Maryland might follow North Carolina's path to futility.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. _ Will Johnson is trying to do a good deed. He's trying to stop me from making the kind of odd-ball prediction that guarantees a slew of raised eyebrows and nasty e-mails. He's trying to save me from myself, and that ain't easy.

"Don't write that," he begs me. "You could look really bad."

But think of the glory! If Maryland doesn't reach the NCAA tournament the year after winning it all, and only one person had the foresight, the courage, to predict it. You see the attraction.

Then again, Will Johnson might know what he's talking about. He is entering his fourth season as an ACC forward, so he knows Maryland. And he plays for North …