ESPN ranks Maryland football’s schedule among toughest in 2024

Ahmed Ghafir
Aug 7, 2024
2 min read

Maryland football is no stranger to finding its schedule ranked among the toughest across college football, but despite neither Ohio State nor Michigan on the 2024 schedule and the Big Ten’s long-awaited move to remove divisions set to begin this fall, Maryland still found its upcoming slate ranked in familiar territory.

ESPN ranked Maryland’s upcoming 2024 schedule as the 25th-toughest in the country and ninth-toughest in the Big Ten.

While the preseason AP poll is expected to be released on Monday, Aug. 12, the first coaches poll of the season included a pair of preseason top-ten teams on the schedule in Oregon and Penn State while USC (23) and Iowa (25) snuck into the end of the top 25.

Maryland will face a pair of first-year head coaches when they take on both Michigan State and Indiana in September, while Virginia serves as the lone Power Four program on the nonconference schedule. While the BTN crew noted that the “schedule sets up nicely” for Maryland during their day inside Jones-Hill House for fall camp, the Terps will have a chance to prove it beginning in October. Starting with the Friday night matchup vs. Northwestern on Oct. 11, Maryland’s final seven opponents all reached a bowl game in 2023 while the Terps will look to improve upon their 9-22 record in conference games through October and November since 2019.

“I want my players to dream big. I want them to think about championships. That’s where we are now. I couldn’t say that five years ago, but I can tell you now I’m really excited. Our mindset in 2024 is to shake up [the] status quo,” head coach Mike Locksley said ahead of fall camp. “I’ve heard Damon say it over and over to our staff. What an opportunity it is for us. I mean, some people look at it. We’re bringing, we finished fifth the last two years. We’re bringing in four new teams that are well-resourced. Some of them are blue blood programs, but you know what? We’re here to break up status quo. And that’s what the University of Maryland has done if you look at the history of this university. We’ve always been trailblazers. We’ve always figured it out and we’ll continue to do that.”

Maryland will open the season against UConn in 24 days.