1998-99 Men's Basketball Schedule Announced
6/21/1999 8:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
August 12, 1998
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Kentucky, Stanford and Princeton highlight what will be one of the strongest schedules in Maryland basketball history as the Terps look to return to the NCAA Tournament for the school record sixth-consecutive season. The Terps, who played the nation's toughest schedule in 1997-98 according to the Sagarin Ratings, will play the defending national champion (Kentucky), three of the "Final Four" participants (Kentucky, North Carolina and Stanford), at least 11 teams which played in last year's NCAA Tournament and six teams ranked in last year's final top 20. In addition, the Terps' first-ever trip to the Puerto Rico Shootout could give Maryland two additional games against NCAA Tournament teams.
Maryland will travel to Rupp Arena to play Kentucky for the first time since Dec. 15, 1959. The game will be one of 13 nationally televised games for the Terps during the regular season. It will mark the 24th time in school history that the Terps will play the defending national champion. The game could be the second meeting between the Wildcats and Terrapins in a two-week period, depending on the bracket and results of the Puerto Rico Shootout.
The Terps' first trip to the Puerto Rico Shootout begins against the host school, American University of Puerto Rico, on Thanksgiving Day in Bayamone, P.R. The eight-team tournament field includes UCLA, Pittsburgh, Xavier, Colorado, San Francisco, Kentucky and AU Puerto Rico. The full bracket will be released at a later date.
"This schedule will be considered to be among the toughest, if not the toughest in the nation," said head coach Gary Williams. "This is a high-caliber schedule which should prepare us for our not only our ACC season but also for the postseason."
Maryland will play Stanford in the first round of the BB&T Classic (formerly the Franklin National Bank Classic) at MCI Center on Dec. 6. Stanford was ranked fourth in the final Associated Press poll of the season and lost to Kentucky in the national semifinals. George Washington will face DePaul in the second game of the BB&T doubleheader, with the championship and third-place games of the tournament scheduled for Dec. 7.
Maryland will host defending Ivy League champion and NCAA Tournament participant Princeton a t the Baltimore Arena on Dec. 19. It marks the seventh consecutive year that the Terps will play a regular season game in Baltimore. Maryland defeated Temple, 83-66, last season and has won five of six games played there under Williams.
The Terps open their ACC schedule at home vs. Wake Forest on Dec. 3. It will mark the third consecutive season the Terps will play a December conference game. Maryland will play host to Duke on Jan. 3 and North Carolina on Feb. 13. The ACC Tournament is scheduled for March 4-7 and will be played at Charlotte Arena for the first time since 1994.
Throughout the course of the season, at least 22 of the Terps' 29 games will appear on national or regional television including one network date (ABC), seven on ESPN, five on ESPN2, seven on Jefferson Pilot as part of the ACC's regional package, and one on HTS.
Maryland finished with a 21-11 overall record and was 10-6 in the ACC last season. The Terps played in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth consecutive season and advanced to the West Regional semifinals before falling to Arizona.
Five of Maryland's 1998-99 opponents were seeded No. 5 or higher in last season's NCAA Tournament. The Terps were the No. 4 seed in the West Region:
Duke #1 S N. Carolina #1 E Kentucky #2 S Stanford #3 MW Princeton #5 E
Three teams on Maryland's 1998-99 schedule won more than 30 games last season
Duke 31-4 North Carolina 34-4 Kentucky 35-4
Five teams on Maryland's 1998-99 schedule won more than 20 games last season:
Duke 31-4 North Carolina 34-4 Kentucky 35-4 Stanford 29-5 Princeton 26-2 S. Carolina State 22-7
Maryland's 1998-99 opponents posted a .627 winning percentage in 1997-98 with a combined total of 331 victories.
Three of Maryland's opponents were the champions of their respective conferences:
Duke ACC Princeton Ivy SC State MEAC
MARYLAND TO FACE NO LESS THAN 11 NCAA TOURNAMENT TEAMS INCLUDING NATIONAL CHAMPION KENTUCKY AND FINAL FOUR PARTICIPANTS NORTH CAROLINA AND STANFORD ON FORMIDABLE 1998-99 MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
1998-99 UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
Date Day(s) Opponent Time TVNovember 4 Wed. Croatian National Team 8 p.m. 11 Wed. California All-Stars 8 p.m. 14 Sat. Western Carolina 8 p.m. 17 Tues. UMBC 8 p.m. 20 Fri. Hofstra 8 p.m. 23 Mon. Duquesne 8 p.m. 26-28 Thurs.-Sun. at Puerto Rico Shootout TBA ESPN/ESPN2 at American University/Puerto Rico
December 3 Thurs. Wake Forest 8 p.m. RJ 6 Sun. vs. Stanford 1 p.m. ABC BB & T Classic/MCI Center 7 Mon. DePaul/George Washington 8:30 p.m. HTS BB & T Classic/MCI Center 12 Sat. at Kentucky 8:30 p.m. ESPN 19 Sat. Princeton 9:30 p.m. ESPN Baltimore Arena, Baltimore, Md. 23 Wed. North Texas 8 p.m. 27 Sun. South Carolina State 1:30 p.m.
January 3 Sun. Duke 1:30 p.m. RJ/ESPN2 7 Thurs. at Virginia 8 p.m. RJ 10 Sun. NC State 1:30 p.m. RJ 13 Wed. at North Carolina 9 p.m. ESPN 19 Tues. Georgia Tech 9 p.m. RJ 24 Sun. at Clemson 4 p.m. RJ/ESPN2 27 Wed. Florida State 8 p.m. ESPN2 31 Sun. at Wake Forest 1:30 p.m. RJ February 3 Wed. at Duke 9 p.m. ESPN 6 Sat. Virginia 1 p.m. RJ 10 Wed. at NC State 7 p.m. ESPN 13 Sat. North Carolina 4 p.m. RJ/ESPN2 21 Sun. at Georgia Tech 1:30 p.m. RJ/ESPN2 24 Wed. Clemson 7 p.m. ESPN 27 Sat. at Florida State 1:30 p.m. RJ March 4-7 Thurs.-Sun. at ACC Tournament TBA RJ/ESPN Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte, N.C.
