Maryland football kicks off the 2024 season in 26 days against UConn as head coach Mike Locksley and his squad will hit the next phase of fall camp on Tuesday with the first practice in full pads. With the first AP Poll of the 2024 season will be released at noon on Aug. 12, the first coaches poll of the season was released on Monday as Maryland made an appearance.
Maryland tied UNLV with five votes to unofficially rank at 41st nationally. The revamped Big Ten saw five teams included in Monday’s rankings with Ohio State (2nd), Oregon (3rd), Michigan (8th), Penn State (9th), USC (23rd) and Iowa (25th) all included inside the top-25. Washington (123) and Wisconsin (17) drew more votes than Maryland while Nebraska (2) was the last Big Ten team to be recognized.
Maryland is scheduled to face USC and Iowa in College Park in 2024 with the Trojans’ upcoming matchup in October marking this season’s homecoming game. The season-finale will come against Penn State, one of two preseason top-ten teams on Maryland’s schedule, as head coach Mike Locksley looks to guide the program to its fourth bowl appearance in as many seasons.
“There was a time as a coach where I was a little scared to dream big and I want my players to hear me talk about this. It’s something to stand up here in front of you guys and tell you that we want to compete for a Big Ten championship,” head coach Mike Locksley said at Big Ten Media Days. “And by doing so, that allows you to hopefully compete for a national championship. And then you’ll be ridiculed. You’ll say you only won eight games. You don’t win big games. And you know what? For a long time, I used to be worried about that. And as I like to say, my ‘give a crap’ gauge is on E and I want my players to understand – I want them to dream big.”
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