Maryland tabbed preseason Big Ten sleeper team by Jon Rothstein
After hosting Maryland men’s basketball head coach Buzz Williams on his podcast last week, college basketball insider Jon Rothstein tabbed the Terps as his preseason Big Ten sleeper team for the upcoming 2025-2026 season on Monday.
“Who’s my preseason Big Ten sleeper? I’m going with Maryland and Buzz Williams,” Rothstein said during his Inside College Basketball Now podcast July 7, “and I’m not just going with Maryland and Buzz Williams because Buzz Williams was on the show last week.
“Buzz Williams has shown, regardless of where he’s been, that he’s going to put a really competitive product on the floor. He did it at Marquette. He did it at Virginia Tech, took Virginia Tech to the Sweet Sixteen. Took Texas A&M to multiple tournaments where the Aggies won a game in back-to-back years.
“And looking now at the makeup of that roster, Myles Rice, Elijah Saunders, Solomon Washington, Pharrel Payne, there is more than enough for Buzz Williams to get Maryland in the bubble picture in 2026.”
In all, the Terps bring in seven new players with experience playing in an NCAA Tournament in Rice, Saunders, Washington and Payne along with Washington State transfer Isaiah Watts and Kansas transfers David Coit and Rakease Passmore. That doesn’t include McDonald’s All-American freshman Darius Adams.
Payne and Washington played significant minutes together in the front court for Texas A&M under Williams during last season’s NCAA Tournament, while Rice and Watts played significant minutes in the same backcourt during the 2024 NCAA Tournament at Washington State. That experience and familiarity should benefit the Terps.
Rothstein also released his preseason Big Ten power rankings, with Purdue in the top spot, followed by Michigan and then UCLA rounding out the top three. They were followed by Oregon and Michigan State in the top five.
Where did the Terps rank? Rothstein predicted Maryland to finish 11th in the league’s final standings. You can see Rothstein’s full preseason Big Ten power rankings below.
- Purdue
- Michigan
- UCLA
- Oregon
- Michigan State
- Illinois
- Wisconsin
- Ohio State
- Washington
- USC
- Maryland
- Nebraska
- Iowa
- Northwestern
- Indiana
- Rutgers
- Minnesota
- Penn State
