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Bear with me but let me tell you about the 2000-01 Maryland team.
They were ranked #5 in the preseason.
They started the season 1-3, and then rattled off 10 straight wins, in mostly buy-games.
They managed to get to 14-4 with a ranking of #12.
Then they lost five of their next six falling to 15-9. Their only win during that stretch was a home game vs last place Clemson. Their last loss was to a terrible Florida State team AT HOME on Feb. 14. This is the same FSU team that finished the year 9-21, including losses to a 12-18 DePaul team, a and a 10-16 Furman team.
The tumble began with a home overtime loss to Duke in which Maryland blew a 10-point lead in the final 54 seconds of regulation.
I was living in the DC area at the time, and the Maryland fans were unglued and thought their season was lost. The home loss to a bad FSU team late in the season was stunning.
The team was described as in crisis and were in danger of not making the NCAA tournament. Fans on talk-radio and internet message boards were wondering if Maryland had gone as far as they could under Williams.
"I'm disappointed in myself. I think in this situation, I have to look at myself as a coach and try to understand why we don't do certain things, why our emotional level is not where it has to be to play in the ACC at this level. It's things like that that I take pride in controlling as a coach. We knew going into this year that the league would be rough, but we felt like we were one of the best teams." Head Coach Gary Williams
Williams also told the players to forget about the losses and just have fun and the next game they won @ #23 Wake Forest.
They pulled it together and won their last five games of the year including @ Duke, and one game in the ACC tourney, and received a #3 seed in the tourney. The finished 10-6 in conference.
They managed to make it to a Final Four that year and won the championship the next year.
Oh, the 2002 national championship is the only time a team won without a McDonald’s AA.
They were ranked #5 in the preseason.
They started the season 1-3, and then rattled off 10 straight wins, in mostly buy-games.
They managed to get to 14-4 with a ranking of #12.
Then they lost five of their next six falling to 15-9. Their only win during that stretch was a home game vs last place Clemson. Their last loss was to a terrible Florida State team AT HOME on Feb. 14. This is the same FSU team that finished the year 9-21, including losses to a 12-18 DePaul team, a and a 10-16 Furman team.
The tumble began with a home overtime loss to Duke in which Maryland blew a 10-point lead in the final 54 seconds of regulation.
I was living in the DC area at the time, and the Maryland fans were unglued and thought their season was lost. The home loss to a bad FSU team late in the season was stunning.
The team was described as in crisis and were in danger of not making the NCAA tournament. Fans on talk-radio and internet message boards were wondering if Maryland had gone as far as they could under Williams.
"I'm disappointed in myself. I think in this situation, I have to look at myself as a coach and try to understand why we don't do certain things, why our emotional level is not where it has to be to play in the ACC at this level. It's things like that that I take pride in controlling as a coach. We knew going into this year that the league would be rough, but we felt like we were one of the best teams." Head Coach Gary Williams
Williams also told the players to forget about the losses and just have fun and the next game they won @ #23 Wake Forest.
They pulled it together and won their last five games of the year including @ Duke, and one game in the ACC tourney, and received a #3 seed in the tourney. The finished 10-6 in conference.
They managed to make it to a Final Four that year and won the championship the next year.
Oh, the 2002 national championship is the only time a team won without a McDonald’s AA.