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5 local teams head to March Madness

Rob Woodfork | rwoodfork@wtop.com

March 14, 2016, 1:07 AM

Maryland:  Regular season: 25-8 (12-6 in Big 10) NCAA Tournament seed: 5th in the South Region Round 1 opponent: South Dakota State Outlook: The Terps finished the season below expectations, losing four of their final six regular season games and bowing out of the conference tournament in the semifinals. Maryland definitely has the talent to go deep in their bracket, but Melo Trimble needs to wake up and the Terps as a team need to get their turnover woes under control. Even still, it’s a lot to ask these underachievers to go through the likes of Cal, Kansas and Villanova to the Final Four. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)
AP Photo/AJ Mast
Virginia: Regular season: 26-7 (13-5 in ACC) NCAA Tournament seed: 1st in the Midwest Region Round 1 opponent: Hampton Outlook: UVA’ s top seed comes as a bit of a surprise a year after getting snubbed for a #1 seed: they lost their conference title game to fellow 1-seed UNC and had four losses outside the top 50. But the Cavaliers won 11 of their final 13 regular season and are one of just two teams to enter the tournament ranked in the top 10 offensively and defensively. Malcolm Brogdon — fresh off his ACC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year awards — is one of the five best players in the country and has the juice to carry the load, if necessary. It just remains to be seen if they can not only avoid an early upset, but finally get past Michigan State (the team that ousted UVA in the last two NCAA tournaments). (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
VCU: Regular season: 24-10 (14-4 in A-10) NCAA Tournament seed: 10th in the West Region Round 1 opponent: Oregon State Outlook: Virginia Commonwealth had a chance to win the A-10 outright in both the regular season and the conference tournament but failed to do both. Now they have to fight their way through Oregon State and — if they’re fortunate — Oklahoma if they’re going to advance past the second round for the first time since 2011. It’s a daunting task for the post-Shaka Smart Rams, who will need more than just a steady dose of Melvin Johnson to make their tournament dreams come true. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
AP Photo/Julie Jacobson
Hampton: Regular season: 21-10 (13-3 in MEAC) NCAA Tournament seed: 16th in the Midwest Region Round 1 opponent: Virginia Outlook: The Pirates were the best team in the MEAC all season long and make back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances for the first time in 14 years. We’ve already listed the reasons why UVA. is likely to step over Hampton, but hey, when your coach has Jesus on the mainline anything can happen, right? (AP Photo/Chet Strange)
AP Photo/Chet Strange
West Virginia: Regular season: 26-8 (13-5 in Big 12) NCAA Tournament seed: 3rd in the East Region Round 1 opponent: Stephen F. Austin Outlook: Bob Huggins is a proven head coach and has a talented roster that’s biggest sin appears to be sharing a conference with Kansas. The Mountaineers’ stifling defense will keep them in games, but they start their tournament run against a Lumberjacks team that hasn’t lost since Dec. 29 and came close to a first round upset last season, and WV will likely see a tough Notre Dame team in the following round. The Mountaineers will be favored to get to the Sweet 16 but making a deep run past Xavier and UNC would be a bigger upset than seeding would imply. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
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Rob Woodfork

Rob Woodfork is WTOP's Senior Sports Content Producer, which includes duties as producer and host of the DC Sports Huddle, nightside sports anchor and sports columnist on WTOP.com.

rwoodfork@wtop.com

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