Coming into this week’s game, both Maryland and its opponent find themselves in a similar predicament.
Maryland and Minnesota claim national championships in the distant past, and in Maryland’s case, have had brief spurts of success since. The Golden Gophers haven’t really been a factor on the national level since winning their seventh national title in 1960, having only one Big Ten title in 1967 and two finishes in the AP Poll Top 25 in the past 50 seasons. Since Bobby Ross left Maryland following the 1986 season, the Terps have won just one ACC title and finished the year in the AP Poll Top 25 four times.