With just one regular season game remaining in the 2022 season, Maryland football’s bowl projections have closed in on a Big 12 opponent.
Multiple outlets now have Maryland playing in the Guaranteed Rate bowl with four of the projections having the Terps face off against Texas Tech. This would be the first match-up between the Terps and Red Raiders, who clinched their bowl game last week against Iowa State. Texas Tech has topped both Texas and Houston while ranked opponents while losing by no more than three touchdowns against the remaining ranked matchups this season.
The other two Guaranteed Rate bowl projections have the Terps facing off against Kansas, arguably college football’s biggest surprise through the first half of the season. The Jayhawks are another team that the Terps would be facing for the first time in school history. Under second-year head coach Lance Leipold, Kansas transformed from maybe the worst power-five team over the last decade to win six games even without starting quarterback Jalon Daniels for over a month.
Both would give Maryland an opportunity to finish the season on a high note against a rising Big 12 opponent, but Maryland will hope a potential win against Rutgers this weekend boosts their chances against a marquee opponent to close the 2022 season.
With the toughest stretch of the season now in the rear view mirror, Maryland still has an opportunity to pull off its fourth conference win this season, which would tie the program’s record for Big Ten wins in a season, while a seventh regular season win would be the most since 2014. With the opening line favoring Maryland by 14 points, the Terps will get a chance to close the 2022 slate 5-2 Inside SECU Stadium.
Full Projections
Meanwhile, Maryland’s narrow loss against second-ranked Ohio State over the weekend proved to be the most watched game of the week with 6.6 million viewers tuned in. That also marks the tenth-most viewers for a game heading into the final week of the 2022 season. Garnering a national audience, Maryland head coach Mike Locksley wasn’t discouraged by his team’s performance but noted the handful of miscues that allowed the Buckeyes to secure the win.
“Proud not because we’re close, that’s not how we approach this thing. I’m proud that we’re never satisfied with a loss obviously, but what you saw today is us go blow for blow with the team that I consider to be one of the best in the country,” he said.
Maryland will kickoff against Rutgers this weekend for a noon kickoff on BTN.
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