in a red arena. Will Herb Sendek’s NC State Wolfpack take the one that leads to less travel (no NCAA bid)?
Maryland’s game at the RBC center tonight is a big game for both teams. For Maryland, they see this game as a potential fulcrum on which the season hinges. A loss knocks them back onto the bubble for the season and worse, potentially invalidates the program’s claim to be among the elite. This article from Turtle Soup does a pretty good job of explaining just why that is.
Maryland’s 2002 championship, one year after making the Final Four, elevated the program from pretender to potential powerhouse. If they slip to a bubble team for the second straight year so soon after their time at the top, they really can’t be considered a national power. Instead of maintaining their perch among the UNC’s, Dukes and Kentuckies of the world, they would be more like a Michigan State or Arkansas.
As big as that makes this game for the Terps, it’s even bigger for the Wolfpack. They still have dreams, however crazy, of making the NCAA tournament. Any run to a bid, short of winning the ACC tournament, has to include a home win tonight. It has to.
At the same time, if NC State were to lose and ensure that they aren’t going to get an at-large bid, what does that do for Herb Sendek’s career as a head coach in Raleigh? You already know where State fans sit on this matter (check out fireherbsendek.com). Now, local columnist Caulton Tudor has weighed in, saying that Sendek should resign if he misses the tourney this year.
I can’t say I agree with him. Sendek does have some pride and I’m sure he feels like he can continue to build the program even if they suffer a setback this year. You don’t get to the level he’s reached without being ultra-competitive and having the highest faith in your own abilities.
While I don’t agree with Tudor’s suggestion that Sendek step down, I think it’s important to make note that the top columnist in the top local paper is in effect saying that if State should fail to make the NCAA tourney (and they won’t make it), Herb Sendek should no longer be the coach. Tudor believes like I do that the State administration will not let Sendek go, but it’s clear that things haven’t worked out well enough.
All in all, it makes for a pretty exciting game tonight, huh? On one side, you have the future of a program at stake and on the other you have, well, the future of a program at stake.
Which path will each team take?