Virginia Tech completed a men's basketball regular-season sweep of Maryland on Tuesday, joining Boston College and Duke as teams that have taken two meetings from the Terrapins.
And for those wondering, that hasn't happened a whole lot in College Park over the last two decades.
With only five home-and-homes in the expansion era (rather than eight when there was a round-robin in a nine-team league), there aren't as many opportunities to get swept. This is the first time since 2005 the Terps have aborbed three sweeps in a season.
That number won't grow any larger. Maryland swept Wake Forest, and took the first of two games against Virginia. But regardless of how the next few weeks shake out, the 2011 team is only sixth coached by Gary Williams to get swept by at least three teams in the regular season. Three of those instances occurred in his first four seasons, which was plenty understandable under the conditions.
As for the two other recent sweep-heavy seasons, things went in decidedly different directions in the ACC tournament. In 2004, Maryland avenged two sweeps (Wake Forest and Duke) on its way to an ACC title. The next year, the Terps suffered a third loss to Clemson in the opening round at the then-MCI Center.
How will this one turn out? Stay tuned.
MARYLAND BASKETBALL, THREE OR MORE REGULAR SEASON SWEEPS, 1990-Present
7: 1993 (Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Virginia, Wake Forest)
3: 1990 (Clemson, Duke, Georgia Tech)
3: 1992 (Duke, Georgia Tech, Virginia)
3: 2004 (Duke, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest)
3: 2005 (Clemson, North Carolina, N.C. State)
3: 2011 (Boston College, Duke, Virginia Tech)
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