During Matt Swope’s two seasons as Maryland baseball’s head coach, his team has excelled in nonconference play. In 2026, the Terps will play their toughest slate of out-of-conference opponents, though, setting up a critical early portion of their schedule.

Maryland announced its full 2026 schedule on Friday. The slate features 32 true road games, 22 matchups at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium and a lone neutral-site contest — a type of split that’s become common for the Terps in recent years.

Early tests

Maryland’s struggles in the Big Ten during Swope’s time have overshadowed its respectable 39-19 record in non-conference play. The Terps will play several series against astute mid-majors and a handful of midweeks versus power-conference opponents this season.

The Terps open the year with a three–game series at UNC Wilmington from Feb. 13-15. The Seahawks have been a top-two finisher in the Coastal Athletic Association in each of the past three seasons — earning two NCAA regional berths during that time. A midweek against Georgetown on Feb. 17 marks Maryland’s home opener. The Terps are also slated to face the Hoyas at Capital One Park on a Tuesday in late April, continuing the pair’s unofficial tradition of playing multiple times a season over the past four years.

[Maryland baseball star Chris Hacopian to enter transfer portal]

Maryland’s first home series of the year is against Wagner, which is flanked by weekend road trips to Louisiana and Troy, two esteemed mid-majors.

The Ragin’ Cajuns finished with a losing record last year but made three consecutive regionals in the seasons before. Troy won more than 35 games in each of the last three seasons. It had an NCAA tournament appearance over that stretch.

Maryland then takes its first trip to Morgantown since 2018, for a midweek against West Virginia. It’s a Mountaineers squad who reached a super regional last season, where they lost to eventual national champions LSU.

The Terps didn’t play a single midweek against a power-conference team in Swope’s first season as manager. Matchups against Virginia and the Mountaineers reflect Swope’s efforts to schedule more resume-building midweeks.

Big Ten play

That Mar. 10 matchup directly predates the Terps’ conference slate, which begins with a home series against Purdue. The weekend after, Maryland will play the potential top team in the country: UCLA.

Baseball America ranked the Bruins as the No. 1 team in its “Way Too Early Top 25 Rankings” for the 2026 season. UCLA was the only Big Ten team to feature on that list, largely because it’s returning nearly every significant contributor from last year’s College World Series squad — including potential No. 1 overall draft pick Roch Cholowsky.

In a March full of tough opponents, Maryland hosts USC in its final series of the month. It’ll be the first-ever meeting between the Terps and Trojans, after the latter made an NCAA tournament appearance last season.

[Maryland baseball falls to Rutgers, 6-4, slimming its odds of a Big Ten tournament berth]

Maryland is set to play many road games in April.

The Terps travel to Ohio State, Iowa and Michigan State — the latter two being Big Ten tournament teams from a year ago. April also features road midweeks against UMBC and Navy on back-to-back days, Maryland’s only instance of that in 2026.

A conference-heavy May includes just one midweek and three series, all against Big Ten tournament teams from a year ago. The first is a set against Michigan at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium. The Terps then travel to Rutgers before ending the regular season at home against Penn State from May 14-16.

Maryland’s postseason chances have come down to the final weekend of the season in each of the past two campaigns. It fell short both times.

For a Terps squad with a 22-32 conference record under Swope, simply making the 12-team Big Ten tournament would be progress.