After Maryland suffered its first loss of the 2023 season, head coach Mike Locksley and the Terps return home to host Illinois for a 3:30 PM kickoff this weekend with a chance to secure bowl eligibility.
Maryland opened as a 13-point favorite as they look for their third consecutive win against the Illini, but with Maryland one win away from bowl eligibility midway through the season, the Terps have remained a mainstay in postseason bowl projections.
Heading into week seven, we look at the latest roundup of projections for Maryland:
Action Network: Music City Bowl vs. Florida
Athlon Sports: Music City Bowl vs. Missouri
CBS Sports: Music City Bowl vs. Missouri
College Football News: Music City Bowl vs. Tennessee
ESPN (Kyle Bonagura): ReliaQuest Bowl vs. LSU
ESPN (Mark Schlabach): Music City Bowl vs. Missouri
Saturday Tradition: Las Vegas Bowl vs. UCLA
247Sports: Music City Bowl vs. Tennessee
For reference, the Big Ten bowl tie-ins are:
-Las Vegas Bowl, Dec. 23 at 7:30 in Las Vegas
-Quick Lane Bowl, Dec. 26 at 2 PM in Detroit
-Guaranteed Rate Bowl, Dec. 26 at 9 PM in Phoenix
-Pinstripe Bowl, Dec. 28 at 2:15 PM in New York City
-Gator Bowl, Dec. 29 at noon in Jacksonville
-Orange Bowl, Dec. 30 at 4 PM in Miami
-Citrus Bowl, Jan. 2 at 1 PM in Orlando
Missouri remains the most frequent opponent projected for Maryland in recent weeks with Tennessee, LSU and Ole Miss also emerging since the beginning of conference play.
A potential matchup against UCLA would serve as a preview the future conference matchup with Maryland slated to travel to face the Bruins in 2025. The two teams haven’t squared off since 1955 and have split the two all-time matchups.
Maryland will look to get back on track with a chance to move to 5-0 at home this weekend.
“I just didn’t like the way we finished, which again, we can get those things corrected when you go back and look at it. I’m sure we’ll see that there were some opportunities that we had that maybe affected us, us affecting us more than it was Ohio State,” Locksley said following Saturday’s loss. “It’s my job to make sure we get those things corrected.”
Maryland opens as double digit favorite vs. Illinois
Maryland football’s snap counts, PFF grades vs. Ohio State
Young Terps: Maryland squanders road upset chance vs. Ohio State
Taulia Tagovailoa reviews performance in Maryland’s road loss vs. Ohio State
Everything Mike Locksley said after Maryland’s 37-17 loss vs Ohio State
