Looking very promising for Cinci DB Ja'Quan Sheppard, as he will officially visit College Park this weekend and is down to a final two of Maryland and UCF. Terps should have loads of PT for the grad transfer who has played both S and CB. He had 50 tackles (33 solo), a sack and 10 pass breakups this season.

He tweeted this out this morning:

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HONOLULU, HI. -- Maryland redshirt junior quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa was announced as one of eight finalists for the Polynesian College Football Player of the Year Award on Thursday by the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame. The award is presented annually to the most outstanding college football player of Polynesian ancestry that epitomizes great ability and integrity.

This is the second year in a row Tagovailoa has been selected as a finalist for this award. The Ewa Beach, Hawaii native was a 2019 Polynesian Bowl All-Star as a senior in high school.

Tagovailoa completed 243 of his 354 pass attempts for 2,787 yards and 17 touchdowns during his redshirt junior season. A Second Team All-Big Ten selection, Tagovailoa ranks second in the Big Ten in completions and completion percentage (68.6), and third in passing yards. Tagovailoa has rewritten Maryland's record books, as he's now the program leader in career touchdown passes (50), career passing yards (7,658), total offense (7,843) and 300-yard passing games (12).

The other 2022 finalists are Viliami Fehoko (San Jose State), Siaki Ika (Baylor), Laiatu Latu (UCLA), Sataoa Laumea (Utah), Noah Sewell (Oregon), J.T. Tuimoloau (Ohio State) and Tuli Tuipulotu (USC). Tagovailoa is the only quarterback on the list and one of only two Big Ten players named a finalist.

The winner of the Polynesian College Football Player of the Year Award will be announced on December 13. The formal presentation of the Award will be held at the 2022 Polynesian Football Hall of Fame Celebration Dinner on January 21, 2023.

Tagovailoa's older brother and Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa, is a two-time recipient of this award, winning in both 2018 & 2019 while at Alabama. Last year the award went to former Ohio State Defensive Lineman Haskell Garrett.

Have a feeling we will see a few more of these....Former Terp TJ Butler just announced his transfer to the 49ers. Terps and 9ers will meet again next season in College Park.

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We're about 20 minutes from tipoff between the Terps and Badgers in Madison. Terps will be in black tonight.

Usual starters for the Terps:
Jahmir Young
Don Carey
Hakim Hart
Donta Scott
JuJu Reese

Still in the game.

Jeff Brohm going to Louisville.

Terps dropped 5 slots after their defeat last night. Surprisingly, at least to me, is that Gary Parrish has Tennessee #16. Most ratings have the Vols higher, and I suspect they'll be favored Sunday.

It was bound to happen, the Terps finally suffered their first loss of the season last night. Still, you have to like the resiliency the team showed battling back from their largest deficit of the season to take a lead early in the 2nd half. This team has deficiencies which have been well documented here by me, but you still have to feel good about where this team stands after staying within striking distance even with such an off night shooting the ball. Another big test coming up Sunday with the chance to knock off a top 10 team. More at the link below.

STORY

Here's Kevin Willard's postgame presser from last night. Jahmir Young also at the podium and answered a question or two. See how both reacted following the first loss of the season at the link below.

STORY

Illinois currently leading #2 TX at the half. Would make the last win a big quality win. Keeping the Terps grounded and hungry will be interesting to see.

COLLEGE PARK, MD – Maryland football linebacker Jaishawn Barham and running back Roman Hemby were named Freshman All-Americans by College Football News, the publication announced Tuesday.

Barham was selected to the First Team and Hemby was selected to the Third Team. Maryland is one of only two schools (Penn State) in the Big Ten to have multiple All-American selections.

A linebacker from District Heights, MD, Barham led all Big Ten freshmen with 53 tackles over 11 games played in his first season as a Terp. Barham is one of only three Terps to start every game he played on the defensive side of the ball and had over five tackles in six different games.

He led the team with 6.5 tackles for loss, while also tying for the team lead and ranking 18th in the Big Ten with 4.0 sacks. Barham was a Honorable Mention All-Big Ten selection, the Big Ten Freshman of the Week on October 10 and a Midseason Freshman All-American by The Athletic, while also being chosen as a Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award Semifinalist.

A running back from Bel Air, MD, Hemby recorded 924 rushing yards in his redshirt freshman season and led all Big Ten freshmen with 1,200 yards from scrimmage. The running back scored 10 touchdowns on the ground, the most for a Terrapin since 2015.

Hemby rushed for 100 yards in four of Maryland's seven wins (114 vs. Buffalo, 151 vs. SMU, 107 at Indiana & 179 vs. Northwestern), tied with Anthony McFarland Jr. for the most in a single season of any freshman in Maryland history. The Honorable Mention All-Big Ten selection had two games of three touchdowns (Northwestern & Rutgers), and is the first Terp to ever be named Big Ten Freshman of the Week twice.

For the full All-American teams click here.
Barham, Hemby and the Terps will wrap up their 2022 campaign in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl on December 30 vs. No. 23 NC State. Buy tickets here.

Maryland (8-0) vs. Wisconsin (6-2)

When: Tuesday, Dec. 6 | 9:00 p.m. ET
Where: Kohl Center (Madison, Wis.)
Television: ESPN2 (Streaming on WatchESPN) - Watch Live
Broadcasters: Brian Custer (play-by-play), Robbie Hummel (color)
Radio: Maryland Sports Radio Network | Listen Online

Line: Terps +1.5
Over/Under: 131.5

Series history: Wisconsin leads the all-time series 12-7, with the Badgers winning the most recent meeting 70-69 on Jan. 9, 2022 in College Park.

Projected Starting Lineups


Wisconsin
Chucky Hepburn (6-foot-2, Soph., G) - Averaging 12.5 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists through eight games.
Max Klesmit (6-foot-3, Junior, G) - Averaging 6.4 points and 2.9 rebounds through the first eight games of the season.
Jordan Davis (6-foot-4, Junior, G) - Twin brother of Wizrds guard Johnny Davis, averaging 6.4 points and 4.0 rebounds per game so far this season.
Tyler Wahl (6-foot-9, Senior F) - Averaging a team-high 14.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.
Steven Crowl (7-foot, Junior, C) - Averaging 9.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per game to start the season.

Maryland
Jahmir Young (6-foot-1, Senior, PG) - Averaging 15.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists through eight games.
Don Carey (6-foot-5, Senior, SG) - Averaging 7.9 points and 2.6 rebounds per game to start the season.
Hakim Hart (6-foot-8, Senior, G/F) - Averaging 13.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists to start the season.
Donta Scott (6-foot-8, Senior, F) - Averaging a team-high 15.4 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists so far this season.
Julian Reese (6-foot-9, Soph., F/C) - Averaging 12.6 points and a team-high 7.8 rebounds per game to start the season.

The Badgers enter Tuesday night's game coming off of a huge road win over in-state rival Marquette. Wisconsin is led by senior forward Tyler Wahl, a three-year starter who leads the team in both scoring and rebounding. Whereas recent bigs such as Micah Potter and Nate Reavurs were a threat to score the ball from beyond the arc, Wahl does almost all of his damage in the paint.

"If you look at Wisconsin, obviously they shoot the ball very well, but man, you better play post defense and you better play physical or they're going to grind you up," Maryland head coach Kevin Willard said on Sunday. "What's really cool about this league, which is really hard, is that there are so many different styles. You look at Illinois who run and jump in and five out. And then you come to Wisconsin who kind of grinds you out. They are going to post up Crowl, they are going to post up Wahl. And then you have Hepburn out there shooting it, Klesmit shooting it, so really interesting style."

Tuesday night will mark the Big Ten road opener for the Terps and Kohl Center is one of the toughest venues in the Big Ten. That said, a couple of current Terps starters have experience winning in Madison, as the Terps defeated Wisconsin on the road back in Dec. of 2020. Donta Scott started for Maryland in that game, scoring 12 points, while fellow Philly native Hakim Hart came off the bench to score 8 points in the 70-64 win.

Joe has Maryland as a 4 seed in the South, playing James Madison and (potentially) Auburn in Albany, NY.
Several of his selections are head-scratchers, including Tennessee having played Texas, Arizona, Maryland and Auburn in the regular season, but all five teams being in the same region (something the Selection Committee usually avoids).

East - UConn, Indiana, Alabama, Gonzaga, Kentucky
South - Texas, Tennessee, Arizona, Maryland, Auburn
MW - Houston, Kansas, Arkansas, Duke, Illinois
West - Purdue, Virginia, Baylor, UCLA, San Diego St.

All things considered, the Terps come out pretty well in Lunardi's early season projection.

Only seen odds at 3 sites. Two have it even and the other has Maryland favored by 1 (down from 1 1/2).

The transfer portal officially opens Monday and it's already been incredibly busy. We have you covered. Rivals has all the latest news on the biggest transfers, we're now ranking every entry into the portal and we also have a message board to talk about everything portal-related.

Please use these resources to find all the breaking news and everything else when it comes to the portal:

Site: https://portal.rivals.com/

Transfer Tracker & Ranking: https://n.rivals.com/transfer_tracker/2023

Message board: https://forums.rivals.com/forums/football-transfer-portal.46/

And please follow us on social for all the breaking news: @RivalsPortal

Senior DB Isaiah Hazel has entered the transfer portal. Will have one more year of eligibility due to COVID year. Wise product came to Maryland as a wideout and quickly switched sides of the ball and was a part of the DB rotation.

incoming recruit.

Have had multiple people reach out to me about this one, but the Terps have reached out to and will make a push for FIU wideout Tyrese Chambers. He's a grad transfer from Baltimore who went to Poly. He was second team All-CUSA in 2021 after hauling in 45 catches for 1,1074 yards and 9 TDs. Had 51 catches this season, but yards and TDs were both down from a season ago. He can really stretch the field and has good size at 6-foot-1. Charlotte and WVU have already offered. He's also hearing from Tennessee, PSU and Rutgers and don't be surprised if Hugh Freeze throws his hat in the ring at Auburn. But definitely one to watch here along with Charlotte wideout Grant DuBose who I also mentioned before. I expect Auburn to possibly be in the mix for DuBose, also.

Thought I just saw a tweet from him about the portal. I thought he was going to declare for the NFL. Any insight, Scott? Thanks

The first NCAA Net rankings have dropped this morning and the Terps open up as the No. 6-ranked team in the nation according to the advanced metric. Two future opponents are actually ranked ahead of Maryland, No. 3 Purdue and No. 4 Tennessee. Illinois, who the Terps just beat last week, is No. 13 in the initial ranking. You can see the full NET rankings HERE.

The Terps are also ESPN's Team of the Week following their win over the Illini and cracked the top-10 of Jeff Borzello's weekly college hoops power rankings after not being ranked a week ago. LINK

in the CBS Sports daily poll. Who knows how long this will last, but it's fun for now.

Deonte Banks has announced on insta this morning that he will skip the Terps' bowl game in order to begin preparing for the upcoming NFL Draft. Big, but expected loss to the Terps' secondary. Maryland will need to hit the portal hard for experienced corners.

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CBS writer picks Maryland-State as #16. Maybe he should have waited to see who else opts out, but so far so good.

Jumped 9 spots--Wow! Ahead of Puke and Kentucky. And UNC out of Top 25.

Loss at home 90-67 to unranked BIG Nebraska. And that after beating Notre Dame at their home a day or so ago. Plus Notre Dame knocks off UConn today. Weird stuff for sure. Will be a long year. And what I read in the Post...Brenda is not a happy camper. Calls out specific players that they need to add to the mix - especially Abby Myers. Anyway, the second half was a particular disaster. Meanwhile Reese at LSU keeps chugging along. Brenda still holding at 599 wins. Besides Shyanne and Miller, not sure where they will get help from.