CBS Sports points to Maryland football's make-or-break games in 2026

Ahmed Ghafir
5 hours ago
2 min read

Maryland football will kick off the 2026 regular season in just five days inside SECU Stadium with arguably the most winnable game on the schedule up first, but ahead of a make-or-break season, are there any games that may be more important than others?

John Talty of CBS Sports pointed to three upcoming games, including one on the road: week two vs. UConn, week three vs. Virginia Tech, week nine vs. Illinois.

"Maryland has excelled in the month of September under Mike Locksley, and will need that trend to continue in what looks like a more challenging slate," Talty wrote. "A Week 2 road trip to first-year coach Jason Candle's new-look UConn team is one that Locksley absolutely can't lose. Even if it's ugly, he needs to leave the Nutmeg State with a victory."

While Maryland should find itself on the right side of a likely quality test against a first-year head coach in UConn, Maryland's week three matchup may be the crown jewel on the 2026 schedule with Virginia Tech set to head to College Park for a 7:30 PM kickoff. It marks the first meeting between the two teams since Maryland's 54-10 win in the Pinstripe Bowl back in 2021, but with James Franklin kicking off his tenure in Blacksburg this fall and Locksley looking to right the ship after consecutive four-win seasons, the week three game is undoubtedly the most important of the season. Maryland's roster knows that, too.

"Especially week three, that's a big game," center Michael Hershey previously told IBG. "It's a non-conference game, but still, it's Virginia Tech. Like it's James Franklin too. So you've gotta take it pretty seriously. They go back years and the rivalry is there. It's real."

Talty also pointed to the week nine matchup vs. Illinois, marking Maryland's first game following its bye week. The week seven matchup vs. Rutgers may be as important as Maryland looks to end a two-game slide against its Big Ten foe, but since 2021, Maryland is 3-7 in games directly after the bye week to magnify the importance of the October home game vs. Illinois. And after facing both Nebraska and Ohio State on the road to open the October slate, Maryland theoretically has an opportunity to secure its sixth win once Illinois heads to College Park, but that would involve Maryland capitalizing on the toss-up games against UConn, Virginia Tech, UCLA and Rutgers.

ESPN's matchup predictor points to the week three home game vs. Virginia Tech as Maryland's most unlikely win among Talty's three highlighted games with a 36.9% chance to win, while Maryland has remained on the outside-looking-in on the overwhelming majority of preseason bowl projections. While the week three primetime game under the SECU Stadium lights generates a different element of excitement given the opponent, Maryland will look to outperform past results with the program just 2-11 as home favorites and 13-32 in conference play since 2021.

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