CBS Sports puts Maryland basketball inside the NCAA Tournament 'bubble' tier for 2025-26
Until the 2025-26 basketball season begins, nobody truly knows what Maryland men's basketball is going to look, or play like, under new head coach Buzz Williams. The former Marquette, Virginia Tech, and Texas A&M coach has a great history under his belt, but he will be working with a brand new roster next season. Every player who was on Maryland's Sweet 16 team either graduated, left for the NBA, or transferred.
But despite recruiting a new roster, CBS Sports ranked Maryland in Tier 4 under 'Bubblicious', meaning the Terrapins could see themselves on the NCAA Tournament bubble. Maryland is grouped in with Ohio State, Washington, Nebraska, and Minnesota among Big Ten teams.
New Maryland coach Buzz Williams has built a defensive nucleus that can be pretty vicious. This is one of the more athletic teams in the league, headlined by Washington who instantly becomes one of the elite wing defenders in the Big Ten. Payne is going to be a walking double-double who cleans the glass at a high level and adds interior thump on both ends. He's Kofi Cockburn-lite. Saunders is another high-flying athlete who is super-duper physical. Passmore can jump out of the gym. The Terps are going to be hyenas on the offensive glass, like every Williams-coached club.
- Isaac Trotter (CBS Sports)
I'm buying a bit of the post-hype sleeper appeal with the talented Rice, who is playing for a coach who breathes confidence into his lead guards and cedes infinite offensive freedom. When he's right, Rice's first step can be dynamic, but he was all out of sorts last year at Indiana. If Rice is right, there's enough talent in this backcourt for Maryland to make the tournament rather comfortably with Adams, Watts and even Coit mixing in. But the offensive ceiling is limited if Maryland is trying to make it work with two non-shooters (Washington and Payne) on the floor at the same time as Rice, a low-volume shooter himself. Optimism reigns supreme in June, but there's a world where this halfcourt offense is downright atrocious when teams can just load up, plug gaps and force a ton of contested jumpers.
Trotter has Maryland's potential starting lineup looking like:
G: Myles Rice
G: Isaiah Watts
F: Solomon Washington
F: Elijah Saunders
C: Pharrel Payne
With top bench options being:
G Darius Adams
G Diggy Coit
G Rakease Passmore
It will likely take time for the new-look Terrapin squad to gel, but by Big Ten time, Williams could have his new team buzzing.
Big Ten basketball tiers
— Isaac Trotter (@Isaac__Trotter) June 3, 2025
- early takeaways on every team's roster, including how some X's and O's could change
- Projected starting lineups
- Just three (!) freshmen slated to start. Whiplash after last year
- The depth of this league is ludicroushttps://t.co/6PN4LBMtQt
- Enjoy more Maryland coverage on Maryland Terrapins On SI -
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Trent began writing and covering Michigan athletics back in 2020. He became a credentialed member of the media in 2021. Trent began writing with Sports Illustrated in 2023 and became the Senior Writer for Michigan Wolverines On SI for the 2024 football season. Trent is also the managing editor for Maryland On SI. Trent’s love of sports and being able to tell stories to fans is what made him get into writing.