Maryland basketball included in initial ESPN Bracketology for next season

Transfer portal season is in full swing with many schools still in need of filling multiple roster spots, but that hasn't stopped ESPN's resident bracketologist Joe Lunardi from dropping his initial projection of all 68 teams for next year's NCAA Tournament, which was released Tuesday morning.

Among those teams? The 2024-2025 Maryland Terrapins, who Lunardi has listed as a No. 8 seed in the West region where they are matched up with former ACC foe NC State, coming off of an improbable run to this year's Final Four, in the opening round.

If the Terps were to advance past the No. 9 seed NC State, they would move on to face top-seeded Houston in the second round, with both games being played in Wichita, Kansas.

Gonzaga (2), Arizona (3) and Creighton (4) are the other top four seeds in Lunardi's initial West region, with next year's regional semifinals and final to be played in San Francisco.

Lunardi has nine teams from the Big Ten projected to make next year's tournament, including Maryland, Purdue, Michigan State, Illinois, Ohio State, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Indiana.

The Big Ten will add Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington next season, but none are currently projected to make the field of 68.

The Terps have been busy this offseason, adding All-MVC guard Ja'Kobi Gillespie, All-AAC guard Selton Miguel and former Virginia Tech guard Rodney Rice from the transfer portal. Head coach Kevin Willard was also able to keep All-Freshman guard DeShawn Harris-Smith and All-Big Ten big man Julian Reese in the fold, while adding McDonald's All-American center Derik Queen. And there will be more additions to the roster still to come with two scholarships currently open.

After missing out on the postseason this past season, expectations are high for the upcoming season, with the Terps listed in numerous way-too-early top-25s and a ranking as high as No. 17 by one outlet.