The brackets are out, and, I won't lie, when CBS announced that Arizona had made it in the field as a number 12 seed, my heart sank a little bit. "They took our spot." Lo and behold, though, only a few minutes later Maryland was announced as a number 10 seed in the West. It's a better seed than any Maryland fan could have ever hoped for. Sure, you can nitpick, and there's room to. Maryland's playing their first round game against California, and then if they win that they get the opportunity to play the best defensive team in the country, Memphis. To look at it like that, though, is wrong. One game at a time. California is a true 7 seed, and will be a good test.
I'm going to be posting about March Madness this entire week, so I will keep this initial post short. Gary Williams is, without a doubt, one of the best pure coaches in college basketball. In no way am I retracting any of the anger I felt earlier this year about the team and their lack of talent, because that is still all on him. What is amazing, though, is that Gary took a team that last year went to the NIT and turned them into a tournament team. He did that while losing two senior big men, including one who was third team All-ACC, and replacing them essentially with a freshman who played tough D but couldn't be counted on to make a layup. He somehow turned Dave Neal, the laughingstock of every announcer who ever covered the Terps, into a functional center in the Atlantic Coast Conference. He calmed down the most hyperactive player in the history of college basketball and somehow got him to be one of the leaders in the conference in assist to turnover ratio. This is all not to mention the fact the team really only went eight men deep the entire year, and all the drama surrounding him and his team midseason.
He needs to recruit better, so this offseason I give myself permission to say whatever I like. In season, though, I'll keep my mouth shut.
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