2010 NCAA Football: The Darkest Darkhorses: The ACC's Maryland Terrapins

Prior to every college football season, hordes of analysts set out to predict the entire season; Conference by conference, game by game. At these heavily-secured prognosticating roundtables, teams and players are dissected down to the most minute details.

The smartest sports fans in the world, Vegas odds-makers, choose the most likely teams in each conference to win their respective conferences and set gambling lines based on their evaluations of each team to win their conference. The media has their picks, usually based off of Vegas' odds, and these usually end up being the teams talked about all year until Saban, Tressel, et al fulfill the conference championship expectations set forth by about 30 percent of America's arm-chair quarterbacks.

Well I'm going to go against the grain.

I'm offering predictions for the winners of each BCS conference should all hell break loose, and Tim Tebow is nowhere around to save the children. These aren't the teams that will be whipping posts week-in and week-out (Re: Washington St.) These are the teams who, if they play their hearts out on the right Saturdays this season, just could stumble upon a conference championship.

First up: The ACC.

The Maryland Terrapins

Ralph Friedgen's Terrapins, who finished 2-10 last season, are probably not at the top of mind of many ACC coaches this off-season. But with 13 returning starters, including two-time All-ACC linebacker Alex Wujciak, Maryland could surprise some unsuspecting opponents.

Junior quarterback Jamarr Robinson (pictured) will start for the first time in his career after a strong showing in spring practice. His athleticism will allow Offensive Coordinator James Franklin to give the speedster some freedom out of the backfield, as he torched Virginia Tech for 129 yards rushing last season.

Also in the backfield are junior Dave Meggett who is a sturdy, powerful runner, and senior Da'Rel Scott who will look to shake off last year's injury-riddled season to return to his 2008 first-team All-ACC form.

The defense returns five starters, including its entire linebacking corps. If the inexperience players on the line and in the secondary can feed off the energy of senior LBs Adrian Moten and Alex Wujciak, the defense should improve on its ACC worst 31.2 points given up and 11th rated overall defense which gave up 396.3 yards per game. Meanwhile, the recruiting class features a four-star rated player in each of the three defensive units, adding much-needed depth.

Maryland's schedule could help them, if they pick the right Saturdays to pull upsets. Since all it takes to get into a BCS bowl, from the ACC, is to win the ACC Championship Game, let's see how the Terrapins could go about doing that.

The first four games (NAVY, MORGAN STATE, @ West Virginia, FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL) don't mean a thing in terms of ACC seeding, though winning three of these would have them sitting nicely before conference play.

Beating Duke at home is very do-able, then Maryland has its bye-week to prepare for two very tough Atlantic Division meetings against Clemson and Boston College. If Maryland is able to win one of these game, they should also like their chances the following week at home against Atlantic foe Wake Forest.

Two straight road games against Coastal Division teams Miami and Virginia would be nice to win, but a loss to the Hurricanes wouldn't necessarily doom their season, though getting tripped up in Charlottesville is very possible (my Tar Heels haven't won there since 1981...) and would not help their championship aspirations.

Hosting Florida State on November 20 and closing the season at home with NC State on the 27th gives the Terrapins a heavy incentive to take care of their previous Atlantic Division games. A victory over the 'Noles would make the Wolfpack game seem inevitably winnable, as Byrd Stadium would be teeming with excitement after such an unexpected season.

If the Terrapins take care of business at home and are able to win one of their Atlantic Division road match-ups, they would find themselves at 4-1 in their division. A victory over Duke and winning just one of the Miami or Virginia games would leave Maryland 6-2 in the conference.

Funny, last year's Atlantic Division champion was Clemson. With a 6-2 conference record.

Next up: The Big 12