The Maryland basketball team were coming off a disappointing performance in the Big Ten Tournament this past weekend.
However, the Terrapins still received a favorable draw as they earned a No. 6 seed in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament field. Maryland will face No. 11 seed Xavier on Thursday evening.
The Terps had to wait until nearly the entire bracket was unveiled on Selection Sunday. Maryland/Xavier was the final matchup that was announced on the live broadcast on CBS.
Maryland will travel to Orlando later this week. If the Terps can pull out a victory against the Big East school, they’ll find themselves facing the winner of No. 3 Florida State and No. 14 Florida-Gulf Coast.
Gonzaga drew the No. 1 seed in the region while Arizona was the second-best program. Both the Bulldogs and Wildcats are coming off winning their respective conference tournaments.
Maryland seemed to be in the range that most thought they would wind up in prior to the Big Ten Tournament. The Terps didn’t do themselves any favors in terms of elevating their resume as they fell to Northwestern on Friday in the quarterfinals.
The Big Ten ended up doing pretty well as seven total teams from the conference made the NCAA Tournament field. It was the second-most of any conference, which was just behind the ACC with nine schools.
The Big East also had seven schools get in.
Maryland tips off against Xavier at 6:50 p.m. on Thursday night. If the Terps can reel in a win, they’ll play again on Saturday in the Round of 32.