NCAA Basketball

2026-03-10 - Maryland Terrapins at Oregon Ducks

A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown

Oregon Ducks vs Maryland Terrapins
United States : NCAA Basketball Big Ten Tournament First Round
Tuesday 10th March 2026 - Scheduled 5pm
9pm (British Time)

Preview

March Madness will begin shortly and all eyes are on Selection Sunday in a few days time as the NCAA Tournament Bracket is released.

The regular season has been completed in the NCAA Basketball year, but this is a week where teams can look to put together strong runs in the Conference Tournament and see if that sways the opinion of those selecting those who are going to have a chance to play for the NCAA Championship in early April.

There are already a number of stronger schools who will be confident of hearing the name being called on Selection Sunday, while those competing in the First Round of the various Conference Tournaments are almost certainly going to be missing out. Only winning the Conference Tournament may give them an opportunity, but that will be a huge task for the likes of the Maryland Terrapins (4-16) and Oregon Ducks (5-15) in the Big Ten.

They meet in Chicago in the First Round on Tuesday and the edge has to be with the Oregon Ducks who have won four of the last seven to pull out of the basement of the Conference. That is much stronger form than the Maryland Terrapins who have been beaten in six of the last seven, including the last four in a row, and the underdog in this First Round game have already been beaten by Oregon once this season.

One of the big issues for the Terrapins has been poor Offensive performances and in recent weeks they have only been making 38% of the field goals attempted. That becomes a problem against the Oregon Ducks, who will believe their Defensive unit is the best of the four on the court and the Ducks already held Maryland to 54 points in the regular season meeting.

It was a game played on the road, which can only give Oregon more confidence in the ability to get the better of the Terrapins for a second time this season.

Oregon are not going to be confused for an elite Offensive unit, but they have at least concluded the regular season with some positive numbers on that side of the court. They may feel they can exploit some of the three pointing that Maryland have allowed, while another edge for the favourite is that they may be able to create one or two more second chance possessions, which can be massive in games like this one.

When they met in the regular season, Oregon ended up winning the battle on the glass, although it was Maryland who picked up more Offensive boards. That did not help them and the momentum is with Oregon to come through this opening Round game in the Big Ten Tournament and earn another shot at the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Second Round.