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Scheduling Future Non-BCS Opponents And The Big Finish
by Brian @ BCI on Sep 17, 2010 7:14 AM EDT
in Big Finish
7 comments
Brian: If there's one thing we learned last weekend, it's that ACC teams can probably do a better job thinking strategically about the annual football schedule. Virginia Tech played James Madison with just four days of rest, and was coming off an emotional loss to a Boise State team. Meanwhile, Florida State and Miami went on the road and got beat bad by legit Top 10 outfits with National Title aspirations. Those three programs, combined with Georgia Tech, gave the ACC another early season black-eye and quickly dragged the rest of ACC football down with them.
BC's future BCS conference opponents are pretty well set for the next few years (Northwestern, USC, Notre Dame, Syracuse), but what about the non-BCS opponents? On Wednesday, Bill tackled the issue of which five non-BCS programs he'd like to see on the Eagles' future schedule. Any beefs with his list?
What other non-AQ programs, other than the ones currently on the future schedule (UCF, Buffalo, Army), would you like to see on the future sched?
Jeff: I certainly agree with getting Navy back on the schedule but other than that there's no one on his list I'm all that excited about. Let's assume everyone we're talking about would be willing to do a 2-1 deal where they come to Alumni Stadium twice and we go there once as the MAC teams did. I don't know if Navy would agree to that nowadays but perhaps. East Carolina is one of the first teams I would call because they have a good program but still a game we should win. I would then go down the list of other Conference USA teams with probably Marshall being next. I would love to see an annual C-USA game replace the annual MAC game because in C-USA there are always some sure win teams and a team or two flirting with the top 25. The MAC has had those top 25 teams occasionally but also goes some seasons without any teams hardly getting a single vote.
Brian: I agree Navy should be the first call. After that, I've already waxed poetic about how great it would be to renew a Villanova-BC rivalry, so I'd much rather see Villanova on the schedule if/when they make the jump to the Big East than Temple.
NIU doesn't do much for me as BC already plays Northwestern and Notre Dame over the next few seasons. The Huskies are a good MAC program that, while they would definitely go for a 2-1, would be a tough out. Instead of NIU, I'd like to see the Eagles schedule Miami (Ohio) or Ohio from the MAC. BC is just 0-1 all-time against Ohio and has never played the RedHawks in football (a fact which I find very surprising). BC and Miami has become an annual NCAA Tournament game in hockey so I'd love to play in football, too. BC probably isn't going to get Ohio State or Cincinnati on the schedule, so why not schedule these MAC opponents that are close to the Cincinnati recruiting pipeline?
I think the idea of playing more Conference USA teams is a good one, but I really don't like a game against ECU. On any given year, BC can play anywhere between 3 to 6 times in the state of North Carolina against N.C. State, Wake Forest, North Carolina, Duke, the ACC Championship Game and the Meineke Car Care Bowl. Yet another trip to NC seems a bit excessive to me. Staying in C-USA though, why not UAB? BC has only played in the state of Alabama once in its history -- a 1984 game against Alabama -- and it would be good to get some exposure in a southern market where BC doesn't normally travel.
Two more. I think a rematch of the 2003 Emerald Bowl would be compelling. How about a series with Colorado State? Their program is a mess right now and there seems to be a decent sized pocket of alumni in the Denver / Boulder / Fort Collins area. Finally, and staying in the Mountain West, how about UNLV? I can't think of one good reason NOT to schedule a game in Sin City. Vegas, baby. Vegas.
To recap, my five: Navy, Miami (Ohio), UAB, Colorado State, UNLV.
From City College of New York's national championship team in 1951, to Boston College in 1979 to Arizona State guard Stevin "Hedake" Smith in 1994, college hoops history is dotted with occasional examples of point shaving.
A new study suggests, however, that point shaving occurs far more often than we'd like to believe.
Of course, no article on college hoops point shaving is complete without mentioning the 1978-79 BC point-shaving scandal. The Dagger's Jeff Eisenberg tackles the topic of whether point shaving is still common in college hoops.
Five Schools I'd Like To See Field Division I Men's Ice Hockey
by Brian @ BCI on Sep 16, 2010 10:42 AM EDT
in Boston College Hockey
2 comments
The impending announcement that Penn State will be adding varsity men's hockey got me thinking -- what other schools would be solid additions to the Division I men's ice hockey landscape?
Here are my thoughts on five such programs that would be good additions and would help grow the sport (read: don't have the potential to shake up the college hockey conference landscape). Of course, this list isn't without this blog's typical Boston College, East coast bias.
Leave your own thoughts in the comments section.
Syracuse
It's always surprising to me that BC's former Big East rivals down I-90 don't have a varsity men's hockey team. Upstate New York is one of the best areas of the country for college hockey. The state is home to just as many Division I programs (10) as Massachusetts, the most of any other state in the country. Niagara, Canisius, RIT and Army all play in Atlantic Hockey, while Cornell, Colgate, St. Lawrence, Clarkson, Union and RPI play in the ECAC. Just last season, we saw RIT reach the program's first Frozen Four after only their fifth season as a member of Division I.
In 2008 Syracuse's women's hockey program made the jump to Division I, joining College Hockey America. The team currently plays in the 6,230 seat Onandaga War Memorial in downtown Syracuse, as the school renovates Tennity Ice Skating Pavilion.
There is clearly some demand for minor league hockey in the area, with the AHL's Syracuse Crunch drawing fairly well and maintaining a natural rivalry with the Rochester Americans. Just last year, the Crunch played in the AHL's first ever outdoor game against the Binghamton Senators at the New York State Fairgrounds, setting an AHL attendance record with 21,508 in attendance.
An Orange men's hockey team could probably play at the Onandaga War Memorial while the school awaits the renovations to the Tennity Ice Skating Pavilion for the women's team. The biggest hurdle for Syracuse, however, wouldn't be availability of a viable playing facility, but rather pesky Title IX. The school would need to field another women's program to make room for the added scholarships needed to field a men's ice hockey team, with Syracuse already fielding programs for women's hockey, women's lacrosse and women's field hockey.
Syracuse is a great hockey town, but I also wonder where a men's ice hockey program would rank on the student body's interest depth chart. So long as 'Cuse continues to be a national power in men's basketball and men's lacrosse, you can't help but think men's ice hockey would have a tough go of it trying to climb the depth chart, placing hockey fourth (or even lower) behind football, men's hoops and lacrosse.
From The Rumble Seat: ACC Roundtable Roundup
The boys are From The Rumble Seat wrap up this week's roundtable. This week's theme was "admitting that your team is flawed, accepting this fact, and moving forward" after the ACC's weekend to forget.
Poll: How Many Non-Conference Wins Will The ACC Tally In Week 3?
by Brian @ BCI on Sep 16, 2010 6:45 AM EDT
in Boston College Football
4 comments
The Eagles have the week off, so they can sit back and watch the rest of the ACC try to bounce back from a weekend where ACC teams went 4-5 in non-conference play (and 2-4 against FBS competition).
What will be the ACC's record in week 3? Can they improve on their 4-5 record from last weekend?
Here's the weekend's slate of games:
Cincinnati (1-1) at N.C. State (2-0) -- Thursday 7:30, ESPN
Maryland (2-0) at West Virginia (2-0) -- Saturday noon, ESPNU
East Carolina (2-0) at Virginia Tech (0-2) -- Saturday 1:30, ESPN3.com
BYU (1-1) at Florida State (1-1) -- Saturday 3:30, ESPNU
Alabama (2-0) at Duke (1-1) -- Saturday 3:30, ABC
Clemson (2-0) at Auburn (2-0) -- Saturday 7, ESPN
Wake Forest (2-0) at Stanford (2-0) -- Saturday 11:15, ESPN2
Of those seven games, currently only 3 ACC teams are favored in those games. N.C. State -2, Florida State -9.5 and Virginia Tech -19.5.
Thoughts on week 3 of the ACC college football season? And how many wins will the ACC tally in non-conference play during week 3?
College Football BlogPoll Top 25 Week 3: Where 3/4 Of The ACC Predictably Gets The Boot
How five blogs are still voting for Virginia Tech is beyond me. Did they accidentally mean to select "Virginia" instead?
The Eagles received just 6 votes this week. All of those votes came from ACC blogs. Half of them came from BC blogs.
Will BC Face A Ranked Team This Season?
by Brian @ BCI on Sep 15, 2010 11:25 AM EDT
in Boston College Football
0 comments
After the preseason polls were released, Boston College had just two ranked teams on their 2010 schedule -- Virginia Tech (6 USA Today/Coaches, 10 AP) and Florida State (20 in both polls). Both programs fell out of the polls this week after they suffered significant losses in week 2.
If you look at the Eagles current schedule, there's not a Top 25 team on the schedule for the Eagles' 10 remaining regular season games.
Regardless of whether Virginia Tech, now sitting at 0-2, wins this weekend against East Carolina, I don't think any margin of victory will propel the Hokies back into the Top 25 before their September 25 date at BC. Meanwhile, Florida State likely will have to rattle off wins against BYU, Wake Forest and Virginia, and be competitive against Miami to jump back into the polls before hosting the Eagles.
Notre Dame was getting a good number of votes in the preseason, but with a loss at home to Michigan in week 2, and a tough, ranked Stanford team coming to South Bend in two weeks, it's doubtful that the Irish can crack the Top 25 in time for their October 2 trip to Chestnut Hill.
The 2-0 Wolfpack probably has one or more losses coming up on the schedule -- Cincinnati, at Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech -- and doesn't appear to be a threat to be ranked by October 9. Same could probably be said for Clemson, where a brutal stretch of games -- at Auburn, Miami, at North Carolina, Maryland, Georgia Tech -- probably gives the Tigers multiple losses heading to BC at the end of October.
BC probably won't face a bowl-bound team down the stretch in the month of November with a schedule that includes Wake, Duke, Virginia and Syracuse.
The one chance BC likely has at playing a ranked team is -- don't laugh -- Maryland. If the Terrapins, who already have wins against in-state Navy and Morgan State, can win at West Virginia this Saturday, two more wins against Florida International and Duke, and a win at Clemson (who the Terrapins have beat now 3 out of the last 4 years) and the Terps could very well be 6-0 and firmly in the Top 25 heading into their Atlantic Division matchup with the Eagles. The Navy win is looking less impressive with the Middies struggles against Georgia Southern, but 6-0 with wins over WVU, Clemson and Navy should easily put the Terps in the Top 25.
You have to go back nearly 25 years to find the last time the Eagles went through the entire regular season without playing a team ranked in the AP Top 25. That year was 1986, a season where BC played an independent schedule that included games against Penn State, Maryland, Louisville, West Virginia, Army, Syracuse and Holy Cross. The Eagles finished the regular season at 8-3 and went on to beat a ranked Georgia team in the Hall of Fame Bowl.
So what do you think? Will the Eagles play a ranked team this season?
Bye Week Has Been Kind To The Eagles In The ACC
by Brian @ BCI on Sep 15, 2010 7:19 AM EDT
in Boston College Football
0 comments
The Eagles have an extra week to prepare for Virginia Tech. Recent history suggests that the Eagles have made the most of their extra week of preparation.
Here is a rundown of the Boston College's results following a bye week since 2005 (during the 2008 season, there were two open dates):
2005: at Virginia Tech 30, Boston College 10
2006: at Boston College 22, Virginia Tech 3
2007: Boston College 14, at Virginia Tech 10
2008: at Boston College 34, Central Florida 7
2008: at Boston College 28, Virginia Tech 23
2009: Boston College 14, at Virginia 10
Incredibly, BC has been fortunate to have an extra week of preparation for the Hokies in each of the first four regular season ACC meetings between the two teams, and four of the last five years. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised though considering Virginia Tech's propensity for playing Thursday night games (with the 2005, 06 and 07 BC-Virginia Tech games played on a Thursday).
BC is now 5-1 following a bye week as a member of the ACC with the only loss coming in 2005.
On Monday, you said you'd rather have the Eagles play the Hokies this week given everything that has gone wrong for Beamer's bunch. Is there anything to the Eagles 3-1 record against Virginia Tech when facing the Hokies after an open date? Or is this just coincidence?
Jeff: Teams should play better after bye weeks so it is good to see that this theory holds true for the Eagles the last several seasons. Unfortunately, I can think of several of those games like last season's Virginia game, the UCF game and the Matt Ryan game in Blacksburg where the Eagles had no offense going in the first half. Hopefully the Eagles can get off to a decent start next week against Virginia Tech.
I would still rather play Virginia Tech this week. I think all it would take for BC to win would be some turnovers or big plays in the first half. Virginia Tech would be a mess in their locker room at halftime with the strong possibility of their team heading to 0-3 on the season after they had such high hopes before the season began. East Carolina at home this week is a much better chance for the Hokies to get a win than the Eagles on the road would be for them. The first win of the season is usually the toughest.
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| Weber St. | Sat 09/04 | W 38 - 20 |
| Kent St. | Sat 09/11 | W 26 - 13 |
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Sat 09/25 | TBA |
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Notre Dame
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