Pair of national pundits higher on Maryland basketball than preseason pick, but cautious in year one

Ahmed Ghafir
Oct 21, 2025
2 min read

Maryland men’s basketball is set to host local media for preseason media day on Thursday with the lone exhibition set for Monday at 7 PM vs. UMBC, the first glimpse for the public at the new-look Terps.

With Buzz Williams less than one week away from unofficially kicking off his first season as head coach of the program, the biggest question remains clear: what will the team look like on the floor?

Maryland has had to battle through offseason injuries with Solomon Washington spotted in a boot and expected to be sidelined through October, while the program previously announced Kansas transfer Rakease Passmore, one of two transfers from Kansas, will miss the entire 2025-26 season due to a torn Achilles. Freshman Darius Adams also missed a portion of summer workouts, though he’s since returned to the team and was available for Saturday’s ‘secret’ scrimmage vs. West Virginia.

But where does Maryland stack up in the Big Ten?

Maryland was picked to finish 13^th in the annual preseason media poll, but a pair of national pundits enter the season slightly bullish on year one than the consensus.

CBS Sports analyst Gary Parrish ranked Maryland ninth in the Big Ten, sandwiched in between Ohio State (8) and Washington (10) with Purdue and Michigan the consensus top two between he and Matt Norlander.

The Field of 68, meanwhile, ranked Maryland 12^th in the Big Ten with skepticism about the Terps’ chances of breaking into the top half of the conference.

"I don't know - Buzz Williams' first year usually goes about that,” Terrence Oglesby added.

That will be something to prove this season for Williams, who led Marquette to a Round of 32 finish and 25-10 (12-6) overall record in his first season as head coach. At his other three stops, Williams posted a combined 41-53 (21-33) record in his first season as head coach.

Still, with so much uncertainty about how the new pieces will mesh together, Parrish pointed to Maryland as the best roster among the first-year Big Ten coaches.

“Buzz has the best team,” Parrish said of the Terps in his conference preview last week.

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