Illinois
Big Ten · 4-3
at
Maryland
Big Ten · 2-5
Sat 31 Oct · 12:00 PM ET · FS1 · SECU Stadium
Rest ILL 7 days, MD 14 days · Travel ILL 606 mi
Market
ILL −2.5
total 54.5 · spread opened ILL −3.0, moved +0.5 toward MD
Atlas projectsAtlas
32.6–23.5
ILL–MD · total 56.0
Difference
−6.6
on the spread · total +1.5
C67/100
Mixed record.

A large disagreement of 6.6 points.

Across five seasons, cards this far from the market claimed 66% accuracy and delivered 49%. That gap is where this grade comes from.

How much weight this card's information deserves — not a recommendation.

Why

what the model is reading

Be careful about

  • Atlas is 6.6 points away from the market on the spread. That is the range where its projection has been least worth leaning on — read the drivers and the market context instead.
  • One book is quoting this game, so the market number has no depth behind it and may move sharply.

Projection built Oct 29, 2026 4:14 AM ETMarket updated Oct 29, 2026 4:14 AM ETData status

New to Atlas? What a card is, and what a grade means

Market detail where the line opened, where it is now, and the prices
SpreadOpenCurrentMove
Illinois−3.0−2.5+0.5
Maryland+3.0+2.5−0.5
Price−110−105—

The spread has moved 0.5 toward Maryland and the total has moved 2.0 up since the open.

TotalOpenCurrentMove
Game total52.554.5+2.0
Price (over)−110−115—
Moneyline · Illinois −142 → −135 Moneyline · Maryland +120 → +114 De-vigged, the market gives Maryland a 44.9% chance. Books quoting: 1.

DraftKings · 1 book quoting

Projection detail the projected score, the chance of winning, the total's range and the most likely exact score
Projected score
32.6 – 23.5
Illinois – Maryland
Projected spread
ILL −9.1
market −2.5
Projected total
56.0
market 54.5 · 80% range 35–77
Illinois win probability
70.4%
from the score grid
Over probability
51.3%
at the current total of 54.5
Most likely score
31–24
1.0% of the grid — one cell of 6,400
How this number is made. Every FBS team starts the season at a preseason expectation built from last season's ratings, roster talent, recruiting, returning production and the coaching situation. After every game a filter updates each team's offense and defense, opponent-adjusted, and the two teams' numbers meet here with the home advantage. The total adds the teams' pace and the wind. The market is never an input; it is shown so you can see where Atlas differs and read why.

Atlas difference

MeasureAtlas modelMarketDifference
SpreadILL −9.1ILL −2.5−6.6
Total56.054.5+1.5
Maryland win probability29.6%44.9%−15.3 pts
A difference is not an edge. Atlas has measured what happens at every size of disagreement, and the gap between what the model claims and what it delivers widens as the disagreement grows. This game sits in the 6-8 band, where cards have claimed 66% accuracy and delivered 49% across 267 games.
Matchup how each offense compares with the defense it faces, season to date, ranked among 138 FBS teams

Season to date through 24 October: Illinois 7 games, Maryland 7 games. Ranks are among 138 FBS teams, 1st the best; the crest marks which side ranks better on each line.

Illinois offensevs Maryland defense
30.358th
Points per gameedge Illinois
33.3127th
6.6725th
Yards per playedge Illinois
5.7882nd
164.659th
Rushing yards per gameedge Illinois
149.182nd
245.357th
Passing yards per gameedge Illinois
225.789th
4.664th
20+ yard plays per game
4.064th
1.332nd
Sacks per gameedge Illinois
2.436th
48%23rd
Third-down conversion rateedge Illinois
43%114th
65%39th
Red-zone touchdown rateedge Illinois
84%137th
Maryland offensevs Illinois defense
28.371st
Points per gameedge Maryland
25.379th
6.0859th
Yards per playedge Maryland
6.21109th
132.3109th
Rushing yards per gameedge Illinois
137.063rd
279.427th
Passing yards per gameedge Maryland
265.9125th
4.383rd
20+ yard plays per gameedge Illinois
4.173rd
1.014th
Sacks per gameedge Maryland
1.0131st
36%103rd
Third-down conversion rateedge Illinois
41%96th
57%84th
Red-zone touchdown rateedge Maryland
63%105th
Illinoisvs Maryland
Situational
−0.1484th
Turnover margin per gameedge Maryland
+0.5731st
61.4113th most
Plays per game
67.752nd most

Figures come from completed games only, so every one was known before kickoff. They are raw, not adjusted for opponents - All drivers has Atlas's adjusted view. College counts sack yardage as rushing, as the NCAA does.

Other models what FPI, SP+ and Elo say about this game, beside Atlas and the market
ModelMarginWinAs of
FPI (ESPN)ILL by 7.070%Oct 28
SP+ILL by 6.4—Oct 29
EloILL by 9.3—Oct 29
AtlasILL by 9.170%live
MarketILL by 2.5—live

Each model's number for this game as its source published it before kickoff; Win is the favored side's chance to win, where the model gives one. FPI's margin and chance are ESPN's own. SP+ is the difference in the two teams' ratings, plus 2.5 for a home side; Elo is the difference in ratings at 24 points a point, plus 2.6 for a home side, as Atlas measured it on past seasons. None of these is an input to Atlas's number, and none is here to settle anything: they show where Atlas sits among other models.

How this grade was computed the four things that set the letter, out of a hundred
C67

Mixed card

The disagreement is wide enough that the model's historical claim runs well ahead of what it delivered.

Calibration 26/45
Market agreement 11/25
Card conditions 15/15
Data completeness 15/15

Atlas sits 6.6 points from the market. The calibration curve, fitted to every completed season out of sample, expects cards at that distance to fall 14.7% short of what they claim — which is where the calibration component above comes from.

The season is mature enough for the team profiles to have settled, and the market has not moved much since it opened.

The grade describes how much weight the information deserves. It says nothing about which side of a market anyone should take, and Atlas does not publish that. How grades are computed.

All drivers all 4 things the model is reading, and how each team ranks against the rest of the country
Defense, in points ILL +7.6 pts

Atlas rates Illinois' defense at +4.1 points a game against FBS average and Maryland's at -3.5, opponent-adjusted, after 6 games this season.

IllinoisMaryland
Pace and possessions 108 plays · 41st percentile

A combined 108 plays per game — the 41st percentile of this season's games. A middling number of possessions either way.

fewer playsmore plays
Offense, in points ILL +4.3 pts

Atlas rates Illinois' offense at +3.9 points a game against FBS average and Maryland's at -0.4, opponent-adjusted, after 6 games this season.

IllinoisMaryland
Home advantage MD +2.6 pts

Playing at home is worth 2.6 points in this season's model, fitted, not assumed.

IllinoisMaryland
Market movement how far the market has moved since the number opened, and which way

Total, open to current

55.0 53.5 52.0 Atlas 56.0 — beyond this range open 52.5 now 54.5
MeasureValue
Opening number52.5
Current number54.5
Market directionup 2.0
Atlas directionup

Atlas and the market have moved the same way on this total.

Two findings that are not in conflict

Atlas has measured disagreement twice, against two different reference points, and they say different things.

Measured againstWhat it predicts
The closing numberthe model's own failure — so a large difference lowers the grade
The opening numberwhich way the line moves — tracked publicly, not graded

A model far from the close is wrong; a model far from the open is early. The second finding is tracked in the open closing-line record and is deliberately kept out of the grade.

Reliability record what Atlas claimed and what it delivered, across the seasons it never saw while being built

Calibration by disagreement band

82% 64% 45% this card0-110+ claimed realized

Two series, labeled directly. The widening gap is why Atlas grades large disagreements down.

This band, five seasons

MeasureThis bandAll cards
Realized accuracy48.7%49.2%
Claimed accuracy66.4%58.0%
Calibration gap−17.8 pts−8.8 pts
Seasons above 50%1 of 5—
Games measured2673,864
Read the gap, not the claim. Atlas's raw confidence numbers run high — a claimed 66% has historically delivered 49%. The grade already corrects for this. The claim is shown so the correction is visible rather than hidden.
What this card is. Research, analytics and market context. Atlas does not publish selections, does not size anything and does not project returns. Every figure is computed out of sample from a point-in-time database: nothing attached to a game uses information that did not exist before kickoff.