Maryland Football: Athlon Sports projects six wins for Terps

The Maryland football team has arguably the most daunting schedule in college football this season.

However, Athlon Sports is still projecting a similar finish to their 2016 record this fall. The sports publication forecasted all 130 Division I teams and gave the Terrapins six wins for the 2017 season.

This comes just a year removed from a 6-7 campaign that included a loss in the Quick Lane Bowl at the hands of Boston College.

Ohio State (12 wins), Penn State (10), Michigan (10), Wisconsin (10), Northwestern (8), Indiana (7), and Iowa (7) ranked ahead of Maryland in the projection. Michigan State was also given six wins by Athlon Sports.

The Terps had the luxury of being able to get off to a hot start in 2016 due to a weak nonconference schedule. That won’t be the case this year as Maryland travels to Texas to open the season and also face a Central Florida team that went to a bowl game last year.

Maryland’s slate doesn’t get any easier when Big Ten play begins. The Terps are forced to travel to Minnesota, Ohio State, and Wisconsin over the first four weeks of conference play.

The Terps do get a bit of a reprieve after traveling to Wisconsin on Oct. 21. Over the next two weeks, Maryland faces Indiana for Homecoming weekend and travels to Yankee Stadium to face Rutgers on Nov. 4.

While six wins may not exactly seem like an exciting season to most fans, it would allow coach D.J. Durkin to keep the program’s momentum trending upward. Maryland has had a great deal of success on the recruiting trail based off of the trajectory that many believe the program is going.

Next: Terps set to throwback for Homecoming week

Another bowl-eligible campaign under these circumstances wouldn’t be anything to be ashamed of.