An interesting little twist on Maryland's strength of schedule figures came to me the other day: The Terrapins have played the fewest games in the ACC against teams with RPIs of 200 or worse.

That, of course, is the group of teams that account for the flotsam and jetsam of Division I. I like to call it the sport's plankton, but no matter what you call it, those teams are not good for building the RPI or a solid tournament resume.

Maryland's worst opponents are North Florida (played in a tournament), Savannah State (all but doomed to a low RPI as an independent) and Lehigh. That's it.

Boston College and Duke have played four such teams. Most of the league checks in at five or six such foes, though Virginia is at seven and Miami is at six plus a non-Division I team.

Now, as an anonymous person once said for posterity, numbers are like people; if you torture them enough, they'll tell you anything. Maryland still is only 1-3 against the top 50 in the RPI and needs a few more wins to sew up an NCAA berth (the opinion here is that three wins will probably do the trick and that four will lock it up altogether).

But a weak schedule and grazing on plankton is the last thing that can be held against Maryland.

--- Patrick Stevens