That was a huge win for the Terps last night in more ways than repairing their psyche after being outscored 40-13 during the second half of their last game.

As I was saying on Twitter last night (@andrewprimrose), while coach Mark Turgeon was probably not wrong in saying that four wins in Atlanta are necessary for the Terps to make the NCAA tournament, there is another possible path.

If Maryland is somehow able to win its last three games of the regular season and one game in the ACC Tournament, the Terps would be left with the following resume: 20 wins, including victories against North Carolina, Notre Dame, Virginia and Miami and no "bad losses."

As far as I'm concerned, for a team from the ACC, that is an NCAA resume, and it's not completely out of the realm of possibility either. Yes, Maryland will be a huge underdog against Carolina, and we all saw what happened the last time they played Virginia.

But ...

The Terps should easily beat Georgia Tech, and it's not crazy to think they could come together for two games to knock off UNC and Virginia, two talented but eminently flawed teams. Maryland hung tough with North Carolina during their first meeting and was tied with Virginia at halftime during their first game. The Baby Terps are probably destined for the NIT rather than the NCAA, but one thing you can say about coach Turg's first Maryland team is they haven't quit.

Posted Feb. 22, 2012