Maryland Terrapins

Tuesday's entry is the seventh and final installment of a week-long series taking a look at each of the seven Division I programs in this state according to their order of finish from last season. The Sun's lacrosse preview is slated to be published Feb. 17. This is Maryland's turn. Overview: The Terps enjoyed their best season in more than a decade, reaching the NCAA title game for the first time since 1998. The school also captured its first Atlantic Coast Conference tournament crown since 2005 and its first Final Four berth since 2006.

The next time college basketball fans see Kentucky, the newly crowned national champions will look a lot different. So will the team the Wildcats will be facing - Maryland. Neither the countdown nor the buildup for their Nov. 9 matchup at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., has yet to begin, but it's interesting to speculate what each team will look like. It's a given that Kentucky will be starting nearly from scratch, as John Calipari's teams seem to do on a now yearly basis.

The next time college basketball fans see Kentucky, the newly crowned national champions will look a lot different. So will the team the Wildcats will be facing - Maryland. Neither the countdown nor the buildup for their Nov. 9 matchup at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., has yet to begin, but it's interesting to speculate what each team will look like. It's a given that Kentucky will be starting nearly from scratch, as John Calipari's teams seem to do on a now yearly basis.

There's a problem with little Tyler tonight, and Mommy is just about beside herself. Tyler just turned 4. He has leukemia — but this has nothing to do with that. Tyler is extroverted and lovey-dovey, a world-class hugger, a chatterbox. And until this very day, he loved the Maryland Terrapins, especially the women's basketball team, unconditionally. He was red, black and yellow, through and through. Attended every game his illness allowed. Wouldn't even think of wearing blue — because blue is Duke.

All football eyes will be on College Park tomorrow, when Navy's opening opponent next week, Coach George Welsh's Virginia Cavaliers, battle the Maryland Terrapins.The Terps upended Virginia in their opener last year, 17-6, and the following week the Mids nearly ruined the Cavaliers' bowl season before losing a heart-breaker in the fourth quarter, 17-10.One of the more interesting locker room topics these dayscenters on the debate as to whether opening a season with an opponent who has a game under its belt places a team at a disadvantage.

Coach: Gary Williams, 12th season at Maryland (217-128), 23rd overall (424-256). Affiliation: Atlantic Coast Conference. 1999-2000 record: 25-10 (11-5 in ACC); lost to UCLA in NCAA Midwest second round. Radio: WBAL (1090 AM) Arena: Cole Field House (14,500). Consensus league favorite: Duke. Consensus Maryland prediction: Second. Starters lost: None. Starting lineup: G Steve Blake, G Juan Dixon, F Danny Miller, F Terence Morris, C Lonny Baxter. Outlook: If there ever was a year for the Terps to break through the wall - get past the Sweet 16 for the first time under Williams and even make it to the Final Four - this is it. Maryland, which has won 53 games over the past two seasons, returns all five starters and will bring possibly its best bench ever to bear on the ACC. Morris, Baxter and Dixon give Maryland one of the top trios of talent in the nation, and Blake should be considered one of the country's top point guards before long.

COLLEGE PARK - Ever since he began to participate years ago in the summer basketball camps run by coach Gary Williams at Cole Field House, John Gilchrist had pictured himself one day running the offense in a Maryland uniform. But Gilchrist never dreamed how the past and the present would converge, putting him in such a unique place and time. Nearly eight months after the Terrapins finally reached the pinnacle by winning the first national championship in school history, and days before the program officially celebrates its debut in the sparkling Comcast Center arena, Maryland's freshman point guard tried to grasp what the future holds for him and his fellow recruits.

Good morning --Maryland Terrapins --So, was it Coach Friedgen's "win one for the bowl tchotchkes" speech that did it?

The Maryland Terrapins know what they have to do to get on, and stay on, the NCAA tournament selection committee's radar: keep holding serve at Comcast Center and get a few more wins on the road. How many wins the Terps need might depend on how they and the rest of the ACC teams fare away home. Maryland@Georgia Tech Today, noon, ESPN2, 1300 AM, 105.7 FM Records: Maryland (13-8, 3-3 ACC); Georgia Tech (10-9, 3-3 ACC) Line: Georgia Tech by 4

ALCATRAZ ISLAND, Calif. -- In an age when college football coaches hope their players stay out of trouble, Ralph Friedgen brought his Maryland Terrapins to one of history's most notorious prisons Monday afternoon. Visiting Alcatraz, a penitentiary that has been closed since 1963 and is now an official U.S. landmark, is part of the nonfootball itinerary for the Terps as they get ready for Friday night's Emerald Bowl against Oregon State at San Francisco's AT&T Park. Emerald Bowl Maryland vs. Oregon State, San Francisco, Friday, 8:30 p.m., ESPN, 105.7 FM, 1300 AM Line: Oregon State by 5

Tuesday's entry is the seventh and final installment of a week-long series taking a look at each of the seven Division I programs in this state according to their order of finish from last season. The Sun's lacrosse preview is slated to be published Feb. 17. This is Maryland's turn. Overview: The Terps enjoyed their best season in more than a decade, reaching the NCAA title game for the first time since 1998. The school also captured its first Atlantic Coast Conference tournament crown since 2005 and its first Final Four berth since 2006.

The final buzzer sounded, Juan Dixon and Lonny Baxter tumbled to the Georgia Dome floor locked in a joyous embrace, and the Maryland Terrapins had completed their historic journey by winning the first men's national basketball championship in school history. The Terps have shown their mettle in so many ways throughout this marvelous season, and the Indiana Hoosiers brought out yet another layer of toughness in Maryland last night. Indiana used tenacious defense and outside shooting to push the Terps to the brink of a stunning upset.

Guess it was only a matter of time before the Maryland Terrapins played a game that was uglier than their new uniforms. How else do you explain the way they were dismantled by a Temple Owls team that — not so many years ago — was one of those opponents that big-program schools loved to feast on in September? Mind you, the Owls (3-1) aren't BCS cannon fodder anymore. They almost beat Penn State on Sept. 17, and they appear to be a team on the rise, which is what everybody thought Maryland was until the Terps were shut out 31-0 in the first half . By the time Saturday's 38-7 loss was over, the oddsmakers were probably giving Towson a second look.

The Maryland Terrapins wore red T-shirts and solemn expressions Sunday after learning that they would be a No. 4 seed in the NCAA men's tournament and would play Friday night in Spokane, Wash., against a Houston team that has a mediocre win-loss record but also the nation's leading scorer in Aubrey Coleman. Facing the media Sunday night, it was as if the Terrapins had already begun preparing themselves emotionally for the task of playing in college basketball's marquee event. Unlike last season - when their entrance into the tournament was met with glee - the Terps appeared more resolute than celebratory.

The Atlantic Coast Conference tournament has a familiar feel for the second-seeded Maryland Terrapins. After all, they have played each of the participants this season and could find themselves playing at least one team for a third time. At the same time, the tournament is very different -- the schedule is more compressed -- than the regular season. Preparing for it requires a new set of procedures. About the only thing like it for No. 19 Maryland this season was the Maui Invitational, in which the Terps played three games in three days in November, losing two. The team could have a similar schedule at Greensboro Coliseum if it wins Friday night and Saturday to advance to Sunday's final.

- The No. 22 Maryland Terrapins can finally exhale after surviving one of those uncomfortable sorts of games that they were expected to win handily - and almost didn't win at all. Maryland's journey toward a share of the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season championship included some unsettling late-game moments Saturday before the Terps held on for a 74-68 victory over reeling Virginia. The best that can be said about the game for Maryland is that it's over. And now the Terps (23-7, 13-3 ACC)

COLLEGE PARK -- The Maryland Terrapins are not accustomed to success this season, so handling a rare bit of dominance proved tricky last night against Wake Forest at Comcast Center. Pulling away to a 12 point lead midway through the second half, and leading by 11 with 5:17 remaining, the Terps made their fans nervous and their coach apoplectic when the Demon Deacons cut their deficit to five before Maryland held on for a 71-64 victory. Maryland@North Carolina Saturday, 3:30 p.m., chs. 2, 7, 1300 AM, 105.7 FM Records: Maryland (11-7, 1-2 ACC)

There's a problem with little Tyler tonight, and Mommy is just about beside herself. Tyler just turned 4. He has leukemia — but this has nothing to do with that. Tyler is extroverted and lovey-dovey, a world-class hugger, a chatterbox. And until this very day, he loved the Maryland Terrapins, especially the women's basketball team, unconditionally. He was red, black and yellow, through and through. Attended every game his illness allowed. Wouldn't even think of wearing blue — because blue is Duke.

- The Maryland Terrapins, riding a five-game winning streak, are back in the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time since November. The Terps (21-7, 11-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) surfaced at No. 22 on Monday after victories last week against Clemson and at Virginia Tech. Maryland is ranked 23rd in the latest ESPN/USA Today coaches' rankings. The Terps were ranked 21st in the AP poll in late November but fell out of the rankings after losses to Cincinnati and Wisconsin in the Maui Invitational.