "I think a lot of what gets said today and in the next week will be with that prepositional phrase, 'other than U-Conn.' But Maryland has played exceptionally well and they're definitely a number one seed."
The Terrapins will play their first- and second-round games at Comcast Center, where they have a 34-game winning streak, on March 22 and 24. They are likely to be placed in the region that has its semifinal and final in Raleigh, N.C.; the other sites are Trenton, N.J.; Oklahoma City; and Berkeley, Calif.
For the first time since 2004, there will be 16 sites for the opening two rounds, as opposed to eight. That increases the likelihood that a lower-seeded team -- for instance, Rutgers in Piscataway, N.J., or LSU in Baton Rouge -- could host a higher-seeded team in the second round.
"All we can look at is how we place [teams] into the bracket according to the S-curve," Jacki Silar, chair of the NCAA women's tournament committee, said in a teleconference last week. "We feel like what's important is we've got to put them in the geographical location closest to their campus, because it maximizes the student-athlete experience. Hopefully it will increase attendance at the sites, and will increase our TV viewing audience."
Six other ACC teams have solid cases for tournament berths, including 25th-ranked Virginia (23-9). This would be the Cavaliers' 23rd overall appearance; they returned to the tournament last season after a two-year absence.
