Maryland football opens as 12-point underdog vs. Michigan

The Maryland football team has opened as a 12-point underdog in Saturday night's game against No. 22 Michigan, according to lines posted at Odds Shark. The two teams turned in sharply divergent showings in their last games, with Maryland losing by 39 points to West Virginia and Michigan shutting out ranked BYU, 31-0.

Maryland beat Michigan in Ann Arbor last year, 23-16. In that game, C.J. Brown set Maryland's career total touchdowns record with a fourth-quarter run, and Wes Brown sealed the game with a series of clock-killing runs on Maryland's final drive. It was Maryland's first win in four tries all-time against Michigan, which won three meetings between 1985 and 1990. With Maryland now in the Big Ten's East division, the schools now play every year.

The Michigan team that comes to College Park this weekend is infinitely better than the one Maryland beat last November. The Wolverines still have an elite defense, but they've replaced last year's cringe-worthy offense with what has been, so far, a top-50 unit by S&P+.

Maryland is 0-10 against ranked teams in Randy Edsall's tenure as head coach. Michigan represents the first of at least four such opportunities Maryland is likely to have in the next six weeks.