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Q&A: Maryland knocks off Stanford
Sports Illustrated college basketball writer Grant Wahl covered Saturday's Maryland-Stanford Elite Eight game in Anaheim, Calif., and spoke afterward with CNNSI.com CNNSI.com: Grant, you've had your eye on Stanford for the national title for a long time. How surprised are you that the Cardinal lost? Grant Wahl: Well, Maryland was really good today. The first thing I should do is eat a little crow for not believing in Maryland this season. What I saw Saturday was a completely different team. It's pretty remarkable that a team that lost to Florida State at home is now in the Final Four. And when you consider Stanford hadn't lost a game outside Maples Pavilion all year ... I really thought the Cardinal had what it takes to win the national title. For Maryland, Lonny Baxter has become a great player. He had a bad game against George Mason after which Gary Williams really ripped into his team -- specifically Terence Morris and Baxter. Ever since, Baxter's been the go-to guy inside. He's an amazing player -- he's only 6-foot-7, and yet he really took it to the Collins twins, who are 6-11 and 7-feet. Baxter did everything right -- he got Jason Collins in foul trouble early, and I think he out-toughed Stanford. He knocked down Ryan Mendez twice within a 10-second period in the first half! And he has no hesitation about using his muscle out there. CNNSI.com: How big was it for Gary Williams to finally get that monkey off his back and get Maryland into the Final Four? Wahl: Huge, just because no matter what a coach says, they know they're measured by how they do in the tournament. I'm sure if you pressed him on it, Williams would tell you some of his teams have underachieved in the past. I know I for one gave this team no chance of getting to the Final Four, but they proved me wrong. CNNSI.com: Stanford spent much of its tournament news conferences complaining they don't get the respect a No. 1 seed should. Will this loss only further that? Wahl: I think Pac-10 teams get more respect than they talk about. Arizona talks about getting no respect, and they were the No. 1 team coming into the season. There may be some ignorance with some media people on the East Coast not getting to see these players on the West Coast as much, but just because USC and Stanford lost Saturday doesn't mean they had a bad tournament. Just by getting three into the Elite Eight, I think, showed they play some great basketball out here. CNNSI.com: Well, Maryland and Duke have played three times already, with three drastically different results. What do you see in the fourth? Wahl: I think it's going to be a great game. There's no doubt in my mind this has been the best game in the country this year. I don't know how often we get to see two teams play four times in the same year. After the game, Byron Mouton was all fired up about the possibility of playing Duke again. They feel they could have beaten them in Atlanta [in the ACC tournament] and obviously they feel they could have beaten them in College Park. It's tough to predict now, but Maryland's going to be real tough to beat.
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