There is only one school in the entire nation whose men’s and women’s NCAA teams are both ranked in the top 10: Maryland.

For the first time since 1997, both the men’s and women’s basketball at the University of Maryland are ranked in the top 10, and for the first time, in a long time, both teams have real shots at winning the NCAA tournament.

Although Maryland was just considered an average addition to the Big 10 Conference before the season, both the boy’s and the girl’s teams have made quite an entrance to the conference.

The men’s team, riding a 9-0 home conference record in their first season, finished 14-4 overall in the conference and received a two seed in the upcoming conference tournament, only behind leader Wisconsin, a team that Maryland has previously beaten this year.

As impressive as the 14-4 conference record was, it was nothing compared to the girl’s success this season.  The girl’s team finished the conference season undefeated at 18-0 and beat Ohio State in the final of the Big 10 tournament, winning both the regular season and conference championship.

Pivotal to the boys’ success this season has been senior guard Dez Wells who is averaging 15.3 points per game and has stepped up in big games, including a 26 point, 7 rebound outing against powerhouse Wisconsin.

For the women, Lexie Brown has been their key player this season, averaging 13.7 points per game, while also running the floor for the high-powered offense.

Both teams have also been led by great coaches.  Women’s coach Brenda Frese, who has already coached a national championship Maryland team, leads the way for the Lady Terrapins, while Mark Turgeon, the recently named Big 10 Coach of the Year, leads the way for the men.

Nobody expected Maryland basketball to even be relevant this year in the Big 10. Not only have they been relevant, they have proven to the whole league that they are for real and that they can win.  Winning the Big 10 would be a success for Maryland this season, but real success for Maryland would be winning the NCAA tournament, a fantasy at the beginning of the season, but one that looks more and more realistic every time they step on the court.