Patrick Stevens The Washington Times - May 16, 2009, 04:15PM

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. —- The second game of the doubleheader isn’t living up to expectations (Cornell leads 5-1 early in the third quarter), so it’s lending the opportunity to looking up something on my mind.

Namely, Maryland’s final four “drought.”

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It’s tough to call three years a drought, since the teams that have been absent for that entire stretch also include Georgetown, Navy, (possibly) North Carolina and (in all likelihood, it would appear) Princeton.

But for a school that’s been a regular at that stage of the tournament, it is a bit noteworthy.

So here are the instances Maryland has gone three or more seasons without a final four since the NCAA tournament started in 1971, with tournament performance included for each season:

4: 1999 (missed), 2000 (quarterfinals), 2001 (quarterfinals), 2002 (missed)

3: 1980 (missed), 1981 (quarterfinals), 1982 (quarterfinals)
3: 1984 (missed), 1985 (missed), 1986 (quarterfinals)
3: 1992 (quarterfinals), 1993 (first round), 1994 (first round)
3: 2007 (first round), 2008 (quarterfinals), 2009 (quarterfinals)

Maryland, then, is a year away from a record it wants no part of. Here’s guessing this isn’t the last time this stat gets mentioned on the blog in the next year.

—- Patrick Stevens