You might've heard that the ACC football schedules were announced today. Maryland's schedule doesn't have a lot of fanfare, but it's still an interesting time nonetheless. Here's the link to the official site, and, if you're lazy, it's also below:
9-6 - Navy (Baltimore - 4 pm game on ESPN)
9-11 - Morgan State
9-18 - @ West Virginia
9-25 - Florida International
10-2 - Duke
10-16 - @ Clemson
10-23 - @ BC
10-30 - Wake Forest
11-6 - @ Miami
11-13 - @ UVA
11-20 - FSU
11-27 - N.C. State
First thoughts:
- Not that bad of a schedule from an OOC aspect; West Virginia and Navy are steps up in almost every way from Rutgers and Cal (nothing against either of them). I'm particularly hyped for Navy on Labor Day. At M&T. On ESPN. Tell me that's not awesome.
- Likewise, those games should boost the profile of the program. Setting up a presence in Baltimore against Navy is big, and that's a game that should get a lot of local buzz. The West Virginia game will also probably be on ESPN or ESPN2, and is a rivalry to rally around. Consider me pleased.
- At the same time, I doubt Maryland can count on anything better than a 2-2 record heading into ACC play. Still better than last year. Not a cakewalk. A .500 ACC record will probably be a necessity.
- Luckily, that won't be as hard as usual - Maryland has a somewhat easy OOC slate. They avoid the two best teams in the conference in VT and GT, swapping out the Hokies for the Canes. Not likely a game Maryland will win, but easier than Virginia Tech.
- None of the road games are particularly daunting in terms of the opposing stadium except the Clemson game, either. BC, Miami, and UVA tend to have crowds on the more docile side. They even avoid Doak Campbell, a huge plus.
- Far too early to actually predict anything, but there are 6 winnable games on that schedule - Morgan State, FIU, Duke, WF, UVA, and N.C. State are all extremely winnable games. FSU and BC are possible, too. Again, no predictions, but I'm saying that the schedule for a bowl appearance is there. It'll depend most on the team, of course, but another 2-10 season will be tough with this lineup.