The set-up: The 22-7 Maryland Terps have lost three in a row (and five of seven), to fall out of the race for the Big Ten's regular season title. However, the Terrapins are tied for third place in the league standings (10-6) entering Monday's action and still remain in good shape for a double-bye in the upcoming Big Ten tournament as they visit 13-16 Rutgers, which is just 2-14 in Big Ten play, with its two wins coming by a total of just three points.

Maryland: It seems like many moons ago that the Terps were 20-2, including 8-1 in league play. Maryland is picking the worst possible time to go into a slump. Melo Trimble (17.1-3.5-3.6) decided to stay in school to improve his draft stock but it's been an uneven year for the junior guard. Mark Turgeon relies on three freshman behind Trimble, the 6-7 Jackson (10.7 & 6.2) plus guards Cowan (10.4-3.8-3.7) and Huerter (8.9 & 5.0). I've said all season that Maryland was not as good as its early record and that's coming home to roost, now.

Rutgers: However, the Scarlet Knights are hardly a team one can count on, as only a one-point home win versus Nebraska and a two-point victory at Penn State have separated Rutgers from a winless Big Ten slate. Rutgers enters on a five-game slide since its win in Happy Valley and the Scarlet Knights have not scored more than 65 points in any game during that span. However, Sanders (13.1-3.5-3.3), Johnson (11.0 & 3.4) and Williams (9.8 & 5.0) are a decent guard trio plus up front, the 6-7 Freeman (10.9 & 8.1) and the 7-0 Gettys (7.7 & 5.0) are not over-matched.

The pick: I'm sticking with my belief that Maryland is vastly overrated and its recent slide confirms that fact. Rutgers doesn't score much (66.0 PPG ranks 319th) but the Scarlet Knights also don't allow many points either, giving up 66.8 PPG (56th) on 40.6% shooting (36th). Make the home dog a 10* play.