Scott Garceau: Two Left Feet
They are clumsy, awkward, and often hard to watch. Like the nerdy guy who thought he had a shot with the knockout cheerleader, the Terps won't be going to The Dance. I guess they could catch lightning in a bottle and win the ACC tournament to get the automatic NCAA berth and I guess I could win Powerball this week.
March is a special month for any college basketball fan, but its been missing some buzz around here for quite awhile. Mark Turgeon soon will be 0 for 3 in getting his team to dance. In fairness, the Maryland hoops decline started before Turgeon arrived in College Park, the Terps haven't made the NCAA tournament in 7 of the last 10 years.
I guess Gary Williams spoiled us, in 2004 he took the Terps to their 11th straight NCAA tournament. In that span came 7 Sweet Sixteens, the Final Four in 2001 and the National Championship team in 2002. It seemed like a given back then, the Terps would be in the tournament the only question was how far would they advance. Ah, the good ole days!
While the Terps stumble and stagger area fans might notice a Towson team that has a shot to make the NCAA tournament. Pat Skerry's Tigers are among the favorites (2 seed) in the CAA tournament. The tournament tips off Friday night at the Baltimore Arena with the Championship game Monday night.
Meanwhile, Terps fans wait till next year when a top 15 recruiting class, lead by Melo Trimble, will try to make Maryland tournament worthy. Until then March Madness will be missing something around here.