Skip to content

Maryland vs Nebraska Game Preview, Odds, Picks & Predictions

Terrapins, Cornhuskers Laboring in Big Ten

The Maryland Terrapins and Nebraska Cornhuskers have made similar journeys through the Big Ten season — and not very good ones.

Wins in a tough, deep conference have been hard to come by for one team with an interim coach and another program with an embattled coach.

Maryland vs Nebraska Game Preview, Odds, Picks & Predictions
Emilee Chinn/Getty Images/AFP

Neither team is a factor for March Madness odds, but which is the better option for those who bet online?

Maryland Finds Creative Ways to Lose

This season was doomed early on, when Maryland got off to a bad start and fired coach Mark Turgeon, who had taken the program to the Sweet 16 in 2016 but couldn’t get the Terps beyond that stage of the NCAA Tournament.

Danny Manning, like Turgeon, is a University of Kansas alumnus who played basketball at the school. He used to coach in the ACC at Wake Forest.

Maryland is a former ACC member, so Manning had some familiarity with the challenges facing the Terrapins, if only indirectly. Yet, he hasn’t been able to do much of anything in this interim coaching stint since taking over for Turgeon.

Maryland is 2-7 in its last nine games, beating Illinois at home and Rutgers on the road. Since then, the Terps have either gotten blown out – by 13 against Indiana, 15 at Ohio State and 23 at home versus Iowa – or lost close games (by two to Michigan State, one at Purdue).

The most recent game was a 62-61 defeat at Purdue. If Maryland can somehow play the same level of defense it displayed versus the Boilermakers, the final few weeks of the season might get better.

Nebraska Not Making Progress

When former Iowa State head coach Fred Hoiberg was named Nebraska’s head coach a few years ago, it seemed like a home-run hire for a program starved for success.

Yet, Hoiberg has not made any progress in Lincoln. The Huskers are stuck at the bottom of the Big Ten.

Despite getting Arizona State transfer Alonzo Verge and other new pieces on their roster this season, Nebraska hasn’t been able to take the next step as a program.

This team won’t make the NIT, let alone the NCAAs. Nebraska has won only one game since Dec. 22, a blowout of Minnesota. The Huskers have lost 11 of their last 12 and show no signs of evolving into a better team.

Nebraska has lost games with no defense, allowing 98 points in its most recent loss to Iowa on Feb. 13, but the Huskers also lost 63-61 to Rutgers on Jan. 29 and 73-65 to Wisconsin on Jan. 27.

The defense is usually worse than the offense, but both ends of the floor have not given Hoiberg or Nebraska what they have needed. There has been no consistently strong aspect of this team this season.

Maryland vs Nebraska Head-to-Head

This is the first meeting between the teams this season.

Maryland vs Nebraska Game Information

  • Game: Maryland Terrapins (11-14) at Nebraska Cornhuskers (7-18)
  • Location: Pinnacle Bank Arena
  • Day/Time: Friday, 9 p.m. ET
  • Television: Big Ten Network

Maryland vs Nebraska Prediction

Maryland’s near-upset of Purdue on the road is more than enough to recommend the Terps as the favorite in the sportsbook and the team that should ultimately prevail.

Nebraska clearly sets the worst standard in the Big Ten by far, so avoid them for your college basketball picks.

Pick: Maryland Terrapins (-2)

Did you find this article interesting?

Comments (0)

Featured Picks

Related News