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CBS Sports' best case for Maryland football gets Terrapins 'into discussion' for CFP

Originally posted on Maryland Terrapins on SI
By Trent Knoop | Last updated Jun 26, 2025 7:56 AM ET

After a 3-1 start in 2024 for Maryland, the wheels fell off. The Terrapins would win one game the rest of the season and finish 4-8. Maryland had one of the worst offensive lines in the country, Billy Edwards Jr. wasn't the answer to Taulia Tagovailoa, and the Terrapin defense struggled against good Big Ten offenses.

Despite breaking into loads of new starters in 2025, CBS Sports' Tom Fornelli believes Maryland has a chance to get into the discussion for the College Football Playoff in his best-case scenario for Maryland.

Best Case 9-3: After a season that saw the Terps win only one Big Ten game, the program is revived under true freshman Malik Washington, who began the season splitting snaps but grabbed hold of the starting job and never looked back. While the team loses home games to Nebraska and Michigan, they pull off a few road upsets to ruin the seasons of others while finding themselves in the playoff discussion into November.

While Maryland fans would be more than thrilled with a nine-win season with a freshman QB behind center, the realistic option is that 2025 will be a rebuild. While Maryland's schedule is more than favorable, the Terps might be worse than last season, in Fornelli's worst-case scenario.

Worst Case 3-9: One of the worst defenses in the Big Ten last season only gets worse and allows nearly 35 points per game, far too many for its young, overmatched offense to keep up with. After starting the year 3-0 in nonconference play, a Big Ten schedule that doesn't include Ohio State , Penn State or Oregon smacks the Terps in the face repeatedly, and fans are enraged when the school gives Mike Locksley one more year.

Maryland will begin its quest for Fornelli's best-case scenario on August 30 against FAU.

This article first appeared on Maryland Terrapins on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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