Friday, May 15, 2009

Baseball Secures First ACC Championship Berth and the Big Finish

Brian: Yesterday the baseball team knocked off No. 4 North Carolina yesterday 3-1 to secure a spot in the 2009 ACC Championship.  This was the first W against UNC since the Eagles joined the conference in 2006.  The Eagles notched the victory just at the right time, as they had dropped crucial non-conference games to LeMoyne and Connecticut over the last two weeks.  The College Baseball Blog has the Eagles as one of the last 5 teams in the NCAA Tournament.  Will yesterday's win be enough to get BC off the bubble and into the NCAA regionals?

Jeff: Let's be honest, I am not going to pretend I know enough about NCAA baseball to disagree with TCBB but I think another win against UNC wouldn't hurt or a few wins in the ACC Championship would lock us in.

Brian: The Heels must have been pissed we took game 1 yesterday because they came out blazing today, defeating the Eagles in what could be mistaken as a low-scoring football score - 16-10.  Hopefully the team can regroup and take the rubber match (Saturday 1pm).  It would be nice to end the regular season on a high note just as we opened the ACC schedule - with a series victory over a Division champ.  Plus we could use a win tomorrow to build some momentum going into the ACC baseball Championship.

Speaking of the ACC Championship, seven of the eight tickets have been punched for Durham. Florida State, Clemson and BC have already made it from the Atlantic, and Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Miami and Virginia are in from the Coastal. Duke and Virginia Tech are battling for the eighth and final spot.

This year's ACC Baseball Championship action begins on Wednesday.


Big Finish

Brian: The ACC awarded the ACC baseball Championship to Myrtle Beach, SC for the 2011, 2012 and 2013 seasons. The tournament will be played at BB&T Coastal Stadium, home of the Carolina League's Myrtle Beach Pelicans. It is a somewhat bold move considering the ACC is going against the NCAA's ban on predetermined championship events in the state of South Carolina. You know, because of that whole Confederate flag flying over the state capitol issue. You like the selection?

Jeff: Yes. This is good for South Carolina. Down here, college baseball is only a step behind college basketball in terms of popularity.  Hopefully the conference will be able to attract the casual college baseball fan to attend the games in 2011. Not to mention it's centrally located to most of the ACC teams.


Jeff:  This past week, ACC coaches voted unanimously to kill the idea of an 18 game ACC basketball schedule.  Your thoughts?

Brian:  Not surprised at all.  While this deal might have increased the revenue from the ACC's TV deal, it certainly wouldn't help each school's ticket gate.  Two more league games would likely mean at least one less home game against Directional State U. 


Brian: The Dagger takes a look at the ACC's men's basketball coaches and ranks Al Skinner in THE UNINSPIRING AND/OR JUST PLAIN BAD category.  That category - of course - being the worst of the five categories.  Fair or foul?

Jeff: Very foul.  He's done a lot with the program that has the least tradition of any ACC team.


Jeff:  Speaking of Skinner, did you know he is on the NCAA ethics committee as the ACC's representative?

Brian:  I did not know that fact.  Ever to excel, eh?


Brian:  Doc Saturday outlines scenarios where fans should be rooting for their team's non-conference enemies next season to help boost your teams' "quality wins."  It is a given that we'll root for Northeastern, Kent State and Central Michigan during the regular season but will you also make an exception for Notre Dame?

Jeff: No.  A win at Notre Dame is always looked at as a quality win regardless of whether they finish 6-6 or 9-3 so I will not be cheering for them at all.


Jeff:  College Hockey News gives us an early projection of the Top 10 in 2009-2010.  BC doesn't make the Top 10.  You surprised?

Brian: Yes, very surprised.  Don't sleep on the Eagles.  Last season, the Eagles tallied their lowest goal total for the season (112) in the Jerry York era, and the lowest in 48 years.  They also lost a lot of 1 goal games.  The only question mark will be Muse, as USCHO is reporting that he will be out until November.  York and the staff are scrambling to recruit a third goaltender.


Brian:  It's only May, but that certainly doesn't prevent any early offseason celebrity trash talking when it comes to college football.  Regis Philbin recently predicted that Notre Dame would win 11 games and make a BCS bowl this season.  That cool with you?

Jeff:  This is crap.  The thing that makes it possible though is that while most teams in America need to win a major conference to go to a BCS game or at the very least go 10-2, Notre Dame only needs to go 9-3 and do it against a schedule that is probably weaker than if they played in a major conference.


Jeff: Last one, did I read corrently in a comment this week that a commentor didn't realize that I am the biggest supporter of an annual Boston College vs. Connecticut football matchup? I would love to see BC play Notre Dame, Penn State, UConn and one cupcake as their annual OOC games. Can you come up with a better out of conference slate?

Brian: You read correctly. I was as surprised as you. Sad to say Notre Dame is done with us after 2010, so for purposes of this exercise, I am done with them. I guess they grew tired of us beating them year after year. I've got Penn State, Syracuse, a healthy rotation of Vanderbilt/Stanford/Northwestern (the smart kid bowl) and Army - to replace the I-AA game, with the hopes that one day the shame of scheduling I-AAs will return.

7 comments:

totheights said...

Notre Damne is a joke of a program, its a shadow of its pretegious past. Its funny how there used to be pride in a win against Notre Dame. Not anymore.

Coast said...

Wow, so it's pretty safe to say you guys are kind of obsessed with Notre Dame, huh? 3 of your 8 points in the Big Finish deal with Notre Dame, and a fourth could be had if someone mentioned which school CHN ranked #2.

I understand you don't like them, but they seem to be the Duke to your North Carolina.

Brian P. Foley said...

Actually Duke clinched tonight...BC needs to win on Saturday and Duke lose to get the 7 seed

Unknown said...

LOVE the UConn idea. Easy away game to travel to, and Reliant is a great/easyily-accessible tailgate spot.

Sure, BC has more to lose, but a natural, consistent New England rival may help grow a little casual interest in college football around here.

BCMike said...

If your neighbor sued you and tried to get you to lose your job and attacked your personal assets, going after your pocketbook...would you ask him to join you in a foursome on the golf course?

I don't f*cking think so.

The UCan't Laptoppers can drown in their own filth. No reason to play them. No benefit to BC, anyway.

Unknown said...

Analogies are silly. You can change a few words to make your point.

If my neighbor sued me and tried to get me to lose my job and attacked my personal assets, going after my pocketbook would I invite him into the octagon so I could choke him out?
What Would Kenny Florian Do?

The fact is is that it's a business decision. And obviously GDF doesn't think it's worth it.

Don't make it about being neighborly though. Everyone knows college sports are about money. If this decision ISN'T about money then I think he's coming at it from the wrong angle; at the detriment of his department.

Just personally, I'd love an away game in Hartford every other year.

BCMike said...

JQ Public, it certainly isn't a business decision to Gene, and he's explicitly said that much...going as far to say in multiple alumni events that as long as he's the AD at BC, we will never, ever play UConn (adding that he will be able to schedule out 5-7 years after he leaves).

You can't sue the AD *personally* (which UCan't did) and expect him to play nice. It just doesn't work.