College football rankings: Michigan set to visit Maryland as ranked team

Maryland fell to 2-2 with a loss to West Virginia on Saturday. That the Terps lost by a 39-point margin is ugly, but there's a growing consensus that the Mountaineers are one of the best teams in college football. They rose to third nationally in Bill Connelly's S&P+ ratings this week and are now ranked – albeit far lower – in this week's AP and Coaches polls.

It's looking more and more like Maryland, which is No 70 by Connelly's S&P+ and nowhere near the human-generated rankings, has one of the hardest schedules in college football. Maryland's next two opponents, Michigan and Ohio State, both look like clear top-25 (or far better) teams. After that comes a run featuring Penn State (up to 23 this week in S&P+), Iowa (33), Wisconsin (16) and Michigan State (15). That's a brutal run for Maryland, which will have to win at least two of those games to preserve any shot at bowl eligibility.

Jim Harbaugh has Michigan in the top 25 for the first time as the Wolverines' head coach. Michigan visits Maryland this upcoming weekend, and the Terps are 0-10 against ranked teams under Randy Edsall.