Last night’s game was ugly for the Terps. While I was watching the game I started thinking about the team’s history in Maui. It seemed to me like they never do well there.
After doing some research, guesswork, and arithmetic, I found that the Maui Invitational has not historically treated Maryland well. This is the Terps fourth trip there. In the previous three tournaments the team was 5-4 with their best finish being a loss in the 1994 final. I don’t have the annual records in front of me but I’m going to make some educated guesses based on the data available. Counting this year’s win against Chaminade and loss to Cincinnati, the Terps have gone 3-4 in the three tournaments since then 1994. Considering that their first round game is generally against a cupcake team and assuming Maryland has won all those first round games, this means the Terps are 0-4 in the second round or later in their last three trips to Maui. If that doesn’t already suck enough, there is only one team that is a perfect 12-0 in tournament history and their name rhymes with Fuke.
Even though this tournament is like a free vacation for the coaching staff and their family, they may want to consider skipping it in the future. Short of skipping the tournament, maybe the team could get there a couple days earlier to shake off the jet lag. I don’t know what the answer is here, but something has to change if they’re going back to Maui.
If recent history is any indication of future performance, don’t expect Maryland to turn it around tonight against Wisconsin. Mahalo.
I see them beating Wisconsin. They’ll want to rebound from last night.
I think early season losses to good teams can be a good thing in the long run. It’s great to hear about the Terps crushing Southern Charleston by 40, but are they really learning anything or getting better? This can give them (especially our young guys) a nice dose of reality before they start their ACC schedule. Maybe this will be in the back of their minds while they’re mopping the floor with Northwest Kentucky A&T or whoever they play in December/January.
And you misspelled “paradise”.
In 1994, the Terps beat Chaminade and Utah, then lost to Arizona State. (2-1)
In 2000, the Terps beat Louisville, then lost to Illinois and Dayton. (1-2)
In 2005, the Terps lost to Gonzaga, then beat Chaminade and Arkansas. (2-1)
Since 2000, Maryland is 2-2 vs. Wisconsin. We lost to them on the road in 2000 and 2004, and beat them at home in 2003, and beat them in the 2002 NCAA Tournament (on a “neutral” court at MCI Center).
Found all this at TerrapinStats.com (except I had to Google which years we played in Maui).
Mike, that makes sense. It adds-up to 5-4. So including this year we’re 2-4 after the first around of Maui with the two wins coming in the losers side of the bracket. Ugh.
Dymond, thanks for pointing out my grammatical error. Too bad spellcheck doesn’t work on the titles. The Terps got off to a slow start last year and ended well. I’m not hitting the panic button yet.
There is one post-1st-round win on the winner’s side (vs. Utah in 1994) and two post-1st-round wins on the loser’s side (both in 2005). 2 of those 5 total wins are against Division II Chaminade (3 out of 6 wins are vs. Chaminade, if you also count this year).
I remember the 2002 Wisconsin win in the tourney. We speed it up and they take the air out…I think our style’s gonna win out tonight.