As long as there's a chance that Florida State will lose to North Carolina State this afternoon, Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen is still thinking big going into his team's football game at 5:30 p.m. today at Virginia.

In the Atlantic Coast Conference race, third-place Virginia (7-4 overall, 5-2 ACC) breathes down the necks of the second-place and 18th-ranked Terrapins (9-2, 5-1). That gives Maryland something to defend, but Friedgen's motivation is to catch No. 14 Florida State (8-3, 7-0), which has its final chance to fall in league play.

"I don't want to be in second place," said Friedgen, whose team is looking for its first win in Charlottesville since 1990. "I want to be in first place - that's why I want to win the game."

Two Maryland wins, combined with a Florida State loss today in its 3:30 p.m. game, would allow the school a share of its second straight ACC title, and could be enough for a Bowl Championship Series berth.

The Terps lost to Florida State, 37-10, but league rules state that the loser in a head-to-head matchup can win a tiebreaker over the victor for the league's BCS bid if it is ranked at least five spots ahead in an average of the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN coaches polls.

This position is rewarding enough for the Terps, who lost two of their first three games before rattling off eight straight wins. The nine wins came against opponents that appear weaker than Florida State and Notre Dame, the teams Maryland lost to, but the Terps remain proud of the streak even if they don't get a BCS bowl.

"I wouldn't be disappointed," quarterback Scott McBrien said when asked about being co-champions. The Terps won sole possession last year. "You get the ring, you get the trophy. That's something that you always want. It would be great, considering the start we had."

But unless the Seminoles lose in Raleigh, N.C., Maryland and Virginia are playing for second place. Like Maryland, Virginia suffered a blowout loss to Florida State early on, and has since turned its season around.

The Cavaliers, 5-7 last year in Al Groh's first year as coach, were picked to finish toward the bottom of the ACC. After starting 0-2, they have won seven of nine.

With 23 touchdown passes, against only six interceptions, quarterback Matt Schaub has given Virginia a presence he never provided last season. Schaub has thrown for 2,502 yards and attempts 31 passes a game because the run game averages only 116 yards.

"It's a great challenge for us to go into - they plan to throw the ball a lot," Maryland cornerback Curome Cox said, though he doesn't expect his defense to change. "We like to shut down the run and play the pass, so we can make things one-dimensional."

In a 14-9 win last week that kicked then-No. 22 N.C. State out of the polls, Virginia did find a way to run, getting 129 yards from Marquis Weeks and nearly 200 overall. The Cavaliers, ranked near the bottom of the ACC in most defensive categories, shut down a Wolfpack team that is averaging 35 points.

Maryland could become the third ranked victim of Virginia this year, after N.C. State last week and then-No. 22 South Carolina on Sept. 7. Though the Cavaliers are out of title contention - doomed by a 23-15 loss to Georgia Tech on Oct. 26 - beating the Terps would be another sign of progress.

"The objective is to win the championship," Groh said. "As you aim for that, I think you get higher and higher, and since that's not something we can aim for at this exact moment, we're going to aim for as high as we can get."

With a win, the Terps would clinch at least a bid for the Gator Bowl, played on Jan. 1 in Jacksonville, Fla.. Even if they lose, the Terps might be preferable to Virginia in the Gator in a tiebreaker situation if they beat Wake Forest next weekend.

Friedgen said he has no desire to peek at the score of the earlier Florida State-N.C. State game. He just wants his team to take care of its business.

"Worst-case scenario, we go to the Gator Bowl," Friedgen said of the possibility with a win. "We lose, and we could go anywhere."