Maryland basketball very well could have been sitting atop the Associated Press Poll for its first No. 1 ranking in program history had the Terps limited turnovers and beat North Carolina at the Dean Dome two weeks ago. Kentucky, then sitting at No. 1, fell to UCLA two days after then-No. 2 Maryland's loss.
The winnable game is the Terps' only blemish on an otherwise clean non-conference schedule, which features seven double-digit victories, including one against Connecticut, a top-25 KenPom team, on an away-feeling neutral court at Madison Square Garden.
The stain of what could have been can't be wiped off, so Maryland is instead wearing it in style.