Maryland is unbeaten and ranked No. 3 in the country. But matchup-wise and situationally I can see Illinois staying within single digits of the Terrapins.
Illinois is coming off a bad loss to Miami after having won four in a row. The Illini are inconsistent, but they have talent. Illinois beat Maryland last season on the road and the Illini are better this season. 
Maryland is strong defensively. The Terrapins are vulnerable here, though, because they are not a great shooting team, are undersized in the middle and thus can be exploited by Illinois' talened 7-footer Kofi Cockburn, who averages 23 points, and have a bigger game on deck. 
The Terrapins are fat and happy opening 9-0 for the first time in 21 years. They face a much bigger challenge playing their first true road game against Penn State on Tuesday. Thus they could get caught peeking past Illinois.