How Maryland football could cause chaos in the CFP race

Maryland’s scaring of Michigan is no foreign practice

In 2022, the Terps trotted into what is often labeled “The Big House” and not only gave Michigan a scare but did so at a much more comfortable time in their schedule.

Instead of being a late-season sleeper wedged between a pair of powerhouses, the Terrapins were both UM’s conference opener and Homecoming game, bookended by battles with UConn and an Iowa squad that didn’t have a shred of offense. That was still enough for them to keep the duel within a single score, though, as the final was a tight 34-27.

And it wasn’t just the Wolverines that 2022 Maryland managed to spook, as the Terps would later put 30 on Ohio State in another competitive affair that the Buckeyes had to pull away from in the final moments.

Also, just in case all of that fails to strike any fear into your heart, there are a couple of more things to remember. Said things include Ohio State having that close call with Maryland in Week 12 (exactly when 2023 Michigan has the game), along with last year’s Penn State beating up Maryland like this year’s did (making it painfully obvious that Michigan beating the Nittany Lions doesn’t mean nearly as much as fans might hope).

Lastly, speaking of today’s Maryland team, it has proven that it’s still capable of giving larger competitors runs for their money in spite of the hefty defeat dealt by PSU. It did so by scaring the Buckeyes a second time not even two months ago, being up on them 17-10 at one point in the third quarter of their Oct. 7 meeting.

So in summary, a potentially Harbaugh-less Michigan will be visiting a winning Terrapins team — that we know to be troublesome — right after enduring one defining rivalry and right before enduring another. There is nothing in that sentence that sounds like a done deal to me, and if the Terps were to successfully snag the upset victory, we could see a ripple effect that would attack the hierarchies of both the Big Ten and the CFP as we know them.

With all of that said, I strongly recommend taking some time out of your upcoming Saturday to watch this one go down — you just might end up kicking yourself if you don’t.