Maryland football: Betting odds released for Terps vs. Towson

As expected, Maryland football is a massive favorite against Towson on Saturday.

The Terps are favored by 39.5 points against the Tigers, per BetRivers. The scoring total is set at 51.5. FanDuel, DraftKings and other major sportsbooks have yet to release a line as of Saturday morning. The line is bigger than some from outside analytical models, including SP+, which has the Terps as a 35.6-point favorite. ESPN FPI gives Maryland a 93.9% chance to win.

Maryland, which has won back-to-back bowl games and is rising in the Big Ten, should be significantly favored over Towson. The Tigers play at the FCS level and went just 6-5 overall and 4-4 in the CAA – tied for sixth in the conference – in 2022. Certain FCS teams seem to give FBS programs a run for their money every year, but Towson does not seem like a likely candidate.

Mike Locksley played at Towson as a defensive back from 1988-91, and Saturday marks the first time he will take on the Tigers as Maryland’s head coach. Locksley has mentioned his love and gratitude for Towson several times, but he has also talked about managing expectations in a game his team should easily win.

“The start of the season is always important because it's about momentum,” Locksley told reporters Tuesday. “As I told our team yesterday, I'm not gonna sit up here and make the Towson Tigers the '85 Chicago Bears, but they also need to realize that… a game like this can make their careers, make their season. And the type of coaching staff and the type of program that they have, they're not gonna come in here and just laid down. So it's gonna be important, not that we focus on Towson, but we focus on Maryland. And I've said this since I've been here… We don't prepare for Towson differently than we prepare for a team like Ohio State. We have a standard that’s set and our players believe in that standard and they're upholding the standard and it's gonna come down to what we do Saturday.”

Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. at SECU Stadium. The game can be seen on Big Ten Network.