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1976 Maryland

11–⁠1 (5–⁠0 Atlantic Coast Conference), coached by Jerry Claiborne, finished No. 8 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Maryland in 1976, game by game: won vs. Richmond 31–7; won at West Virginia 24–3; won at Syracuse 42–28; won vs. Villanova 20–9; won at NC State 16–6; won vs. Wake Forest 17–15; won at Duke 30–3; won vs. Kentucky 24–14; won vs. Cincinnati 21–0; won vs. Clemson 20–0; won at Virginia 28–0; lost vs. No. 6 Houston 21–30+28−9Won 31–7 vs. Richmond+24RichmondWon 24–3 at West Virginia+21West VirginiaWon 42–28 at Syracuse+14SyracuseWon 20–9 vs. Villanova+11VillanovaWon 16–6 at NC State+10NC StateWon 17–15 vs. Wake Forest+2Wake ForestWon 30–3 at Duke+27DukeWon 24–14 vs. Kentucky+10KentuckyWon 21–0 vs. Cincinnati+21CincinnatiWon 20–0 vs. Clemson+20ClemsonWon 28–0 at Virginia+28VirginiaLost 21–30 vs. No. 6 Houston-9No. 6 Houston
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 11vsRichmondW 31–⁠782%
Sep 18atWest VirginiaW 24–⁠349%
Sep 25atSyracuseW 42–⁠2877%
Oct 2vsVillanovaW 20–⁠991%
Oct 9atNC StateW 16–⁠667%
Oct 16vsWake ForestW 17–⁠1587%
Oct 23atDukeW 30–⁠368%
Oct 30vsKentuckyW 24–⁠1482%
Nov 6vsCincinnatiW 21–⁠075%
Nov 13vsClemsonW 20–⁠092%
Nov 20atVirginiaW 28–⁠093%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs6HoustonCotton BowlL 21–⁠3064%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Houston 30–⁠21 in the Cotton Bowl; No. 8 in the final AP poll; Atlantic Coast Conference champions.

In program history: The 5th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 120 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 12
  2. Wk 2: 10
  3. Wk 3: 8
  4. Wk 4: 7
  5. Wk 5: 7
  6. Wk 6: 5
  7. Wk 7: 6
  8. Wk 8: 5
  9. Wk 9: 6
  10. Wk 10: 6
  11. Wk 11: 6
  12. Wk 12: 5
  13. Wk 13: 4
  14. Final: 8

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1976.

Atlantic Coast Conference champions5–⁠0 in the conference

Consensus All-AmericanJoe Campbell, DT

Record
11–⁠1
Conference
5–⁠0 first in Atlantic Coast Conference
AP final
No. 8 peak No. 4
Points
294–⁠115
Coach
Jerry Claiborne
Elo
1721 +94 this season
SP+ rating
22.7 No. 10 of 132; offense No. 28, defense No. 2
SRS
19.1 No. 11 of 137 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1977

The 1977 draft
Rd 1Joe Campbell DENew Orleans Saints
Rd 3Tim Wilson RBHouston Oilers
Rd 3Ed Fulton OGLos Angeles Rams
Rd 6Tom Schick OGNew Orleans Saints

All-ACC

7 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1976 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1976 Atlantic Coast Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Maryland5–⁠011–⁠18
North Carolina4–⁠19–⁠3
Wake Forest3–⁠35–⁠6
Duke2–⁠3–⁠15–⁠5–⁠1
NC State2–⁠33–⁠7–⁠1
Virginia1–⁠32–⁠9
Clemson0–⁠4–⁠13–⁠6–⁠2

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.