Maryland has neither won a conference title since 2010 nor made the Final Four since 2002. So it's been a while since fans of the program have had a team with true championship aspirations.
This Maryland team has them, though.
This Maryland team is legit.
Jalen Smith outplayed Kofi Cockburn on Friday and finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds while leading the Terrapins to a 75-66 victory at Illinois. So Maryland is now 19-4 overall and 9-3 in the Big Ten -- which means Mark Turgeon's team is alone atop the league standings with just eight conference games remaining.
"Great win for us," Turgeon said afterward.
The Terrapins overcame a 14-point deficit at Illinois to extend their winning streak to six games. They're now 7-4 in Quadrant 1 opportunities, and 11-4 in Quadrant 1/Quadrant 2 opportunities, with zero losses outside of the NCAA's first two quadrants. They jumped from No. 10 to No. 7 in Saturday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings -- which caused Florida State, West Virginia and Duke to be pushed down one spot each, no fault of their own.
For what it's worth, KenPom now projects the Terrapins to finish 14-6 in the Big Ten and win the league's regular-season title by one game over Michigan State and Penn State. Maryland's next game is Tuesday against Nebraska.
Saturday's Top 25 And 1 rankings
Biggest Movers
3
Maryland
5
Illinois
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Filip Petrusev made 11 free throws and finished with 21 points in Thursday's 85-67 victory over Loyola Marymount. The Zags' 16-game winning streak features 12 double-digit victories. | -- | 27-8 |
| 2 |  | Jared Butler finished with 20 points and three steals in Monday's 73-67 victory at Kansas State. The Bears' 19-game winning streak features victories over Kansas, Villanova and Butler. | -- | 24-11 |
| 3 |  | Matt Mitchell made four 3-pointers and finished with 28 points in Saturday's 80-68 victory over Utah State. The Aztecs are 23-0 for the first time in school history. | -- | 26-11 |
| 4 |  | Udoka Azubuike got 17 points and 12 rebounds off the bench in Monday's 69-58 victory over Texas. The Jayhawks will take a seven-game winning streak into Saturday's game at TCU. | -- | 23-11 |
| 5 |  | Jordan Nwora finished with 21 points and seven rebounds in Wednesday's 86-76 victory over Wake Forest. The Cardinals will take a nine-game winning streak into Saturday's game with Virginia. | -- | 8-24 |
| 6 |  | Obi Toppin finished with 18 points and six rebounds in Saturday's 70-56 victory over Fordham. Both of the Flyers' losses are overtime losses to schools also ranked in the Top 25 And 1. | -- | 25-8 |
| 7 |  | Anthony Cowan finished with 20 points and seven assists in Friday's 75-66 victory at Illinois. The Terrapins will take a six-game winning streak into Tuesday's game with Nebraska. | 3 | 16-17 |
| 8 |  | Patrick Williams got 14 points and nine rebounds off the bench in Monday's 65-59 victory over North Carolina. Florida State is 12-1 in its past 13 games with the lone loss in that stretch coming at Virginia. | 1 | 17-16 |
| 9 |  | Oscar Tshiebwe finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds in Wednesday's 76-61 victory over Iowa State. West Virginia is 10-4 in Quadrant 1/Quadrant 2 opportunities with zero losses outside of the first two quadrants. | 1 | 9-23 |
| 10 |  | Vernon Carey finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds in Tuesday's 63-55 victory at Boston College. The Blue Devils will take a four-game winning streak into Saturday's game at North Carolina. | 1 | 27-9 |
| 11 |  | Myles Powell finished with 34 points and seven rebounds in Wednesday's 78-71 victory at Georgetown. The Pirates will enter the weekend with a two-game lead in the Big East standings. | -- | 25-12 |
| 12 |  | Samir Doughty made three 3-pointers and finished with 23 points in Tuesday's 79-76 overtime victory at Arkansas. Auburn is 10-2 in Quadrant 1/Quadrant 2 opportunities with zero losses outside of the first quadrant. | -- | 27-8 |
| 13 |  | Kamar Baldwin finished with 17 points and eight rebounds in Wednesday's 79-76 victory over Villanova. The Bulldogs are 11-5 in Quadrant 1/Quadrant 2 opportunities with zero losses outside of the first two quadrants. | -- | 18-15 |
| 14 |  | The Ducks missed 17 of the 24 3-pointers they attempted in Saturday's 70-64 loss at Stanford. Oregon still has a Pac-12-leading seven league wins. | -- | 24-12 |
| 15 |  | The Wildcats allowed Butler to shoot 57.7% from the field in Wednesday's 79-76 loss on the road. Villanova has lost consecutive games for the first time all season. | -- | 18-16 |
| 16 |  | Lamar Stevens finished with 24 points and seven rebounds in Tuesday's 75-70 win at Michigan State. The Nittany Lions will take a five-game winning streak into Saturday's game with Minnesota. | -- | 16-17 |
| 17 |  | Nick Richards finished with 27 points and 11 rebounds in Tuesday's 80-72 victory over Mississippi State. The Wildcats are 5-1 in their past six games with the lone loss in that stretch coming at Auburn. | -- | 23-10 |
| 18 |  | Markus Howard made five 3-pointers and finished with 31 points in Saturday's 76-72 victory over DePaul. Marquette is 5-1 in its past six games with the lone loss in that stretch coming in overtime at Butler. | -- | 27-10 |
| 19 |  | Tyler Bey finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds in Thursday's 71-65 victory over California. The Buffaloes are 9-4 in Quadrant 1/Quadrant 2 opportunities with only one loss coming outside of the first two quadrants. | 1 | 26-11 |
| 20 |  | The Bluejays missed 21 of the 27 3-pointers they attempted in Wednesay's 73-56 loss at Providence. The loss snapped Creighton's four-game winning streak. | 1 | 25-10 |
| 21 |  | The Hawkeyes allowed Purdue to shoot 63.1% from the field in Wednesday's 104-68 loss on the road. Iowa is 3-4 in true road games. | 1 | 19-15 |
| 22 |  | The Tigers allowed Vanderbilt to shoot 57.4% from the field in Wednesday's 99-90 loss on the road. LSU's resume features five losses to currently unranked teams. | 1 | 17-16 |
| 23 |  | Cassius Winston was the only Michigan State player to reach double-figures in points in Tuesday's 75-70 loss to Penn State. The Spartans are 3-4 in their past seven games. | 1 | 20-15 |
| 24 |  | The Illini missed 10 of the 24 free throws they attempted in Friday's 75-66 loss to Maryland. Illinois will take a two-game losing streak into Tuesday's game with Michigan State. | 5 | 29-9 |
| 25 |  | Quentin Grimes finished with 15 points and five assists in Thursday's 75-62 victory over Tulane. The Cougars are 6-1 in their past seven games with the lone loss in that stretch coming at Cincinnati. | -- | 32-5 |
| 26 |  | Nico Mannion finished with 20 points and seven assists in Thursday's 85-80 victory over USC. The Wildcats are 5-1 in their past six games with the lone loss in that stretch coming at Arizona State. | -- | 27-9 |
