East Coast and West Coast will collide in the heartland on Thursday afternoon when the Maryland Terrapins take on the California Golden Bears at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri. The game between the seven and 10 seeds in the West Region is scheduled for a 2:55pm ET tip off. The winner will face either Cal State Northridge or Memphis on March 21st.
Maryland vs California 2009 NCAA Bracket Predictions at SBGglobal.com have the seventh seeded Golden Bears listed as a slight -1 against the spread favorite.
The Maryland Terrapins had an up and down regular season, but they were strong enough that the committee saw fit to put them in the tournament as a 10 seed. The Terps concluded the year with a 20-13 overall record and a 7-9 mark in ACC games. The result was a seventh place finish in the conference standings. Maryland did, however, fight their way to the semifinals of the ACC Tournament with wins over NCST and Wake Forest. They eventually fell to tournament champion Duke by a score of 61-67.
Gary Williams' team, which is 4-3 in neutral site games this year, is listed at +10000 moneyline odds to win the National Championship. Guard Greivis Vasquez leds the Terps with a 17.2 point per game average. The junior also averages 5.5 rebounds and 5.1 assists per outing.
California finished the season in fourth place in the Pac-10 after going 11-7 in league play. The Bears, who have lost four of their last six games, are 22-10 overall as they head into Thursday's battle with Maryland. They were taken out in the Pac-10 Tournament quarterfinals when USC beat them 79-75 at the STAPLES Center last Thursday night.
Cal, which averages 75 points per game, is captained by guard Jerome Randle. The junior from Chicago is averaging 18.4 points and 4.9 assists per game this season.
SBGglobal.com's Maryland vs California 2009 NCAA Bracket Predictions:
Maryland Terrapins +1 (-110), +100 (Moneyline)
California Golden Bears -1 (-110), -120 (Moneyline)
