Men’s Basketball Enters AP Poll at No. 23 After 5-0 Start

COLLEGE PARK, MD – After a blistering 5-0 start and winning the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off with convincing victories over Saint Louis and Miami this past weekend, the Maryland men’s basketball team earned a No. 23 national ranking in the AP Top 25 Poll on Monday afternoon.
 
This is the first time the Terps have been ranked in the poll since week two of the 2021-22 season where Maryland was No. 20 in both the AP and Coaches Top 25 polls. It marks the 413^th time Maryland has been ranked in the AP Poll dating back to 1953-54 and the 37^th total year ranked in the poll overall.
 
Additionally, Maryland was ranked No. 25 in the USA Today Coaches Poll that came out on Monday as well.
 
Anchored by a defense allowing just 57.8 points per game, the Terps have won four of their first five games by 20-or-more points. Against Saint Louis, which was receiving votes last week, Maryland had its best offensive showing with a 95-67 win – the most points allowed by the Billikens in 30 years. The Terps followed that with an 88-70 win over Miami, also receiving votes, to win the Hall of Fame Tip-Off tournament championship on Sunday – its first regular-season tournament championship since 2019.
 
The two quality wins over the weekend moved Maryland up to No. 22 in the Ken Pom rankings as well.
 
The start of the season also saw head coach Kevin Willard reach another milestone as the first coach in Maryland’s program history to start his career in College Park with a 5-0 record. With the ranking, Willard also becomes the first coach in program history to lead the Terrapins to a national ranking within their first season at the helm.
 
The Terps will return to action on Friday against Coppin State (4 PM) at the XFINITY Center before then playing at Louisville in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge in Louisville (7 PM/ESPN2). December will begin with four terrific match-ups as Maryland faces Illinois at home on Dec. 2 before heading to Wisconsin on Dec. 6. From there, match-ups against No. 22 Tennesse (Dec. 11) in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY, and at home against No. 19 UCLA (Dec. 14) will take center stage. Tickets and mini-plans are available for fans to purchase online at www.umterps.com.
 
Also ranked in the AP Poll this week were No. 11 Indiana, No. 12 Michigan State, No. 16 Illinois, No. 24 Purdue, and…