Maryland: Nonconference Schedule Breakdown

The college basketball season gets closer and closer by the day. And as anticipation mounts, attention turns towards the exciting nonconference matchups of the 2014 season.

But apparently, the Maryland Terrapins did not get the memo.

As you take a glance at the Maryland schedule for the 2014-15 campaign, the one game that truly sticks out amongst the rest is their matchup with the Virginia Cavaliers. The Wahoos, of course, have their well written history with the Terps, as these two teams have clashed against each other for many years when Maryland was a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They will be opposite one another as part of the 2014 Big Ten-ACC Challenge in College Park, Maryland.

Other than that, it's simply slim pickens. Nothing else measures up on the Richter scale for students and fans in The Old Line State. The Terrapins are taking part in the CBE Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City, Missouri, which features the Arizona State Sun Devils, Iowa State Cyclones and Alabama Crimson Tide. They could take on Fred Hoiberg's club, which could be an exciting encounter against one of the better teams in the Big 12 Conference. And speaking of the Big 12, Maryland will be making a trip to Stillwater on Sunday, December 21 to take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

But aside from those matchups away from Maryland's campus, nothing jumps off the page. The Terps start their season off with matchups against Wagner, Central Connecticut State, and Fordham. Then, after returning from the CBE Hall of Fame Classic, they will be squaring off with Monmouth and VMI.

The home slate does not get much better for the Terps in December, as the headlining games at home are against Winthrop, NC Central, USC Upstate, and Oakland.

Maryland's nonconference schedule in the 2014 season is somewhat representative of a larger problem across the college basketball landscape, in that most schools fail to undertake zesty, appetizing nonconference games. Instead, scheduling like this is the norm, and the only enticing game in College Park later this fall will be a game that Maryland did not even play a real part in creating.

From the Terrapins' side of things, they will rarely be tested on their home floor, aside from their game against Virginia, and their neutral site matchups and lonely away game in late December should give them a stiff upper lip. Aside from that, expect Maryland to enter their inaugural Big Ten Conference season relatively unscathed.