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Maryland's Military Bowl appearance against Marshall is still two-and-a-half weeks away, but Vegas has no problem with looking ahead. The matchup was announced Sunday night, and the opening lines are here, via 5dimes -- the game is a pick'em.
That's right, no favorite has been named for Maryland's bowl game, and you should expect a tight one December 27 in Annapolis. With home-field advantage likely in favor of the Terrapins, the line also suggests Vegas thinks Marshall is a slightly better team.
The Terps went 7-5 this season, with only one victory against a bowl team -- Virginia Tech. Marshall, meanwhile, posted a 9-4 record, defeating bowl-eligible UTSA, Florida Atlantic and East Carolina (but losing in triple overtime to the Hokies). Both teams are led by their quarterbacks -- dual-threat C.J. Brown (23 total touchdowns) for the Terps and gun-slinger Rakeem Cato (36 passing touchdowns) for the Thundering Herd -- but Marshall is also supported by 1,000-yard rusher Essray Taliaferro.
Maryland will hope to have starting cornerback Jeremiah Johnson back for the game, which would help the Terrapin defense tremendously against the strong Thundering Herd attack.
