Nov. 1, 2001

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Seven months after matching Maryland's highest final college basketball ranking in history, the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll has done the same by matching the Terps' highest-ever preseason ranking.

Maryland, which finished the 200-01 season with a 25-11 mark, a trip to its first Final Four, and a No. 4 spot in the coaches poll, has been picked behind Duke and Illinois as the country's No. 3 team in the season's first official poll. Previously, Maryland earned No. 3 preseason billing in 1973 and 1975.

It is the Terps' highest coaches poll ranking since being tabbed No. 2 on Dec. 7, 1999, and the highest preseason ranking ever for a Gary Williams-led team. Last season's Terps were picked preseason No. 5 by the Associated Press, Williams' previous high.

Maryland returns four starters from its 2001 team that reached the national semifinals and staged a four-game classic season-long series with eventual champion Duke. The Blue Devils, who also return four starters, topped the poll with 30 of 31 first-place votes.

Illinois, who Maryland will face at Cole Field House on Nov. 27, earned the only other first-place vote. The Illini beat the Terrapins at last season's Maui Invitational and will face Maryland for a third consecutive season when the teams clash in the ACC/Big 10 Challenge. Maryland beat Illinois in the 1999 BB&T Classic.

The Terps, who open their exhibition season on Friday evening against the EA SPORTS All-Stars, open the 2001-02 campaign against defending NCAA runner-up Arizona at next week's Coaches vs. Cancer IKON Classic at Madison Square Garden. Other teams in the two-day college basketball opener are No. 4-ranked Florida and No. 17 Temple.

In all, eight Maryland opponents are ranked in the USA Today/ESPN Top 25: (1) Duke, (2) Illinois, (5) Florida, (11) Virginia, (17) Temple, (19) North Carolina and (23) Oklahoma.

Maryland has been ranked in the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 in 60 of the last 61 rankings, dating to the 1998 season. It is Maryland's highest ranking in the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 poll since December of 1999 when the Steve Francis-led Terps were No. 2 following a win over No. 5 Stanford in the BB&T Classic.