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The preseason AP Top 25 has arrived for the college football season. It looks like this, and it includes three Big Ten East teams:
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | POINTS | FIRST PLACE VOTES | PREVIOUS RANK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama Crimson Tide | 0-0 | 1469 | 33 | 1 |
| 2 | Clemson Tigers | 0-0 | 1443 | 16 | 2 |
| 3 | Oklahoma Sooners | 0-0 | 1352 | 4 | 5 |
| 4 | Florida State Seminoles | 0-0 | 1325 | 5 | 14 |
| 5 | LSU Tigers | 0-0 | 1269 | 1 | 16 |
| 6 | Ohio State Buckeyes | 0-0 | 1224 | 1 | 4 |
| 7 | Michigan Wolverines | 0-0 | 1147 | 1 | 12 |
| 8 | Stanford Cardinal | 0-0 | 1029 | 0 | 3 |
| 9 | Tennessee Volunteers | 0-0 | 1021 | 0 | 22 |
| 10 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | 0-0 | 1006 | 1 | 11 |
| 11 | Ole Miss Rebels | 0-0 | 718 | 0 | 10 |
| 12 | Michigan State Spartans | 0-0 | 710 | 0 | 6 |
| 13 | TCU Horned Frogs | 0-0 | 707 | 0 | 7 |
| 14 | Washington Huskies | 0-0 | 651 | 0 | NR |
| 15 | Houston Cougars | 0-0 | 644 | 0 | 8 |
| 16 | UCLA Bruins | 0-0 | 496 | 0 | NR |
| 17 | Iowa Hawkeyes | 0-0 | 484 | 0 | 9 |
| 18 | Georgia Bulldogs | 0-0 | 448 | 0 | NR |
| 19 | Louisville Cardinals | 0-0 | 447 | 0 | NR |
| 20 | USC Trojans | 0-0 | 344 | 0 | NR |
| 21 | Oklahoma State Cowboys | 0-0 | 316 | 0 | 20 |
| 22 | North Carolina Tar Heels | 0-0 | 283 | 0 | 15 |
| 23 | Baylor Bears | 0-0 | 280 | 0 | 13 |
| 24 | Oregon Ducks | 0-0 | 218 | 0 | 19 |
| 25 | Florida Gators | 0-0 | 180 | 0 | 25 |
| Others Receiving Votes: Miami 159, Texas A&M 81, Utah 74, Washington St. 68, Boise St. 49, San Diego St. 46, Wisconsin 42, Auburn 22, Pittsburgh 15, Arkansas 14, Texas 12, Nebraska 11, Navy 8, Northwestern 5, W. Kentucky 4, South Florida 2, Toledo 2. | |||||
No. 6 Ohio State, No. 7 Michigan and No. 12 Michigan State appear on Maryland’s schedule as divisional opponents. But that’s it, as far as preseason rankers.
Iowa is the only ranked team in the Big Ten West, and none of Maryland’s three non-conference opponents (Howard, UCF, Florida International) are even top-75 teams, much less top-25 teams.
Compare this to last season’s final ranking, which included five Maryland opponents from the season. The Terrapins played a sneakily brutal schedule last year, but this year, they really don’t.
There’s a ton of mediocrity on which Maryland ought to capitalize. (An alternative view, which is also fair, is that Maryland plays three of the 12 highest-ranked teams, and that's a tough hand to be dealt.)
From the weekend
Ryan went to Maryland’s fall scrimmage, and he took notes for you.
I figured Antoine Brooks would redshirt as a freshman linebacker. Not so fast, my friend.
Steve Aird’s got Maryland’s volleyball program right about where he wants it.
Tyrrell Pigrome could play all over the field, writes Inside Maryland Sports’ Josh Stirn.
We’re constantly maintaining a pretty big Maryland football season preview. Please do thumb through it, if that’s your kind of thing.