CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm is one of the premier bracketologists out there, and with the Sweet 16 on tap starting Thursday, the Junkies had to bring him on Tuesday looking for some belief that Maryland can beat Florida and make a run at a natty.
But of course, they wouldn’t even be here if not for Derik Queen’s buzzer-beater on Sunday, which they needed Palm to weigh in on first:
And now, on to Florida – what do the Terps have to do to get to the Elite Eight?
“Florida wasn’t sharp for sure against UConn, but you also have to remember that while UConn did not have a great season, it's a program that knows how to win this event. They’re two-time champions, so they were not going to go away easy,” Palm said. “Florida wasn't sharp in that game, but they've been arguably the best team over the last month or so of the season, which is why a lot of people, myself included, picked them, so Maryland's going to have to play very well if they're going to beat Florida. They can't assume they're going to get much help from the Gators.”
The question is, where will Kevin Willard's mindset be after all the controversy his words have surrounded in the last week?
“I would say I'm not optimistic that he's gonna stay if he can find a situation that's definitely better,” Palm said of Sheehan. “It sounds like he actually kind of likes it there, but doesn't really feel like they're devoting enough resources to compete at the level they want to compete at. That's tough for everybody; not everybody's printing money like they are in the SEC and even in some of the Big Ten. But it was interesting that he aired it out in public like that; he had something to get off his chest there, but you gotta have money to spend. Everybody’s spending money on football, and football costs more anyway because you've got so many players involved, but you don't want to sacrifice everything, and I’ve always thought of Maryland as more of a basketball school.”
Listen to Palm’s entire visit above!