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Maryland Football Reveals Complete 2026 Schedule

The Terps have a very vanilla setup with all Saturday games and a backloaded conference slate
Michael Ostrowski|
Oct 4, 2025; College Park, Maryland, USA; A general view of SECU Stadium as the sun sets in the second half of a game between the Maryland Terrapins and the Washington Huskies.
Oct 4, 2025; College Park, Maryland, USA; A general view of SECU Stadium as the sun sets in the second half of a game between the Maryland Terrapins and the Washington Huskies. | Jamie Sabau-Imagn Images

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Maryland Terrapins

The countdown to kickoff is underway for all Big Ten football teams, as the conference revealed its complete schedule for 2026 Tuesday night.

The BIG brand is at a monumental high in football, with the last three National Champions - Michigan, Ohio State, and Indiana - all falling under the conference banner.

The Maryland Terrapins, however, have not felt that same high as of late. The last two campaigns both resulted in 4-8 records and one win each in conference play.

Year eight under head coach Mike Locksley could determine his future leading the program, as the Terps seek to avoid missing a bowl game for the third straight season.

Before that though, Locksley's teams made - and won - three straight bowl games. His staff has also done an admirable job keeping many of the top in-state talents local.

Armed with their best rated recruit of all time in five-star Edge Zion Elee and the return of freshman phenom Malik Washington at QB, the 2026 Terrapins look to right the ship and earn a 13th game.

Here's what they'll be facing on that path:

Maryland Football 2026 Schedule

  • Saturday, September 5 vs. Hampton Pirates (FCS)
  • Saturday, September 12 at UConn Huskies
  • Saturday, September 19 vs. Virginia Tech Hokies
  • Saturday, September 26 vs. UCLA Bruins
  • Saturday, October 3 at Nebraska Cornhuskers
  • Saturday, October 10 at Ohio State Buckeyes
  • Saturday, October 17 vs. Rutgers Scarlet Knights
  • Week 8 Bye
  • Saturday, October 31 vs. Illinois Fighting Illini
  • Saturday, November 7 at Purdue Boilermakers
  • Saturday, November 14 vs. Wisconsin Badgers
  • Saturday, November 21 at USC Trojans
  • Saturday, November 28 vs. Penn State Nittany Lions

As is Big Ten tradition (except for Northwestern this year), the Terps frontloaded their schedule with out of conference opponents.

Of note, they are not set to play any weeknight games; the Terps have played a Friday night home game each of the past three seasons.

Aside from the FCS freebie - which is Hampton, not Howard as shown on the BTN schedule reveal - they face a UConn team that lost head coach Jim Mora to Colorado State and a Virginia Tech outfit that reloaded under former Penn State HC James Franklin.

UCLA under ex-JMU head man Bob Chesney is an interesting first test in conference - the jump to the Power conferences isn't always easy, so the Terps may have another 4-0 start lined up.

Of course, what happens after that matters just as much. Nebraska and Ohio State are two brutal environments to play in back-to-back, but Rutgers should provide an even fight right before the bye.

After that, there are several more opportunities to be favorites. Purdue was an imperfect 0-9 in BIG play last year and had only marginal improvements made in the offseason. Wisconsin was the sole victory for Maryland after their OOC slate in 2025.

Penn State is a rather unfortunate draw to close things out, as with students away on Thanksgiving break and the Nittany Lions' strong alumni base, it may turn into another hostile takeover as in past years.

You can also check out every other Big Ten team's schedule below:

Need to keep track of what Terps are coming and going ahead of the 2026 opener? We've set up a transfer portal tracker and will have an overview of incoming freshman shortly.

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Michael Ostrowski
MICHAEL OSTROWSKI

Mike joined Sports Illustrated with over four years of sportswriting experience. He started off his career in Syracuse on the Orange football beat, where he was featured on CBS Sports' Cover 3 Podcast and local ESPN sports talk radio. After a brief stint reporting on Major League Baseball, he returned to the college landscape with Maryland On SI.

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