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Report: Maryland, Virginia Tech adjust home-and-home, Terrapins add Baylor to rotation

Danby: Daniel Hager05/29/26DanielHagerOn3

The changes to Power-Four programs’ non-conference schedules are rolling in now. On Friday, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported that the Big Ten’s Maryland and the ACC’s Virginia Tech have adjusted their home-and-home series.

Originally slated to play four games, Maryland and Virginia Tech will now play just two games. The 2026 game will occur in College Park, while the return game won’t be played until 2029. That game will take place in Blacksburg. To replace its games against Tech in 2027 and 2028, Maryland has added the Big 12’s Baylor to its non-conference schedule.

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The 2027 game will take place at Maryland, while the 2028 game will take place at Baylor. If anything, downsizing a home-and-home series is certainly better than completely canceling a home-and-home sire.s

The power conferences’ (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC) move to nine conference games has been a major catalyst for many high-profile non-conference games being canceled. Some of the prominent home-and-home series that have been canceled in the past six months include North Carolina–South Carolina, Georgia–Louisville, Georgia–Florida State, Alabama–Oklahoma State, and Miami–South Carolina.

Virginia Tech–Maryland looked to potentially be on the chopping block, but luckily, that was not the case.

James Franklin explains what made Virginia Tech a special opportunity

Heading into his first season at the helm at Virginia Tech, head coach James Franklin explained what made taking over the program a special opportunity.

“You know, I come to the Miami game, they won three games, it’s sold out,” Franklin told Adam Breneman on Next Up. “The fans are super positive. We have the spring game. If you saw any of the videos, it is packed and it is rocking, and Enter Sandman feels like the fall. There is a passion and a love. And as you know, you can do a lot of things at a lot of these schools, but if you don’t have the fans in 2026 it’s hard to create that. It’s hard to build that now. That’s here.”

Tech went just 3-9 last season, and head coach Brent Pry was let go after just three games. He, however, was brought back to the program as Franklin’s defensive coordinator this season. Under Franklin’s guidance, the Hokies are looking to return to national relevance. Virginia Tech hasn’t won 10 games in a season since 2016, when it finished with a 10-4 record and defeated Arkansas in the Belk Bowl.