BC Interruption

BC Interruption is now BC Interruption 2.0

2009-09-23T08:00:00.000-04:00

After nearly 2 years and 680+ posts, today we bid farewell to Blogger. We are relocating to a new blog platform. Same URL, new location. If you aren't automatically redirected, kindly click on the link and you'll be whisked away to our new site.

Other than the new blog platform, nothing will be really changing around here. We encourage you to take a few minutes to register and check out our new digs. Also, please update your RSS feed link when you come on over and join us.

Go Eagles!

Frozen Four: Why Not Boston?

2009-09-22T17:00:00.000-04:00

Brian: Last week, Tom Reale of College Hockey News ran an article discussing the next round of host cities bidding for the 2013, 2014 and 2015 Frozen Fours. Host cities reportedly placing bids for this cycle of Frozen Fours include Buffalo (site of the 2003 Frozen Four), St. Louis (2007), Denver (2008) and Washington D.C. (2009). In addition, newcomers Pittsburgh, Kansas City and Omaha are also planning bids. Surprising absent from the list of potential host cities? Boston.

"To date, there has been no official confirmation of a bid pending from the city of Boston. The then-Fleet Center was a somewhat unexpected snub in 2005 and was thought at the time to be an early favorite for this round of bids."

Is it getting harder for host cities to host the event multiple times in a short time frame? Perhaps. Reale does mention that the time period between a single city hosting the Frozen Four has widened since 1992. Milwaukee's span of four years (1993 and 1997), Boston's span of six years (1998 and 2004) and St. Paul's span of seven years (1994 and 2002) are the three shortest time periods between host cities hosting a Frozen Four.

However, it is not as if Boston last hosted the Frozen Four a few years ago. The city of Boston and the Fleet Center last hosted the event in 2004, an event which saw two Hockey East programs - Boston College and Maine - make the final four. That was also the last year that a Hockey East program hosted the event. Before 2004, Hockey East also hosted the Frozen Four in 2000 (Providence) and in 1998 (Boston).

If Boston isn't planning on bidding on the 2013, 2014 or 2015 Frozen Fours, that will mark an 11 year period where college hockey's penultimate weekend is not hosted by a Hockey East program. In that same time span, the Frozen Four will have been held in these far-flung outposts of college hockey: St. Louis, Washington D.C., Tampa, and now potentially Pittsburgh (Robert Morris? C'mon!), Kansas City or Omaha.

I know what you are thinking. We are living in an age where the only thing on college athletics directors' minds is the bottom line. Where cost-cutting measures are all any AD talks about, and where program travel costs and the mere existence of Division I-A men's ice hockey programs are highly scrutinized. Host the Frozen Four somewhere in the Midwest or the middle of the country to cut down on program travel costs.

That's all well and good. However if there's one area of the country that lives and breathes college hockey, it is New England. Put simply, to go 11+ years without having a Frozen Four in Hockey East country is a disservice to its 10 member programs and all of college hockey. I sincerely hope Boston puts a bid together for this round of bidding and ends up hosting a Frozen Four in 2013, 2014 or 2015.

A Look At How Our Opponents Fared: Week 3

2009-09-22T08:00:00.000-04:00

The remaining opponents on BC's 2009 schedule had a much better week on Saturday, posting a 7-2 mark in week 3. Big wins from Virginia Tech and Florida State, both over ranked opponents. Another embarrassing loss for Maryland, and the plane has officially crashed into the mountain in Charlottesville.

Here's a look at how our opponents fared in week 3.

Wake Forest 35, Elon 7. Senior quarterback Riley Skinner threw for a career-high 289 yards and 3 touchdowns in a little over 3 quarters of work to lead the Deacons (2-1) to a 35-7 rout of I-AA Elon. Skinner connected on long touchdown passes to Chris Givens (54 yards) and Marshall Williams (80 yards). Not that they needed it, but Wake Forest really didn’t get much offense going on the ground. Josh Adams rushed for 25 yards on 11 carries and a 1-yard touchdown. Senior Kevin Harris added another 23 yards on the ground on 10 carries. It was the first ever meeting between the two neighboring schools, separated by only 45 miles. Wake faces their first road test of the season when they travel to Chestnut Hill this Saturday.

Florida State 54, Brigham Young 28. Any question about the Seminole's motivation were answered in a convincing 54-28 victory over BYU - a top 10 team - at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Saturday. Christian Ponder led the 'Noles offense to touchdowns on their first four possessions, and FSU led 30-14 at half. Ponder finished the day nearly perfect, throwing for 195 yards and 2 touchdowns on 21-of-26 passing. The Seminoles also were 12 for 15 in converting 3rd down attempts and converted on all 8 trips to the red zone. The Cougar offense - led by Max Hall - was able to move the ball effectively, amassing nearly 500 yards of offense. However, turnovers were the difference in this one, as BYU ended the day +5 in turnover margin with two fumbles and three interceptions. Florida State was able to convert two first half turnovers into 10 points, and then the costliest of turnovers occurred early in the third quarter when Greg Reid intercepted Max Hall and took it to the house for a 64-yard return. The Seminoles (2-1) host USF next week, who were dealt a costly blow this past week. Senior QB Matt Grothe is now out for the season after suffering a torn ACL in the Bulls 59-0 win over Wofford. With Grothe out, the Seminoles are already early 13 point favorites against USF this weekend before traveling to Chestnut Hill in two weeks.

Virginia Tech 16, Nebraska 15. The Hokies needed some late game heroics from the most unlikely of late-game heroes - Tyrod Taylor - to put away the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Lane Stadium on Saturday. Down 5 points with 1:44 to go, Taylor hooked up with WR Danny Coale on an 81 yard pass completion to the Nebraska 3-yard line. On third and goal from the 11, Taylor scrambled and found Dyrell Roberts in the end zone for the go ahead score. Other than tailback Ryan Williams (107 yards on 21 carries, 1 TD), the Hokies weren't able to get much going on offense until the game-winning drive. The Hokies defense, however, was again stout, keeping the Cornhuskers out of the end zone on the day. Nebraska's kicker Alex Henery booted in five field goals from 40, 27, 19, 38 and 38. Virginia Tech hosts Miami (Fla.) this week in a game that may very well determine who represents the Coastal Division in Tampa.

NC State 45, Gardner-Webb 14. NC State quarterback Russell Wilson threw for 4 touchdowns and a career-high 345 yards on 26 of 36 passing in a 45-14 rout of Gardner-Webb. Wilson also broke the NCAA D-I record for most consecutive passes without an interception (329). Running back Toney Baker finished the day with 71 yards on 10 carries for 2 touchdowns. The snacking on I-AA opponents is over now for NC State, with the Big East's Pittsburgh (3-0) traveling to Carter-Finley on Saturday.

Notre Dame 33, Michigan State 30. The Irish were able to hold off a late rally by the Spartans to defeat MSU in South Bend 33-30. A late interception from safety Kyle McCarthy at the 4 yard line secured the win for the Irish and likely gave Weis and the coaching staff a stay-of-execution. Jimmy Clausen again had a solid performance, throwing for 300 yards and 2 touchdowns on 22 of 31 passing. The concern for Notre Dame has to be on the defensive side of the ball, where they allowed the Spartan offense to rack up 459 yards of total offense, including 354 through the air. The Irish defense allowed 29 more yards of total offense than the week before against Michigan. The biggest blow to the Irish offense is the loss of wide receiver Michael Floyd. Floyd broke his left collar bone in the win Saturday and will likely miss the rest of the regular season. Jimmy Clausen will also undergo an MRI on his right foot after being injured on a sack in the second quarter. Clausen may not be 100% when the Irish play at Purdue on Saturday.

Central Michigan 48, Alcorn State 0. The Chippewas took care of business for a second straight week, shutting out I-AA Alcorn State 48-0 on Saturday. Junior RB Carl Volny rushed for 101 yards and two touchdowns as CMU cruised to a second-straight victory. QB Dan LeFevour threw for 92 yards and a touchdown on 10-of-12 passing and rushed for 2 more touchdowns. The defense held the Alcorn State offense to 36 yards rushing on the day. Central Michigan starts MAC play with a home game against Akron this Saturday.

Southern Miss 37, Virginia 34. The Cavaliers, on the heels of their first victory over an ~~FBS~~ college football team, let a 17-point second half lead slip away and fell in Hattiesburg 37-34 to fall to 0-3. Gone is the new-fangled Cavalier spread offense, as Groh and the Cavs have dumped the spread for a more traditional UVA offense. Results were fairly good in the first half. Virginia jumped out to a 13-0 first quarter lead, including a 69-yard strike from Sewell-to-Tim Smith. QB Sewell finished the game with 312 yards, 2 TDs and an INT on 24-of-46 passing. At least there are signs of life for the Cavaliers. UVA managed to score more points against Southern Miss (34) than they had managed against William & Mary and TCU combined (28). Through three weeks, however, the UVA offense ranks towards the very bottom of the FBS in rushing offense (107) and total offense (108).

North Carolina 31, East Carolina 17. The Heels returned the favor and avenged a 2007 loss to East Carolina by beating the Pirates in Chapel Hill 31-17. The Heels saw some much-needed receivers step up and saw improved play from their offensive line on Saturday. Freshman Erik Highsmith hauled in 6 passes for 113 yards and a touchdown, while Jheranie Boyd made an acrobatic catch on his way to a 59 yard touchdown in the first half. Yates threw for 223 yards and 2 touchdowns in the victory. Running back Ryan Houston added two touchdowns on the ground. The Heels offense set a season-high of 433 total yards (285 passing / 148 rushing) on the day.

Middle Tennessee State 32, Maryland 31. More indignity for the Maryland Terps. For the second straight year, Maryland has been beaten by the Sun Belt's Blue Raiders. How's that hot seat working out for you, Friedgen? The natives are certainly getting restless in College Park. No rest for the weary though, as Maryland hosts Rutgers and Clemson at home, followed by a road trip to Wake Forest. Maryland could very well be staring a 1-5 start in the face after 6 weeks.

Headlines: Kickoff Times for Weekend of October 3

2009-09-21T12:30:00.009-04:00

The good news (or bad news, depending on how you are feeling about BC football this morning)? The October 3 Boston College vs. Florida State game will be on television. Woo. On a major television station and not the internet to boot.

The bad news? This came could still be a noon kickoff.

The ACC announced today that ESPN/ABC has declared a six-day option for the two ACC games on October 3. The actual start time will be announced no later than Sunday, September 27.

The games to be held are:
Oklahoma at Miami, ABC, at either 3:30 or 8 pm
Florida State at Boston College, ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC at either 12 noon or 3:30 pm

Rest of the ACC schedule for the week of October 3 after the jump.

Saturday, Oct. 3
Virginia at North Carolina, RAYCOM, 12 noon
Clemson at Maryland, ESPNU, 12 noon
Virginia Tech at Duke, ESPN360.com, 12 noon
NC State at Wake Forest, ESPNU, 3:30 pm
Georgia Tech at Mississippi State, CSS, 7:30 pm

Preliminary Blogpoll: Week 3

2009-09-21T11:00:00.001-04:00

Have at it.


Rank	Team	Delta
1	Florida (3-0)
2	Texas (3-0)
3	Alabama (3-0)	1
4	LSU (3-0)	5
5	Penn State (3-0)	1
6	California (3-0)	1
7	Mississippi (2-0)	2
8	Virginia Tech (2-1)	2
9	Miami (Florida) (2-0)	3
10	Oklahoma (2-1)	3
11	Cincinnati (3-0)	4
12	Southern Cal (2-1)	9
13	TCU (2-0)	1
14	Ohio State (2-1)	4
15	Kansas (3-0)	4
16	Boise State (3-0)
17	Georgia Tech (2-1)	6
18	Oklahoma State (2-1)	6
19	Florida State (2-1)
20	Clemson (2-1)	5
21	Pittsburgh (3-0)	1
22	Houston (2-0)	1
23	Georgia (2-1)
24	Missouri (3-0)	3
25	North Carolina (3-0)

For your reference, here is last week's ballot.

Dropped Out: Brigham Young (#8), Nebraska (#17), Utah (#20).

Welcome! Florida State (#19), Georgia (#23), North Carolina (#25)

Waiting Room: Nebraska, Texas Tech, South Florida, Iowa, Michigan

By Conference: Atlantic Coast 6, Big XII 5, Southeastern 5, Big East 2, Big Ten 2, Pac-10 2, Conference USA 1, Mountain West 1, WAC 1

Teams We Disagree On The Most: Boise State (9.19), Pittsburgh (8.49), Clemson (5.66), Houston (5.66)

Teams We Agree On: Not much agreement this week. We both only had Kansas at #15.

Games Brian/Jeff Watched:

Georgia Tech at Miami (Fla.)
Boise State at Fresno State
Boston College at Clemson (in-person)
Texas Tech at Texas
Utah at Oregon (25%)
Michigan State at Notre Dame (25%)

Headlines: Offense Tamed by the Tigers

2009-09-21T08:30:00.000-04:00

9/19/2009 – Clemson 25, Boston College 7 – 2-1, 0-1 ACC

Brian: In perhaps the longest and ugliest performance of Boston College football I’ve watched since following the team, the Clemson Tigers scored a school-record 6 field goals en route to a 25-7 victory in Death Valley Saturday.

Let’s start off with the BC offense who managed 54 total yards of offense (with 56 of those yards coming in the lightning-delayed second half). When talking about the Eagles offense, the easy place to start is with quarterback and the play of Justin Tuggle and David Shinskie. Tuggle finished the day 4-of-20, 23 yards, 20 yards rushing, 1 TD and 3 INT. Shinskie was 1-1 for 2 yards and had a bad, bad looking fumbled snap that led to another 3 Tiger points.

Horrible offensive line play aside, did you like how the Eagles coaching staff used our two quarterbacks on Saturday?

Jeff: There's not much to like about anything relating to the QBs on Saturday but I absolutely think that Spaz did the correct thing by giving Shinskie two consecutive series and then going back to Tuggle for the rest of the game. I would like to see both QBs play again next week despite Shinskie's poor effort Saturday. In his defense, he had had watched his team from the sideline fail to gain a single first down aside from via penalties. Then, in his first game ever on the road or in front of a lrage crowd, the first play on both drives was a rushing attempt that lost yardage. So Shinskie started on 2nd down and more than ten yards twice. He deserves to get another shot against Wake Forest this coming Saturday. How would you have handled it if you were Spaziani?

Brian: Hindsight is certainly 20-20, but I would have left Tuggle in the game for at least all of the first half. While Tuggle played very poorly over the first few series, I think there is something to be said for leaving him in and getting him the extra reps and experience playing in a hostile environment. The next few weeks will make or break Boston College’s season, and leaving Tuggle in – at least in my opinion – may have helped the offense (and especially the offensive line) get into a better rhythm that can carry over into the next two weeks Atlantic Division matchups. I’ve never liked the Tom O’Brien philosophy of throwing in the backup QB for a couple drives in the second quarter as it seems to at least temporarily disrupt the offense’s rhythm.

That being said, after the first or second lightning delay, I have to question why we aren’t throwing in either Marscovetra or Boek under center. Nothing was working for the Eagles offense on Saturday. Why not throw either of them under center late in the third and fourth quarter and see what happens?

As we discussed on Friday, there may be more limited success with a two quarterback system over the last few years, but nothing I have seen from either Tuggle or Shinskie leads me to believe this is going to work at BC. Spaziani needs to establish a starter as soon as possible, and have that quarterback take 100% of the snaps on offense. That includes getting rid of the wildcat formation with Montel Harris in the shotgun. What is clear to me is that this team – and this offense – needs a leader. We need the team to rally around one person in the huddle and with how young these quarterbacks are, it simply will take time and snaps to establish a leader. Sticking with the QB rotation won’t do much to help establish a leader for the Eagles offense. My fear is that if the rotation continues, the offensive line and the rest of the offense will continue to look lost.

Brian: We turn to the defense and if there can be a bright spot in this game, you have to look at the play of the defense as that bright spot. The Eagles held the Tigers to 252 yards of total offense in a game where they were on the field for a majority of the game. The Eagles defense was not given an assist by the offense, which left the Eagles defending a short field for much of the game. Just look at the starting field position Clemson enjoyed on the day:

Own 35
Own 48
Own 8
Own 30
Boston College 42
Boston College 8
Own 45
Own 41
Own 47
Own 47
Own 15
Own 8
Own 43
Own 25
Boston College 17
Boston College 31

Given that the Eagles were able to limit the Tigers offense to zero touchdowns, when four Tiger drives started on BC’s side of the field (including drives starting from the BC 8 and BC 17), you have to consider this an outstanding performance from the Eagles. When Mike McLaughlin hits the field hopefully in a few weeks, he will help bolster a defense that is arguably still one of the best in the conference.

Are you encouraged by the young Eagles defense play so far? And can we expect our defense to keep us in games if the offense continues to lag behind the play of the offense?

Jeff: Absolutely. Clemson was both of our picks to win the division and the defense single-handedly kept us in the game for a while in their first test of the season and first game on the road. There is no reason to not be excited about the defense and if they can get us some points as they have had a knack of being able to do in the past, maybe we can still make a little noise in the ACC this year.

Brian: So where do we go from here? No time to lick our wounds as the Eagles face two pivotal ACC Atlantic Division opponents. How the Eagles rebound and play the next two weeks will go a long way towards determining whether the Eagles can make some noise in the Atlantic Division championship race. Lay out a game plan for Spaziani and the coaching staff for this upcoming week. How can the Eagles – particularly the offense – get back on track and rebound from this loss?

Jeff: The good news is that this week we play at home where, even though it was inferior opponents, our offense had two very good performances the first two weeks of the season. The other good news is that Wake's defense is not as good as Clemson's and they are also far less likely to return any punts for TDs since they do not have a CJ Spiller. I like the Eagle's chances of getting the running game going, putting the QBs in positions to succeed on Saturday and coming away with a win. After Saturday, we'll see if we have a team that can compete with FSU the following week. Given the many fluky factors going into Saturday's loss, I'm not going to write off the season yet by any means.

Brian: As I mentioned, this team needs a leader on the field. Now that we are already a fourth of the way through the season, Spaziani and the coaching staff need to establish a starting quarterback as soon as possible. Like, tomorrow.

Even though the Eagles might not see a defense as strong as Clemson’s the rest of the way out, the coaching staff will have to put a ton of work into preparing for Wake Forest. Jim Grobe's gimmicky offense has always given Spaziani-led defenses fits and we can’t expect as good of a performance from the Eagles defense as we saw last week. I don’t think it can be said enough how well I thought the defense played on Saturday. And while points off defense would certainly be nice, we can’t count on the defense to win us games outright. We’ll need to score points on offense, and that starts with putting in long hours this week with the offensive line. We’ll need the OLine to step up to help establish the run and buy Tuggle and Shinskie some time if we have any hope of coming away with the win on Saturday.

The other good news is that this is Wake Forest’s first road test of the season, having played their first three non-conference games at BB&T Stadium. Hopefully BC fans don’t give up on this team already and show up in full force at Alumni Stadium on Saturday. A rockin' Alumni Stadium can help bolster this young Eagles team’s confidence and potentially shake a Demon Deacon team making their first road trip of the season.

Jeff: I disagree that coach should name a starter tomorrow. Tuggle needs to win the job Saturday and not be handed it because Shinskie had fumbles. You don't become a leader on the field by being handed a position by default.

Brian: I agree you don’t become a leader on the field by being handed anything, but it is clear to me early that both Shinskie and Tuggle aren’t stepping up as natural leaders of this team. While we have Herzlich on the sidelines serving as the emotional leader of this team, no one really seems to be stepping up in this department on the field. Getting one of these guys extra reps and making it clear to everyone who the quarterback of this team is can only help. Tuggle has already been named the starter for each of the Eagles first three games, so I don’t think making the decision to stick with Tuggle this week is that far of a reach.

Jeff: I will agree the defense was awesome. Clemson ran 78 plays! Lastly, hopefully the young Wake players have some of the same shock that some Boston College players undoubtedly felt this past Saturday going on the road for the first time.

Can This 2 QB System Actually Work? and the Big Finish

2009-09-18T10:45:00.001-04:00

Brian: On Wednesday, the Globe’s Mark Blaudshun reported that while Tuggle will again be the starter for the third straight week, both BC quarterbacks – Tuggle and Shinskie – will play against the Tigers. Are Frank Spaziani and Gary Tranquill onto something here?

Now conventional college football wisdom espouses the meme that "if you have two quarterbacks, you have no quarterbacks." Not so fast my friends, says Chris of Smart Football?

"... But I think the winds are changing, and a two-quarterback system is quite possible. At its best you are likely to have the system Florida used to win the 2006 title: a starting quarterback in charge of most of the offense (Chris Leak), and a second guy with special abilities for whom a package is installed (then-freshman Tim Tebow). This example has now been made universal throughout football under the nauseatingly overused rubric, "the wildcat." (Had "wildcat" been around in 2006 think of all of the puns Dan Shanoff could have used to describe how Meyer used his young talent.) The reason that works though is because you choose a starting quarterback for one set of skills (passing, reading the defense, making checks, accuracy, some athleticism, etc) but another guy opens up a new dimension because of their running ability, and the spread with a mobile guy gives the offense certain numerical advantages it doesn’t get with an immobile quarterback."

Smart Football cites a few reasons why this crazy, cockamamie scheme might actually work. For one, the new no-huddle offenses where the offense checks down with the sideline limit the traditional QB role of "field general." Second, the rhythm or leadership argument is mitigated by having each quarterback specialize in their own "package" offense (think: spread or pro-style schemes vs. the "wildcat").

So Jeff, can this scheme continue to work? Or does this spell impending doom and gloom for the Eagles offense?

Jeff: I had been hoping, like you and most people, that a starter would've been announced by now. Unfortunately, that didn't happen but I think we'll still be OK. During the TOB days, he'd have a starter and then play his backup in the second quarter. The backup was typically the same type of QB as the starter only younger. Tuggle and Shinskie are not the same and will create some preperation problems for the defense.

Brian: Here is Spaziani's sound byte from this week's presser:

"We’ll do what we did before," said Spaziani. "Play two guys, but we’ll play the guy with the hot hand."

Do you think Spaziani's decision to play both Tuggle and Shinskie is simply to make Clemson prepare for both QBs? Or is he really going to stick with this 2 quarterback system throughout the season?

Jeff: It's too early to say the rest of the season. I think Spaz will settle on one as soon as one emerges which could happen tomorrow. I don't think the preperation issue for defenses is enough of a pro to continue this for the season.

Brian: Who emerges as the starter after the game on Saturday? Is this quarterback competition Tuggle's to lose?

Jeff: I told you after the Kent State game that I think Eagle in Atlanta was correct in guessing that Tuggle with start all 12 games this year.

Big Finish

Jeff: The big recruiting news of the week was that DePaul (NJ) senior Shakim Phillips - the #5 wide receiver prospect in the country – gave a verbal commitment to the Eagles on Tuesday. Good news?

Brian: Great pickup, sure. Funny how not two years ago everyone railed on the BC wide outs and now we have one of the best WR units in the conference.

Brian: Clemson's Landon Walker will start at right tackle Saturday in place of Corey Lambert. Lambert struggled to contain Georgia Tech DE DeAndre Morgan. Heard anything about this down there? Thoughts?

Jeff: A lot of what I hear is very Clemson biased so it's tough to sort through.

Jeff: Who needs this win more? Clemson – already sitting at 0-1 in ACC play – or BC with three straight Atlantic Division matchups coming up?

Brian: Good question. I would say Clemson needs this game more to prove that they are a contender in the Atlantic. Dropping to 0-2 in ACC play with a third loss likely when they travel to Miami would make for a tough, tough uphill climb to win the Division.

Brian: The Eagles will likely play in front of their largest crowd of the season at Memorial Stadium. Will the noise and atmosphere be a factor for the young Eagles signal-callers?

Jeff: Let's hope not but how can it not be especially for Shinskie who has been away from football so much.

Jeff: Linebacker Mike McLaughlin will dress for the Clemson game but whether he gets his uniform dirty is up to him. Do you expect him to hit the field tomorrow?

Brian: We certainly could use McLaughlin on the field but I want him to take as much time as he needs to fully recover. My guess is we won't see him on the field.

Brian: More interweb grumblings about a West Virginia-for-BC-to-the-ACC move. What can finally happen to shut these clowns up for the last time?

Jeff: Nothing. Just stop reading their articles.

Jeff: The weather report calls for a high of 79 degrees and 50% chance of thunderstorms. Advantage ______?

Brian: Yuck. Some southern hospitality Jeff! Not sure if this gives either team a distinct advantage but if I had to take a guess, I'd say slight advantage Eagles. Weather takes some of the 80,000+ fans out of this game?

Brian: Last one, HD predicts that Clemson will win this game 21-17. You really can’t find a college football pundit that has the Eagles winning this game. I know you live in a house divided, but man up and make a prediction. Who wins? What’s the final score?

Jeff: I've got Boston College winning 23-15. Lots of field goals.

Pick 5

Brian: A pair of 2-3 weeks for both of us last week leaves me with honors up 4 games on the season. I like Cincinnati in a virtual pick 'em and four favorites this week including a homer pick ... that doesn’t involve BC.

Cincinnati (+1) at Oregon State
Northwestern (-3) at Syracuse
Boise State (-7.5) at Fresno State
Tennessee at Florida (-29.5)
Arizona at Iowa (-5.5)

Jeff: I don't like your picks this week. I like my chances to make up some ground.

Boston College (+7) at Clemson
East Carolina at North Carolina (-7)
Michigan State (+9.5) at Notre Dame
West Virginia at Auburn (-7)
Navy (+8) at Pittsburgh

On the road to Clemson. Follow our weekend adventures on Twitter @bcinterruption. Leave your score prediction in the comments section below. Go Eagles! Beat Clemson.

Five Good Minutes: Block-C

2009-09-17T22:25:00.008-04:00

To preview this weekend's Clemson game, we spent five good minutes with the Clemson blog, Block-C. If you haven't checked these guys out yet, Block-C is a must read for your fix on all things Clemson Tigers.

In exchange, we answered some questions for Willy Mac and Block-C. Here are our answers to Block-C's questions.

BCI: For Clemson, it was the tale of two halves against Georgia Tech last Thursday night. Before you knew it, the Tigers were getting de-pantsed in front of a national TV audience and were down 24-0. The Tigers, however, were able to score 27 unanswered points and actually take the lead in the fourth quarter before Georgia Tech came back to win the game. What adjustments did Clemson make in the second half that helped spark the comeback?

Block-C: They stopped shitting the bed and started playing football. That's the most honest assessment I can give you. The first half, they came out like they had been paid to take a fall. We started playing out assignments and stopped over pursuing and playing bad spots. We calmed down and just played.

BCI: Last year, Clemson’s offensive line was absolutely annihilated by the Alabama defensive line in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Classic. Tell us about your O-line this year. What improvements and/or personnel changes have been made to bolster the Tigers O Line?

Block-C: After that game last year, I'd say our line improved a little bit each game. Then over the summer, we improved just a little bit more. So after adding all those games up (don't forget the bowl game), I'd say that puts us at being just a little bit better than completely shitty at offensive line. We're a strong, shitty offensive line. Oh yeah, and we average the heaviest line in the ACC at a few ticks over 315 pounds on average.

BCI: Have you been impressed with what you’ve seen so far from Kyle Parker? What can the Eagles expect out of him on Saturday?

Block-C: I really have been impressed. He has a good zip on the ball and is just a straight up athlete. He reacts like a good up and coming quarterback should. He can scramble if necessary. They can expect to see a pretty... fuck it, just throw this one out. I mean, you saw the Georgia Tech game. You saw what he can do given a proper amount of time.

BCI: Who are your playmakers on defense? Special teams?

Block-C: Our play makers are just about everyone on that side of the ball. The one great thing I like about Kevin Steele and the defense he's set up is that they have some great play makers that make an even better unit.

If you had to point to one player, go no further than DeAndrea McDaniel, of the Megwa broken femur fame. He is that one guy one the team that when the coach says to "tackle beyond the ball carrier" that he actually goes and does it. It's really unfair how hard he hits.

If you had to point to a specific unit right now, I'd say it's the defensive line. The put the appropriate pressure one the offense and open up the right alleys for the linebackers to do their jobs. They also close the right gaps to stop the run.

BCI: Until last season, the Eagles have had the Tigers number in ACC play. We hear a lot of times other ACC program fan bases calling for Boston College to go back to the Big East or to jettison both Miami (Fla.) and BC and go back to a nice little 10-team league. We think these gripes are unfounded and these people are just a bunch of haters. Curious as to how you feel about ACC expansion and in particular the addition of Boston College, Virginia Tech and Miami (Fla.)

Block-C: I've never heard of it. But I am starting to look at you guys as if you're our black mark of death right now. Ever since you guys joined, we were awesome for like two years, then we've been going beyond the low water mark for some time now.

BCI: Jeff and I haven't missed the Boston College at Clemson game since the Eagles joined the conference in 2005. We absolutely love making the trip down to South Carolina as you guys know how to throw a pretty darn good tailgate. While Clemson may be the toast of the ACC when it comes to their tailgating scene, have you come across another school that one-ups you in this department?

Block-C: Not in the ACC ... We do tailgaiting right. No, we're not full of it. We just know we do this thing properly. Also, a real team doesn't limit their tailgating to x amount of hours before and after the game. Jesus, that was conceited.

BCI: Last one, make a prediction for this game. Who wins? What's the final score?

Block-C: We do by 4-7 in the 20's.

BCI: Thanks for joining us guys.

For more information on the Tigers, be sure to check out Block-C.

Blogpoll Roundtable 2, or when a Yankee comes in and runs the ACC

2009-09-17T10:00:00.001-04:00

College Game Balls serves double duty this week, hosting both this past week's ACC Roundtable and the big boys roundtable. His questions are below followed by our answers.

1. Which freshman impressed you more last weekend: the California dream Matt Barkley who quarterbacked USC over tOSU or white lightening Tate Forcier who slashed through Notre Dame? Which one would you like to have on your team? Feel free to write in another worthy candidate.

I'm going to go with Tate Forcier here. While Barkley did have an impressive fourth quarter drive to win the game in the 'Shoe, Tate Forcier had a better day overall (23 of 33, 240 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT). Forcier is also the more mobile QB as he rushed for 70 yards Saturday in the win vs. Notre Dame. Forcier doesn't seem to have nearly as many weapons as Barkley does - cough, cough Joe McKnight - so the edge goes to Forcier again here. Finally, Barkley had nearly half of the fourth quarter to engineer his game-winning drive. A drive he threw the ball all of 4 times. All Forcier had to do was set up a game-tying field goal but decided to go for the jugular and the touchdown. One game a career does not make, and it is still way too soon to tell whether either of these freshmen are for real. But at this point I'll take Forcier over Barkley for the Eagles.

2. Let’s play a game of pretend the unthinkable happened. Commissioner __________ of your conference has been forced to resign after he was caught canoodling with some harlots. Great news, you’ve been chosen to succeed him. To make your mark you decide to make a big change. What is it going to be?

Swofford. Tsk, tsk.

This is an easy one. First, we are realigning the ACC's divisions so that they make, you know, sense to the rest of college football. The ACC remains the only college football conference that has divisions that don't break down along geographic lines (and as a result, make absolutely no sense to outsiders). Effective immediately, the ACC will be realigned into North and South divisions. The ACC North will be the old ACC Atlantic, sending Florida State and Clemson packing and replacing them with Virginia and Virginia Tech. Yes, I realize that this precludes a Florida State vs. Miami (Fla.) ACC Championship Game, but how many times has that mythical game happened, Hurricane fans? Exactly. Deal with it.

Second, we are doing away with these manufactured inter-conference rivalry games. We will be adopting the Big XII schedule format where teams play 3 teams from the other division on a home-and-home format, then play the other 3 schools over the next 2 year period. When the division crown is an 8 game race, is it really fair that Clemson-Georgia Tech and BC-Virginia Tech play annually while the Deacons get an easy win again Duke?

Third, the ACC Championship Game is moving to Charlotte. Permanently. This championship game played in Florida experiment was cute and all, but enough is enough. But what about Charlotte weather in December? you might say. The Big XII hosts championship games in cold-weather cities. They haven't seemed to have many issues there. And Charlotte is a major East coast hub and central to a majority of ACC programs.

Finally, we will threaten to pull out of the ACC-ESPN TV deal for basketball (No Duke-Carolina for you!) to negotiate a television deal where every ACC football game is available on television. No more of this ESPN360.com junk. Football is meant to be watched on a high-def TV, not my 19" Thinkpad laptop screen.

3. This week the quality of games is kicked up a gear. Other than your own, which game are you most looking forward to?

We are really looking forward to Georgia Tech at Miami (Fla.) tonight. The winner will have the inside track at the Coastal Division crown. In fact, over the next three or four weeks, it seems like the Coastal Division champ will emerge with Georgia Tech, Miami (Fla.), Virginia Tech and North Carolina all squaring off in early season action. Also looking forward to Nebraska at Virginia Tech this week as Tech looks to avoid starting the season 1-2 and defending what small shreds of credibility this conference has left in football.

Of course, we aren't looking forward to these games half as much as this Saturday's BC vs. Clemson game.

4. What mascot and/or tradition would you thieve from another school if it was socially acceptable.

Since I have chosen to matriculate at two schools with arguably the most generic school mascots of all time - Eagles and Wildcats - we need to spice things up a little bit around here. So we'll take on the mascot of the now-defunct Bradford College of nearby Haverhill, MA. The BC Fighting Squirrels, anyone?

He's even got a black eye. That's because he's one badass squirrel.

Since this rebranding attempt will never work, for the tradition, we're selecting the Auburn War Eagle. Having seen this thing fly around Jordan-Hare Stadium before the game, it is quite the spectacle. When the war eagle crashes down into the middle of the field, the home Auburn crowd gets totally amped. This is the perfect addition to BC Eagles football. For one thing, it will actually get butts in seats before kickoff as fans will want to get there to watch the eagle flying high above Alumni Stadium. Second, unlike Auburn ... our school mascot is actually an eagle. This makes a whole lot more sense as a tradition on the Heights than it does on the Plains. Just sayin'.

ACC Power Rankings: Week 2

2009-09-17T08:00:00.000-04:00

Power Ranking Thursday!

Week 1

Virginia Tech (1-1, 0-0 ACC)
Georgia Tech (2-0, 1-0)
Miami (Fla.) (1-0, 1-0)
Clemson (1-1, 0-1)
North Carolina (2-0, 0-0)
Boston College (2-0, 0-0)
Florida State (1-1, 0-1)
Wake Forest (1-1, 0-0)
NC State (1-1, 0-0)
Duke (1-1, 0-0)
Maryland (1-1, 0-0)
Virginia (0-2, 0-0)

Notes

No change in the top 4 this week.
Not particularly amused with Florida State's escape at home against Jacksonville State. While a W is a W, both North Carolina and Boston College beat better opponents in week 2 (and even UNC looked better doing it). UNC and BC are each up 1 spot this week while FSU falls to #7. We arguably also could have slipped Wake past FSU as well this week.
Duke's win over Army > Maryland's OT win vs. James Madison, so Maryland and Duke swap spots this week at #10 and #11.

This Week

Conference: Georgia Tech at Miami (Fla.) (tonight, ESPN) ... Boston College at Clemson

Non-Conference: Duke at Kansas ... East Carolina at North Carolina ... Nebraska at Virginia Tech ... Virginia at Southern Miss ... Middle Tennessee State at Maryland ... Gardner-Webb at North Carolina State ... Elon at Wake Forest ... Florida State at BYU

Gameday Crew Breaks Down Tigers-Eagles

2009-09-16T12:30:00.002-04:00

Two-thirds of the ESPN Gameday crew (Fowler and Herbstreit) break down the Boston College-Clemson game this Saturday.

Cliff notes:

"When BC gets conference games at home, Frank Spaziani does a good job with his staff, with his players making them believe they can win." Too bad this game is on the road, Kirk.
Advantage Clemson athletically.
Spaz's defenses are good at containing big plays.
Jacoby Ford = "wicked" fast.
BC's defense will keep them in the game, but too many questions at quarterback.

Discuss.

Oddsmakers: Clemson Game

2009-09-16T12:01:00.000-04:00

It's Clemson week! What better way to start talking Eagles vs. Tigers than with a game of oddsmakers.

Chances a BC running back goes over 100 yards rushing?

Jeff: Well why don't we just say chances that Montel Harris runs for over 100 yards since Haden doesn't even have 100 yards on the season yet? I'm going to say this is unlikely. I expect Clemson to play run first all game and put the game in the hands of whichever one of our rookie quarterbacks is under center in front of the large and loud Clemson crowd. As much as I like our backs, they were not impressive enough against Kent State for me to think that anyone will rush for over 100 yards against an ACC opponent until our passing game proves it needs to be given respect. 20%.

Brian: I am going to disagree with you here. Clemson had to be thinking run first last Thursday night too against Georgia Tech, and they let the Yellow Jackets rush for over 300 yards and over 100 yards through the air. The Jackets actually nearly had two backs go over the century mark. Now I realize that the Eagles don't run a triple option, run-heavy offense, but I think the Eagles have enough skill at running back (Ninja, Haden, Deuce) and quarterback (Tuggle) that this mark can be eclipsed in this game. The Eagles offensive line play should also be strengthened by the return of Nate Richman who will be replacing Emmett Cleary at left tackle. In reality, it might only take one back to bust through the line and get a long gain for an Eagles back to go over 100 yards on the day. I will go fairly high on this one and say 45%.

Chances BC keeps Jacoby Ford out of the end zone?

Brian: I'm going to go fairly low on this one. I think the Eagles will first and foremost scheme defensively to stop C.J. Spiller. As Eagles fans are painfully aware, Spiller basically lit up the Eagles defense and special teams last season en route to 242 all-purpose yards in the Tigers first win over BC in ACC play. With all eyes on Spiller, it wouldn't surprise me if Ford slips into the end zone either on offense or special teams. Through two games (albeit against inferior opponents), the pass defense and special teams have been better than expected for the Eagles so far and give me reason to go higher on this one. 25%.

Jeff: Jacoby Ford, more than C.J. Spiller in my opinion, is an over-hyped speedster. Certainly he deserves to be labeled ridiculously fast - because he is - but he is not a great wide receiver. Therefore his best chance of scoring a touchdown is really on special teams when he goes against a quality defense like Boston College's defense. I'll go as high as 82%.

Chances BC quarterbacks combine for 2 or more TD passes?

Jeff: 37%. Three (or more) touchdowns for the offense would be great Saturday. Odds are good that if we get to that mark, at least two of those touchdowns will be on the ground.

Brian: Considering the fact that BC has yet to throw 2 passing touchdowns in a game vs. Clemson since joining the ACC, the chances here aren't very likely. Even QB Matt Ryan couldn't seem to accomplish this feat. In 2006, a young Matt Ryan didn't throw for more than one touchdown against the Clemson defense in a 34-33 double OT victory. In 2007, Ryan again only threw one touchdown (it may have only been one TD, but it was a huge one!) in the Eagles 20-17 victory. You have to all the way back to 1983 to find a time when the Eagles QBs were able to throw for more than one touchdown against the Tigers. In that game, Doug Flutie was 20-36 for 223 yards and two touchdowns in a 31-16 come-from-behind Eagles victory. Given that both Shinskie and Tuggle are still very green under center, the chances of this happening are indeed very low. I'll agree with you in that a majority of the Eagles touchdowns on Saturday will come on the ground and now through the air. I'll go as low as 10%.

Chances Steve Aponavicius is still perfect on the year after the Clemson game?

Brian: In the span of two games against Clemson, Steve Aponavicius has gone from hero to goat in a little under a year. In 2007, Aponavicius went 2-for-2 on field goal tries of 30 and 40 yards in an Eagles 20-17 victory. Last year, however, Aponavicius missed both field goal attempts from 21 and 37 in last year's 27-21 loss to the Tigers. While Aponavicius has converted all three field goal attempts on the season - FGs of 24, 24 and 33 - the Eagles will have to rely on Aponavicius's leg to keep the Eagles in this game. Clemson's defense will probably be one of the best defenses we will face all season and field position will be at a premium on Saturday. As a result, I really hope the coaching staff doesn't keep Aponavicius off the field if the Eagles are in field goal range. Because I expect to see a lot of Aponavicius on Saturday, I will go fairly low on this one. 50%.

Jeff: I think the BC coaching staff has learned when and when not to use Aponavicius over the last few years while he has also developed a slightly stronger and more accurate leg. I like his chances to stay perfect in this game because the only time Spaziani is going to send him our for a field goal longer than 40 yards is in a situation at the end of either half or if we face fourth and really long. Last week, the announcers overpraised Aponavicius. But at the same time, he has looked like he might be pretty reliable for us this year from the correct distances. 85%.

Last one, chances BC wins this Saturday in Death Valley?

Jeff: I predicted a win for the Eagles before the season began and the Eagles have looked better than expected thus far. Clemson meanwhile played one inspired quarter of football against Georgia Tech where they could have hung with and beaten any team in the nation. Everyone is now saying that if Clemson plays the way they did in the second half of the Georgia Tech game, Boston College has no chance. The funny thing is though that there is no chance that Clemson or any team plays with that much heart and energy for a full 60 minutes. For a while most players on the team refused to be blocked by Georgia Tech players. The Eagles are more likely to match that intensity than Georgia Tech was with a large lead entering the second half on Thursday night. I'm sticking with my original prediction that BC will win, but I can't give them any better than 60%.

Brian: 60%?! You are giving the Eagles running backs only a 20% chance of going over 100 yards and Eagles QBs only a 37% chance of throwing for 2 or more touchdowns. Where are all these Eagle points going to come from? Your math doesn't seem to add up, sir. Don't get me wrong. I have no doubt that the Eagles can hang with the Tigers. However, with Clemson having plenty of offensive weapons, an offensive line that has improved from last year, and a strong defense ... not to mention the game being in one of the ACC's most hostile environments, I can't go any higher than 39% in this one. Overall, I like what I've seen from the Eagles and wouldn't be surprised if they pull off the upset. Here's to hoping the Eagles prove me wrong on Saturday.

A Look At How Our Opponents Fared: Week 2

2009-09-15T19:00:00.000-04:00

On the surface, it's easy to say the ACC rebounded from the week 1 debacle by notching a 8-1 record in week 2. Upon closer inspection, however, not every one of our 2009 opponents' stock rose in week 2. Here’s a look at the how our 2009 opponents fared in week 2.

Stock Rising

Central Michigan 29, Michigan State 27. With this win, hopefully the Chippewas got their one BCS team upset of the year out of their system. Michigan State played just enough undisciplined football to give Dan LeFevour and the Chippewas enough of a window of opportunity to win this game. Chippewa kicker Andrew Aguila had the game of his life. After Central Michigan scored what would have been the game-tying touchdown with 32 seconds left, the Chippewas went for the 2 point conversion and the win. The LeFevour pass into the end zone was caught but was ruled out of bounds. On the ensuing kickoff, Aguila kicked a beautiful onside kick that was recovered by the Chippewas. LeFevour then drove CMU 27 yards on three passes to set up the game-winning field goal. The 47-yard attempt was pushed, but Michigan State gave Central Michigan a second chance with a costly, costly offside penalty. Aguila took the second chance from five yards closer and booted it through for the game-winner in East Lansing. LeFevour finished the game passing for 328 yards, 3 touchdowns and one interception on 33 of 46 passing. LeFevour passes Byron Leftwich for most yards of total offense in MAC history. Central Michigan has one more tune-up game next week before starting MAC play.

Virginia Tech 52, Marshall 10. The Hokies rebound from their week 1 loss to Alabama by crushing the Herd 52-10 in front of a sold-out Lane Stadium crowd. The Hokies offense - non-existent in week 1 - exploded for 605 yards of total offense, including two Hokie running backs rushing for over 160 yards each for the first time in school history. Freshman tailback Ryan Williams finished with 164 yards on 16 carries and chipped in 3 touchdowns, while fellow freshman David Wilson rushed for 165 yards on 12 carries and a TD. Tyrod Taylor started slow, but finished the game with 161 yards passing, 2 touchdowns and an interception. Virginia Tech could have definitely used the breather as they have a tough two game stretch ahead as they host #19 Nebraska this week and #20 Miami (Fla.) the following week.

Wake Forest 24, Stanford 17. The Deacons needed yet another fourth quarter comeback from quarterback Riley Skinner to put away the improved Stanford Cardinal 24-17 on Saturday. The Demon Deacons went into the fourth quarter trailing 17-10, and Skinner engineered two touchdown drives including a 91-yard fourth quarter drive. That drive ended with Skinner diving into the endzone with 2 seconds remaining to give the Deacons their first win on the season. Wake Forest scored all three of their touchdowns in the second half, and the Deacs have scored 35 of their 45 points this season in the second half. Skinner finished the day 18-of-26, 187 yards, and 1 touchdown passing and 1 rushing. The Deacons have what should be a warm-up game this Saturday against Elon before traveling to Chestnut Hill to face the Eagles.

Georgia Tech 30, Clemson 27. Yes, the Tigers lost this one but we'll throw this game into the "stock rising" category as Clemson was one disastrous quarter away from knocking off a ranked opponent on the road. The Tigers were embarrassed early and quickly found themselves in a 24-0 hole on three huge plays - an 82-yard option run, an 85-yard punt return and fake field goal touchdown pass. Clemson came out hungry in the second half, however, and rallied to score 27 unanswered points to take a 3 point lead in the fourth quarter. Redshirt freshman Kyle Parker threw for 261 yards, 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions in the losing effort. Offensive playmakers C.J. Spiller (20 rushes, 87 yards) and Jacoby Ford (5 catches, 109 yards, TD) also dazzled for the Tigers. Ford caught a 77 yard TD pass from Parker, the longest catch of his career. Despite the loss, Dabo Swinney is convinced this team is improving. “We are a better team today than were last week.”

NC State 65, Murray State 7. The Wolfpack found some offense against an outmatched Murray State Racers squad, jumping out to a 21-0 first quarter lead en route to a 65-7 beatdown. Russell Wilson threw for 228 yards and 4 touchdowns, and running back Toney Baker accounted for 3 touchdowns (2 rushing, 1 receiving) and 74 yards on the ground. It was the most points ever scored by a Tom O'Brien-coached team, including his 10 years at Boston College. NC State will sleepwalk through one more week as they play Gardner-Webb at home before facing Pittsburgh (again, at home) to round out the non-conference schedule.

Stock Falling

Michigan 38, Notre Dame 34. The Irish had two things going against them in week 2. 1) I picked them in our Pick 5 challenge (I do what I can) and for the double whammy, 2) the Notre Dame blog Subway Domer put the Coulter-Kos blogpoll curse on the Irish for ranking the Irish higher than the poll at large in week 1. Note to BC bloggers: the Coulter-Kos is now 2-for-2 in claiming its victims.

Don't let this final score fool you though. While the Irish's BCS National Championship game hopes may have evaporated last week in Ann Arbor (due to some poor offensive playcalls by Weis?), this is still a very strong, very talented Irish team. Jimmy Clausen threw for 336 yards and 3 touchdowns on 25 of 42 passing. His final stat line was certainly helped by two very talented receivers in Michael Floyd (131 yards, 1 TD) and Golden Tate (115 yards, 2 TDs).

North Carolina 12, Connecticut 10. In what has to be the strangest final score of the early college football season, North Carolina knocked off UConn at Rentschler Field 12-10 on Saturday. The Tar Heels scored 12 unanswered second half points, including a bizarre safety with 1:32 to go when Connecticut LT Dan Ryan held UNC DE Robert Quinn in the end zone. If you can take anything away from this game, it's that the Tar Heels defense should be one of the better defenses in the conference this season. The offense, however, left something to be desired for much of Saturday's game. The running game was non-existent (35 yards on 38 rushes), and T.J. Yates threw 2 interceptions and was sacked 6 times in the first half. Yates finished with over 200 yards passing, but that number included two fourth quarter drives of approximately 75 yards. A concern for the Heels is a very thin offensive line, where two starters are currently out.

TCU 30, Virginia 14. The "Fire Al Groh" chants continue in Charlottesville. TCU started their season winning the first game of their two game set against ACC opponents, defeating UVA 30-14 on Saturday. There will certainly be growing pains when you change a program's offensive scheme, but the Cavaliers offense has seemed to find even more ways to suck. Sewell didn't manage a completion of over 8 yards until the closing minutes of the fourth quarter. The Cavaliers offense managed only 177 yards and 7 ... 7 first downs all game. If there is any good news to come out of 'Hooville, it's that Groh and UVA have finally decided on a starting quarterback.

Florida State 19, Jacksonville State 9. The Seminoles weren't motivated to play in this game, and needed two touchdowns in the last 35 seconds to avoid arguably the worst loss in school history. Andrew Carter writes "The Seminoles appeared lost offensively, inept on special teams and were only in the game because their defense bent, but did not completely break." The lack of motivation, in my opinion, is the most egregious of Seminole offenses and reflects poorly on the coaching staff. The shame in it all is that this is a talented Seminoles team that could very easily start the season 1-3 if they don't get motivated, and motivated in a hurry.

Maryland 38, James Madison 35 (OT). Not going to waste many words on this one. Maryland needed overtime to take out I-AA James Madison. The Terps avoided becoming the third ACC team to lose to a CAA team from the Football Bowl Subdivision. To be fair, James Madison is more Richmond/William & Mary than they are Northeastern, but this Terps win was ugly. Maryland blew a 15 point second half lead and sealed the victory in overtime with a 26-yard field goal from true freshman Nick Ferrara. MTSU and Rutgers come to College Park over the next two weeks before Maryland starts ACC play at Clemson on October 3.

Headlines: New England College Football's Second Son Doesn't Have a Rival

2009-09-15T13:00:00.001-04:00

Brian: NESN’s Rob Lunn wrote a column on Saturday lamenting the lack of a rival for UConn football. But who does he think UConn's rival should be?

"UConn's rival
The obvious answer is Boston College, but the Eagles jumped to the ACC and now find themselves playing 95 percent of their schedule south of the Mason-Dixon Line. (Recruits take notice, if you wanna play big-time college football in New England, stick to UConn.) So where does that leave us? With few options, besides a strongly worded letter to BC."

As a UConn grad and former member of the Huskies football team, Lunn is certainly not an unbiased columnist. Who are we kidding? We aren't either.

First beef with this: Boston College actually plays two-thirds of their schedule north of the Mason-Dixon line (with seven home games and future non-conference road games against Notre Dame, Syracuse, Northwestern, to name a few). Do recruits really take notice? Would New England college football recruits really choose to play at UConn over Boston College? I know the Atlantic Coast Conference's football reputation has been through the ringer the past few years, but ACC football and Big East football shouldn’t even be in the same conversation right now. Your thoughts?

Jeff: Recruits take notice of a lot of things including opportunities to play in front of large national television audiences. I'm going to guess that last year's Music City Bowl, the ACC Championship Game vs. Virginia Tech and the night game at Florida State all drew higher numbers than UConn biggest game by a large margin. UConn football can not touch Boston College right now and this is just a biased, jealous columnist writing.

Also note that UConn goes on its fair share of road trips for football including South Florida, Cincinnati, and Louisville in conference. When the Big East replaced Boston College, Virginia Tech and Miami (Fla.) they broadened their own geographical umbrella by adding those schools.

Brian: I don’t understand the sour grapes here. Does UConn even need a rival? Note the recent rises of football programs like Boise State and South Florida. As they have moved up the I-A ladder, they have done so largely without a traditional college football rival. Maybe Boise State-Fresno State and South Florida-Central Florida could be considered rivals, but both of those rivalries have the feel of a big brother-little brother relationship rather than a true rivalry. In your opinion, who should UConn’s rivalry truly be?

Jeff: Ohio State has Michigan. Florida State has Miami (Fla.). USC has UCLA. But not everyone college football program has a major rival, and that list of programs without a major rival includes Boston College.

Boise State doesn't have a rival? I would guess that if you asked people at the University of Idaho, they would tell you differently. Mark Schlereth - former Idaho Vandals and NFL player turned ESPN football analyst - was just saying the other day how much he hated Boise State. He said the Boise State-Idaho rivalry was stronger than any he experienced in the NFL.

To get back to your question though, just like I've been saying as long as we've been blogging, Boston College should play UConn annually at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro. BC should still be UConn's rival.

Brian: You are joking, right? Boise State and Idaho as rivals? While the all-time series between the two school has been close – 20-17-1 in favor of Boise State – I can’t consider a series a rivalry when one team has beaten the other 10 times in a row going back to 1999.

Getting back to the question about UConn’s natural rival, it simply cannot and will not be Boston College (despite whiny columns like this one). Lunn talks about a rivalry having either proximity or history. In my opinion, though, you need a little of A and a little of B. While BC and UConn are close geographically, they have absolutely no history whatsoever. The all-time series is 10-0-2 in favor of Boston College. I’ll go ahead and use Lunn's argument against a UMass-UConn rivalry for the argument against a BC-UConn rivalry.

"UConn is making it ways up the D-I ranks, and if Michigan-Appalachian State has taught us anything, losing a game to a Football Championship Subdivision (formerly known as Division I-AA) powerhouse makes this potential series lose-lose."

This is the same feeling I have about playing Connecticut. It is simply a lose-lose proposition for Boston College. Why would we want to strengthen a fledgling I-A football program in our own backyard? There is simply too much bad blood between the two programs from the Eagles' move from the Big East to the ACC.

The natural rival of UConn is Rutgers. The two programs are very similar, and enjoy close geographic proximity now in the expanded geographic footprint of the Big East. They are both big state schools that have been historically insignificant in big time college football. I wish the Huskies would simply quit whining, look down I-95 and embrace their true college football rival: Rutgers.

Jeff: A rivalry is something that cannot be forced and is determined by the players and fans associated with both programs. I really don't care who the rivals of Boise State or UConn truly are. I'm just relaying what I heard and pointing out that you are wrong. By your logic, Boston College and Notre Dame are no longer rivals either. The all-time series between the Eagles and Irish is close but recently has been one-sided.

Brian: I wouldn't necessarily disagree with your last statement either. That is probably why Notre Dame is willing to end the Boston College series after 2010. Those associated with the Irish program don't like to throw around the 'R' word when talking about BC.

BCDraft's Interview with Steve Conroy

2009-09-15T08:24:00.005-04:00

BCDraft interviews the Boston Herald's Steve Conroy today. Be sure to check out their interview. Conroy and the Draft guys talk Eagles, the Boston media, quarterbacks, the GDF guide to football scheduling and revised expectations for the 2009 season. Even though SC's favorite BC blog isn't BC Interruption, we'll set that fact aside and still tell you to go have a read.

So When Did the ACC Atlantic Become the Big XII North?

2009-09-15T08:05:00.002-04:00

Jeff: With the announcement yesterday that the Wake Forest game will not be picked up by Raycom or an ESPN network, we're forced to wonder: will any BC games get a big spotlight like an ABC 3:30 or ESPN night game. Unfortunately, the answer is probably not, at least not the home games.

Now if North Carolina or NC State are ranked when the Eagles play them and BC has 1 or fewer losses, that may all change (but that is obviously unlikely). But BC may win the Atlantic Division this year ... how can that be?

Well, I've realized that the ACC Atlantic Division more resembles the Big XII North of the past few years. While Big XII football is very good, all the powerhouses are in the South Division and whoever wins the North is sure to annually be a big underdog in the Big XII Championship Game. Nationally, their has been little-to-no interest in games involving two Big XII North opponents the last few years with the exception of Kansas-Missouri two years ago. Sadly, this will be the same for the ACC Atlantic this year. Throughout the season, some Atlantic Division programs may be ranked (be it Boston College, Florida State, Clemson or NC State), but nationally they will not get any interest because of the offseason and their showing in the first couple weeks of this season. Meanwhile, whichever ACC Coastal team emerges (be it North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech or Miami (Fla.)) will be heavily favored in the ACC Championship Game.

How many other times after the second week of the season have we been able to say that the Boston College-Florida State game has no chance of hosting ESPN's College Game Day? Not to mention the chances of getting any prime time games - especially at home - are slim without being thrown the "ESPNU 7pm game" bone. Looking back at my lack of interest in the Big XII North the past few seasons, I don't blame ESPN one bit.

Brian: It is still way too early to call the ACC Atlantic the Big XII North. To be fair, the ACC Atlantic will never be the Big XII North so long as Florida State and NC State are members of the Atlantic Division. The fact that Boston College vs. Wake Forest isn't on national television can be attributed to a few key facts about the September 26 game lineup.

For one, the two big heavyweight ACC matchups of the week happens to be the Coastal Division matchups between Miami (Fla.)-Virginia Tech (picked up by ESPN/ABC) and North Carolina-Georgia Tech (picked up by Raycom). After those two games are scooped up by TV, two of the biggest ACC schools left on the board – Florida State and NC State – happen to play non-conference games both against Big East opponents. As these schools will be two of the better remaining television draws, they get placed on ESPNU. That leaves Rutgers at Maryland, Wake Forest at Boston College, and TCU at Clemson for ESPN360.com.

Does it suck that the one Atlantic Division matchup of the weekend is being overshadowed by two Coastal Division matchups? Sure, but those four Coastal programs may all be ranked Top 25 nationally next week. Do TCU and Clemson have a gripe for not being placed on national TV? Definitely. At the end of the day, though, it's all about ranked opponents, compelling matchups and TV ratings. By the un-luck of the draw this week, BC's game against Wake Forest will be relegated to the internet.

Simply, it all depends on the ACC college football lineup from week to week. There is still a good chance that Florida State vs. BC will be the late afternoon game or a night game on the weekend of October 3. The only better matchup that weekend is Oklahoma at Miami (Fla.) which will likely be picked up by ESPN/ABC in primetime.

Jeff: Not if Florida State loses to BYU as you predict and everyone expects.

Brian: Maybe so. But if BC doesn't benefit from any primetime or nationally televised ACC games this season, there will definitely be Atlantic Division matchups that get the national TV nod over Coastal matchups. It just so happens that the best Coastal Division matchups this season all happen in the first six weeks of the year, while many of the heavyweight Atlantic matchups not involving the Eagles (Florida State-Clemson, Florida State-NC State, Clemson-NC State) fall later in the year.

And lest I forget the number one reason why the Atlantic Division will remain relevant when it comes to TV rights and scheduling: Duke and Virginia are still on the other side. The fact that the four best Coastal teams face off against one another next weekend happened to be a perfect storm of bad luck for BC, Wake Forest, TCU and Clemson.

While I don't agree that the Atlantic has become the Big XII North, there is still the possibility that the Coastal closely resembles last year's Big XII South ... at least when it comes to the final division standings.

Preliminary Blogpoll: Week 2

2009-09-14T22:00:00.000-04:00

The season is still very young, so take this ballot with a grain of salt.

Let us know what you think in the comments section.


Rank	Team	Delta
1	Florida (2-0)
2	Texas (2-0)
3	Southern Cal (2-0)	1
4	Alabama (2-0)	1
5	Mississippi (1-0)	2
6	Penn State (2-0)
7	California (2-0)	1
8	Brigham Young (2-0)	1
9	LSU (2-0)	1
10	Virginia Tech (1-1)	2
11	Georgia Tech (2-0)	4
12	Miami (Florida) (1-0)	2
13	Oklahoma (1-1)	2
14	TCU (1-0)	4
15	Cincinnati (2-0)	7
16	Boise State (2-0)	1
17	Nebraska (2-0)	2
18	Ohio State (1-1)	6
19	Kansas (2-0)	7
20	Utah (2-0)	5
21	Missouri (2-0)
22	Pittsburgh (2-0)	1
23	Houston (2-0)	3
24	Oklahoma State (1-1)	19
25	Clemson (1-1)	9

For your reference, here is last week's ballot.

Dropped Out: Michigan State (#13), Georgia (#20).

Welcome! Kansas (#19), Houston (#23).

Waiting Room: North Carolina, Oregon State, Texas Tech, Michigan, South Florida

By Conference: Big XII 6, Atlantic Coast 4, Southeastern 4, Mountain West 3, Big East 2, Big Ten 2, Pac-10 2, Conference USA 1, WAC 1

Teams We Disagree On The Most: Boise State (11.31), Ohio State (8.49), LSU (6.36), Kansas (4.95)

Teams We Agree On: Florida (#1), Texas (#2), Southern Cal (#3), Cincinnati (#15)

Games Brian Watched:

Clemson at Georgia Tech
Colorado at Toledo
Notre Dame at Michigan
Southern Cal at Ohio State

Game Jeff Watched:

Clemson at Georgia Tech
Kent State at Boston College
South Carolina at Georgia
Notre Dame at Michigan (75%)
Colorado at Toledo (50%)
Southern Cal at Ohio State (25%)
Central Michigan at Michigan State (25%)
Fresno State at Wisconsin (25%)
Houston at Oklahoma State (25%)

Headlines: Wake Forest Game Kickoff Set For 2pm

2009-09-14T14:36:00.006-04:00

Boston College's home game against Wake Forest will start at 2pm and be shown on ESPN360.com. Plan accordingly.

Rest of the ACC's week 4 schedule after the jump.

Saturday, Sept. 26
North Carolina at Georgia Tech, RAYCOM, noon
South Florida at Florida State, ESPNU, noon
TCU at Clemson, ESPN360.com, 1 pm
Wake Forest at Boston College, ESPN360.com, 2 pm
Miami at Virginia Tech, ABC/ESPN*, 3:30 pm
Pittsburgh at NC State, ESPNU, 3:30 pm
Rutgers at Maryland, ESPN360.com, 3:30 pm
North Carolina Central at Duke, 7 pm

* Game televised regionally on ABC and shown to other parts of the country on ESPN.

Boston College +7 @ Clemson

2009-09-14T09:16:00.003-04:00

Boston College +7 @ Clemson

The Eagles open as 7 point underdogs for this weekend's ACC opener at Clemson.

Elsewhere around the ACC Atlantic, Florida State is a 7 point underdog at BYU, and Maryland is only a 5.5 point favorite at home against Middle Tennessee State (a team that knocked off Maryland last year). Ouch.

Headlines: Another Win, A Quarterback Emerges? and League Disappointments

2009-09-14T08:32:00.012-04:00

Brian: The Eagles rolled again on Saturday, defeating Kent State 34-7, to go to 2-0 on the season. Boston College used a pair of touchdown passes from Shinskie and Tuggle, a Montel Harris touchdown run and a Steve Aponavicius field goal to mount a 24-0 halftime lead. The only thing in doubt in this game was preserving the shutout, which was lost when Kent State backup Spencer Keither completed a four yard touchdown pass to Jonathan Simpson with a little over 2 minutes to play for the only Kent State points on the day.

The Eagles narrowly missed recording back-to-back shutouts to start the season since 1933.

We turn first to the Eagles quarterback competition, where both Tuggle and Shinskie each split time under center in the first half. Tuggle finished the game with 150 yards and 2 touchdowns on 6-of-12 passing, while Shinskie finished 9-of-16 for 73 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

Jeff, who was the more impressive starting quarterback candidate on Saturday?

Jeff: Justin Tuggle certainly had the more impressive numbers on Saturday. Tuggle went 6 of 12 passing for 150 yards and 2 touchdowns while Shinskie only threw for 78 yards, one touchdown and an interception. Watching this game, the difference between the two was not as great because I felt Tuggle wound up in some better situations. The running game seemed to be working a little better for Tuggle than for Shinskie. Shinskie didn't look terrible but the one interception was a very poor decision.

Overall, it seemed like Kent State got more pressure on Shinskie and the nice plays were made by receivers when Tuggle was in the ballgame. Shinskie throws a nicer-looking ball but Tuggle seems much more accurate and definitely has a stronger arm than Shinskie has.

I was happy with what I saw from both quarterbacks and would take either over week 2 Chris Crane from a year ago.

Brian: Word from Spaz and the Eagles camp is that a decision may come down by mid-week, however, the differences between the two quarterbacks in the eyes of Coach Spaziani were minimal.

"We’re still evaluating," said Spaziani. “Both of them ran the game well, both made some plays. There’s not a great deal of separation. But you have to reach a point where you just have to take some of that information and move on."

Spaziani said he will make a decision by the middle of the week - although he is not sure if he will announce it - and either Tuggle or Shinskie will receive most of the snaps in practice from that point on.

Which was the more impressive win? The Northeastern win or the Kent State win?

Jeff: Kent State was far more impressive than Northeastern. Not only had Kent State won the week before, but their defense actually made BC work and we couldn't just run all over them like we could Northeastern.

Brian: Looking around the league, what ACC result was the most surprising in week 2?

Jeff: I would have to say that Florida State struggling with Jacksonville State was the most surprising ACC result of week 2. Otherwise, all the ACC teams that were favored to win won. Virginia was a big underdog to TCU at home and that game turned out as expected.

Brian: I would have to agree with you. Reading up on this game, it sounds as if Florida State was not motivated at all for this game. The Seminoles scored twice in the last 35 seconds of the fourth quarter to win by 10 and avoid yet another ACC upset at the hands of an FCS opponent. You have to wonder who is running this team at this point - either Bobby Bowden and coach-in-waiting Jimbo Fisher. The head coach needs to have their team motivated to play every Saturday, and I'm starting to wonder how beneficial these coach-in-waiting situations really are for a program. Over the past two weeks, we have seen both Maryland and Florida State struggle to get wins against FCS teams after losing in week 1.

Grounding the Flashes and the Big Finish

2009-09-11T23:45:00.000-04:00

Brian: On Saturday, the Kent State Golden Flashes come to Alumni Stadium led by running back/return man Eugene Jarvis. Last week, Jarvis ran the ball for 141 yards on 27 carries in an 18-0 win over Coastal Carolina. He also caught 3 passes for 30 yards and scored a touchdown. Oh yeah, and he only added another 94 yards in kick returns for a total of 265 all-purpose yards in Kent State's week 1 victory. Will this young Eagles team be able to neutralize the big play threat of Jarvis tomorrow?

Jeff: Absolutely. No offense to Jarvis, but he is the one threat the Eagles have to worry about and I'm sure they'll be playing the run first all day leaving our experienced secondary in single coverage. If Jarvis does get a big play, it will likely be on special teams.

Brian: I agree the Eagles will likely build their defensive playbook around stopping Eugene Jarvis first and foremost. Kent State is also breaking in a new quarterback under center and his numbers were underwhelming in week one. Last week, Giorgio Morgan threw for 21 of 35 passing, 201 yards and 2 interceptions. Will it help the Eagles' young defense to scheme for stopping Eugene Jarvis, as we will have to key in on stopping another electric running back/return man next week in C.J. Spiller?

Jeff: I don't think there are enough similarities between Kent State and Clemson for this game against Kent State tomorrow to help us really prepare for a legit ACC offense and one of the top RBs in the country in CJ Spiller. On Thursday night the Tigers lost to Georgia Tech, but remember that Parker looked pretty solid and put up real impressive numbers in the second half.

Brian: Steve Conroy of the Herald reports that while the Eagles did beat Northeastern 54-0, the offensive line still has a long way to go:

"We’ve still got a long way to go," said center and tri-captain Matt Tennant. "Everyone is not really meshing the way I or (offensive line coach Sean) Devine wants. We’re not working together on our double teams, we’re not fitting the exact way we want, and I think that’s just a time thing. As the season progresses, our fits will get better, our pass blocking will get better and then everything will come together."

Will we see improvement in the offensive line this week, especially with the return of Rich Lapham?

Jeff: I wouldn't be surprised if we saw improvement out of nearly every unit of this team every week for the entire season. This team probably has the talent and skills to be very successful in the ACC, but just lacks experience in some key areas. I am confident that this team will work hard and show lots of improvement barring any major injuries.

Brian: The weather forecast for tomorrow calls for cloudy skies with occasional rain showers. High around 65 degrees. Will the rain help slow down Eugene Jarvis and the Golden Flash offense? Or will the weather conditions encourage even more of a ground attack from both the Flashes and the Eagles? Who has the advantage here?

Jeff: C'mon. It's Kent State. BC is favored by 21. We could play them in a dome or in a blizzard and BC would come out on top regardless.

Big Finish

Jeff: Great news for the Eagles. BC linebacker Mike McLaughlin rejoined the team and was practicing Wednesday for the first time since March. When do you expect McLaughlin to return?

Brian: I don't want him to rush his return to the field, but I'm cautiously optimistic he'll be back in the lineup for the Florida State game.

Brian: Boston College has 20 pros in the NFL this year, good for 8th best in the ACC. What, if anything, stands out to you from that list?

Jeff: Maybe that Maryland has more than us but it's only 4 more. No surprise Miami tops the list.

Jeff: BC still has two quarterbacks this weekend and will rotate in David Shinskie and Justin Tuggle. Will a starter emerge this week in time for the Clemson game?

Brian: I hope so. I will feel much less confident about our trip to Death Valley if a starter doesn't emerge this week and Spaz continues to play both guys.

Brian: The Emerald Bowl renewed their affiliation with the Pac-10 through the 2013 season but the conference will not be playing an ACC team. Instead, the Pac-10 will face a WAC team, Navy or Army. Your thoughts?

Jeff: Interesting how Army is going in 2011 if eligible and Navy in 2012. Not disappointed the ACC is out though because I like to drive to bowl games.

Jeff: I heard this on the radio yesterday. Kent State has the second worst all-time winning percentage in Division I-A behind Florida International. Guess who's third on that list? (Hint: It's an ACC team).

Brian: Everyone's gut reaction is to say Duke but they were really good back in the day. So I'll guess Wake Forest. Second guess would be NC State.

Jeff: Wake Forest is correct.

Brian: Get this. Albert Louis-Jean of Brockton is 15 years old and already has an offer from Boston College. Too soon?

Jeff: He's only 15 but he is a junior in High School so it's all good.

Jeff: Clemson and Georgia Tech looked a little sloppy last night. Clemson had two deadly mistakes on special teams, while Georgia Tech QB Josh Nesbitt completed only 36% of his passes and threw 2 picks. Still not in favor of preseason scrimmages?

Brian: Absolutely not. Both teams looked sloppy last week too - Georgia Tech had 5 fumbled and Clemson backup QB Willy Korn had two turnovers. How many preseason scrimmages would be needed to work out the kinks? If I'm told we can't have an NFL-style postseason, then college football shouldn't have an NFL-style preseason either.

Brian: Last one, final score prediction time. HD predicts the Eagles win 31-10. ATL has the Eagles as 28-10 winners. You gonna be a man and take the Eagles to cover the -20.5 point spread?

Jeff: Absolutely. I think we'll score more than either predict.

Pick 5

Brian: For the second straight year, I start the season 5-0. **Pats self on back**. And who says that picking lines preseason is difficult? You can follow our Pick 5 standings throughout the year on the left sidebar.

For my week 1 victory, I have honors and get to choose first.

Kent State at Boston College (-20.5)
Syracuse (+29) at Penn State
UCLA at Tennessee (-10)
North Carolina (-4) at Connecticut
Notre Dame (-3) at Michigan

Jeff:

USC (-7) at Ohio State
Central Michigan at Michigan State (-14.5)
Troy at Florida (-36.5)
Houston at Oklahoma State (-15)
Louisiana Tech at Navy (-7.5)

Enjoy all the college football this weekend. Go Eagles!

ACC Roundtable 2 Wrap-Up Over at College Game Balls

2009-09-11T10:28:00.004-04:00

Full of juicy tidbits of information about each of the ACC program's adventures in week 1. We even let a mainstream media member join in on the fun this week.

Have a read over at College Game Balls.

ACC Power Rankings: Week 1

2009-09-10T17:00:00.001-04:00

Power Ranking Thursday!

Week 1

Virginia Tech (0-1, 0-0 ACC)
Georgia Tech (1-0, 0-0)
Miami (Fla.) (1-0, 1-0)
Clemson (1-0, 0-0)
Florida State (0-1, 0-1)
North Carolina (1-0, 0-0)
Boston College (1-0, 0-0)
Wake Forest (0-1, 0-0)
NC State (0-1, 0-0)
Maryland (0-1, 0-0)
Duke (0-1, 0-0)
Virginia (0-1, 0-0)

Notes

We considered a shakeup at the top, but Virginia Tech played Alabama pretty tough the entire way on Saturday. Yes, their offense was predictably horrible but their defense and special teams (despite a few costly errors) still look very, very strong.
Georgia Tech and Miami (Fla.) leapfrog Florida State to take this week’s #2 and #3 spots
Boston College moves up 1 this week to our #7 spot, as NC State falls from #6 to #9 this week.
Maryland, Duke and Virginia remain in the bottom three spots this week for their forgettable week 1 performances

This Week

Only one league game this week and it’s a big one. Clemson at Georgia Tech (tonight, ESPN) ...

North Carolina at Connecticut ... Stanford at Wake Forest ... Duke at Army ... Marshall at Virginia Tech ... Kent State at Boston College ... TCU at Virginia ... Jacksonville State at Florida State ... James Madison at Maryland ... Murray State at North Carolina State

OFF: Miami (Fla.)

Breaking Down The 2009-2010 Eagles Basketball Schedule

2009-09-10T12:30:00.001-04:00

Brian: While I was out of the country, the Eagles released their 2009-2010 men’s basketball schedule. Let’s take a short break from all the football news and take a more detailed look at the Eagles’ schedule. For this undertaking we bring in good friend and BCI guest blogger Raj. Welcome.

Non-Conference

First, let's take a closer look at our non-conference slate of games for 2009-2010.

11-13-09 Dartmouth
11-17-09 St. Francis (NY)
11-20-09 Saint Joseph’s (Paradise Jam, USVI)
11-22-09 Purdue/South Dakota State (Paradise Jam, USVI)
11-23-09 DePaul/Northern Iowa/East Carolina/Tennessee (Paradise Jam, USVI)
11-28-09 at Providence
12-02-09 at Michigan (ACC-Big Ten Challenge)
12-09-09 Harvard
12-13-09 Rhode Island
12-20-09 Bryant University
12-23-09 Massachusetts
12-30-09 South Carolina
01-02-10 Maine
01-05-10 NJIT

In non-conference play, the Eagles will potentially face three NCAA tournament teams in Michigan, Purdue and Tennessee (the last two hopefully in the Paradise Jam in the US Virgin Islands). Skinner & Co. will also take their unbeaten ACC-Big Ten Challenge record to Crisler Arena to face a tough, young Michigan squad. Both Providence (our only true road non-conference game) and Massachusetts always play the Eagles close. Last year, the Eagles went 13-3 in non-conference action with losses at Saint Louis, vs. Purdue, and at home vs. Harvard. The bad news for the Eagles is that Crimson senior guard Jeremy Lin returns for his senior season.

Raj, early gut reaction. Over/under on number of wins in non-conference play?

Raj: Expectations are high coming into this year for the Eagles despite the loss of our best pure scorer. Who fills that void? Who steps up as the leader of the team? Honestly, the only sure thing from BC basketball the past two seasons is an inexplicable loss to an inferior team, a signature from Skinner.

I expect at least three losses: One loss coming in the final round of the Paradise Jam, a loss to either to Michigan or Providence and another wild card loss to possibly upstart Rhode Island. Unlike years past, we should dominate UMass as two of the top 3 Minutemen scorers were lost to graduation. Those losses leave UMass very undersized at the forward position. I'll set the number of wins at 11, and hope for a young, energetic Boston College team to make me eat my words.

Brian: I'll go slightly higher and predict a 12-2 non-conference record for the Eagles this year. Both losses will come to Big Ten teams. The Eagles will lose again to Purdue in the second round of the Paradise Jam, and BC will also lose their unblemished mark in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge at Michigan. Unlike previous seasons, I don't expect any early letdown games this year, especially with only two true road games in non-conference play.

What do you see as the defining non-conference game on this year's schedule?

Raj: The ACC-Big Ten Challenge matchup with Michigan is definitely the key non-conference matchup on the schedule. Michigan is a well coached team that returns a solid core of returning players. Don't forget that this squad knocked off Duke last year. With a solid performance on national television and a win in Ann Arbor, the Eagles can really catapult onto the national stage early and provide our team with the exposure necessary even if we are close to a .500 team in ACC play.

ACC Schedule

Next up, here is the ACC schedule for 2009-2010:

12-06-09 Miami (Fla.)
01-09-10 at Clemson
01-13-10 at Duke
01-16-10 Maryland
01-19-10 at Miami (Fla.)
01-23-10 at Virginia Tech
01-26-10 Clemson
01-30-10 Florida State
02-06-10 Duke
02-09-10 at Wake Forest
02-14-10 at Florida State
02-20-10 North Carolina
02-24-10 Virginia Tech
02-27-10 at Georgia Tech
03-03-10 Virginia
03-07-10 at NC State

Brian: The first thing that jumps out to me – other than getting both North Carolina and Duke at home – is nothing the teams we play twice this season. Last season the Eagles faced the following five teams twice (with final 2009 Pomeroy rankings in parenthesis): Georgia Tech (93), NC State (79), Virginia Tech (66), Miami FL (40), and Wake Forest (25). That’s an average ranking of 60.6. Now I know the Eagles made the NCAAs last season, but some could argue that the Eagles benefitted from a favorable ACC unbalanced schedule last season to get to 9-7 in league play.

This season is a bit of a different beast entirely. The Eagles don’t have nearly as favorable a schedule as they did last season. BC plays the following teams twice this season: Virginia Tech (66), Miami FL (40), Florida State (36), Clemson (22) and Duke (11), for an average ranking of 35. Sure, not much is expected of Virginia Tech, Florida State or a Jack McClinton-less Miami team this season, but I certainly consider Clemson and Duke to be in the upper echelon of ACC teams this season. Clemson loses a lot of talent going into this season but quickly reloaded with a top 10 nationally ranked recruiting class of Milton Jennings (PF), Noel Johnson (SG), Devin Booker (PF), and Donte Hill (SF).

On the travel front, BC also lucks out by not getting to travel to Maryland or Virginia, our two closest ACC geographic neighbors. Skinner’s young team does, however, have to travel to Florida State, Miami, Georgia Tech and Clemson, the four schools furthest from Chestnut Hill. Not only will the Eagles have to travel great further this year, but the scheduling gods didn't do the Eagles any favorites with the placement of our eight ACC road games. The Eagles have back-to-back road games at Clemson and Duke in early January, Miami (Fla.) and Virginia Tech in late January and Wake Forest and Florida State in early February. Will the Eagles travel schedule and all these back-to-back road games prove to be a tough obstacle for this Eagles squad?

Raj: Great point. These back-to-back away games will be a test that these young Eagles have yet to encounter. Last season the Eagles had one losing streak of four games and after that put together an impressive streak where they didn't lose more than two in a row the rest of the season. But don't count your wins too quickly Eagles' fans. We split the only back-to-back road games we had last season, squeaking by a depleted Georgia Tech team in overtime.

The Eagles were extremely strong at home and I look for Conte Forum to become an even tougher place to play this season. Hopefully we capitalize on our home court advantage and don't drop games that we should win.

I like our schedule come February, and will be in a position to really impress the Committee come dance time. I do think this young team with a more experienced Reggie Jackson will play with a chip on their shoulder, showing people they don't need Tyrese Rice to be successful.

Brian: What games stand out to you most? In other words, which games on the ACC schedule will go the furthest to define just how far the Eagles can go this season?

Raj: The obvious choices would be North Carolina and Duke but those games are great for Sportscenter highlights. Let's take a look at the games against Wake Forest and Clemson.

Splitting the home-and-home series Clemson in January will be key and will set the tone for four road games against pretty stiff competition that month. Remember last January when we got beat by a bunch of nerds and went on to lose the next three ACC games. This simply can't happen this year.

We start off February with Wake Forest. February will be a very important month to securing our place in the NCAA tourney. Last year we got served by the Deacons both home and away. If we can pull out the game at Wake Forest, it would be a great resume builder for the Eagles close to tournament time. Not to mention a win here would give the team some confidence against a team that made us look like a Newton Y-League team last season.

Brian: Now having analyzed the schedule, do you think the Eagles can improve on their 9-7 ACC mark from a year ago? Or will the Eagles end up with more (less?) conference wins in 2009-2010?

Raj: I really like our schedule but I'm afraid I'll have to say less wins in 2009-2010. We can't expect to beat North Carolina and Duke again, and too many other teams have improved while we are still looking for that player who can score at will. (When you have 0 incoming recruits, is that ever a good thing?) Don't get me wrong. This team has potential and has an opportunity to be a better basketball "team" since we don't have to watch Tyrese Rice launch 30-foot threes when the shot clock is running down. However, Rice's hot streaks won some games for us last year and there isn't one player on our roster that teams will game plan for.

Key to the season: we go as Biko goes.

Brian: I will actually go slightly over here and say the Eagles go 10-6 in conference. They'll beat the team that they are supposed to beat - NC State, Virginia, Miami (Fla.), Virginia Tech, Florida State, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech - but will fall short against the league's elite teams. While a 22 win regular season will be enough to get BC into the NCAA Tournament, the selection committee won't be able to point to an Eagles' marquee win like they were last season.

Burning The Midnight Oil

Brian: The one thing that still bothers me is the ACC’s insistence on having 9pm ET tipoffs. This season the Eagles play two ACC games that start at 9pm – at Miami on January 19 and at home vs. Virginia on March 3. The Virginia game, in particular, worries me as the Eagles will likely be playing for ACC Tournament seeding or an NCAA Tournament berth and tip is at 9pm. Will the students show up? If last year is any indication, don’t count on it. When will the league office stop this nonsense of scheduling 9pm weeknight conference games? Raj, you come down as hard as I do on these 9pm league games, right?

Raj: Nine o'clock weeknight conference games are not as bad as you make them out to be. My ideal time though is a 7pm tip off. Now I'm a Superfan. I'd show up if there were games starting at 6am. But I don't think 9:00pm starts are all that bad. Games rarely last longer than 2 1/2 hours and getting home at 11:30 for a college student isn't too bad. That leaves at least 3 hours of Facebook stalking or video games.

So if students don't show up, I'm not so sure they would show up at all. The March 3rd game against Virginia falls during BC's spring break so that game is a wash anyhow. The one thing it does solve is the time conflict with Perspectives. I know too many people who missed games because of that class.

Brian: I have to disagree here. For the basketball games over spring break, the school relies on the season ticket holders and community members to give Conte some semblance of an atmosphere. This game starting at 9pm is going to turn away a lot of families and season ticket holders. I'm fairly concerned about losing what little home court advantage the Eagles may typically enjoy against a team we should otherwise handle easily. The flipside of this is any advantage we lose as a result of poor attendance vs. Virginia is gained when the Eagles travel to Miami in mid-January. Miami home games are typically poorly attended at the BankUnited Center to begin with, so hopefully Canes fans stay home for this 9pm tipoff.

Leave your thoughts, comments and predictions on the upcoming season in the comments section below.

Good Cop/Bad Cop: Fixing ACC Football's Opening Weekend

2009-09-09T17:30:00.001-04:00

After the ACC's forgettable opening weekend, many ACC coaches and journalists came out of the woodwork, each with different theories on how to fix this ACC football mess. And by mess, we mean going 4-6 in non-conference play, including 0-4 vs. BCS competition and 3-2 against I-AA competition.

Jeff and I debate some of these theories, as well as one mouthy RS sophomore Kent State QB, in a game we call Good Cop / Bad Cop. Let's get our first suspect.

Suspect #1 - Allowing preseason inter-team scrimmages

Brian as Bad Cop: NC State coach Tom O’Brien has joined Frank Beamer in calling for the NCAA to allow teams to schedule a preseason exhibition game against another team. Supposedly these scrimmages will get teams better prepared to play on opening weekend. "It will give you an indication of who and what you are against somebody else," O'Brien said. "Then when you open with a South Carolina or an Alabama like he did, you might be better prepared to take on the first game." O’Brien attributes support of the idea from the American Football Coaches Association from the influx of NFL coaches in the college ranks. Personally, I don’t like the idea. While the NCAA does allow college basketball to schedule up to two exhibitions before the season begins, college basketball and college football are very different beasts. With football, you risk injury when playing other teams. There was certainly no shortage of injuries this college football preseason to begin with; a inter-team scrimmage would only make matters worse.

The other issue I have with this suspect is that O’Brien and Beamer are just coming off as whiny. Perhaps it is human nature, but whenever someone feels slighted, they use the opportunity to try to bring about change. What would seem like a good idea under normal circumstances comes across the wrong way when someone like O’Brien or Beamer brings this up. Your teams just lost on opening day. Of course you want to find a better way of preparing your team for their opener since you fell flat in week one. This same phenomenon can be found with the slight of an undefeated Utah squad last season, and Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson using Utah’s situation to bring about a college playoff or an automatic bid for the MWC. What is normally a pretty sound idea gets shot down prematurely given the circumstances.

So O’Brien and Beamer, the NCAA does allow for de facto "scrimmages" to start the season (although don't call them scrimmages in front of Al Groh of David Cutcliffe!). It’s called playing Division I-AA programs. Go and share this wonderful new revelation with your respective ADs post haste.

Jeff as Good Cop: Were you in the interview room Brian? How can you say O'Brien and Beamer are whining? They probably just simply answered a question from a reporter who set them up to sound whiny.

Personally, I like the idea. Make the scrimmaged among teams of similar caliber or turn the games against I-AA opponents into scrimmages. Either way would be win-win for the schools and the fans. You know ESPN would broadcast many of these scrimmages and they would greatly improve the quality of the product we see on the field the first weekend so we don't have to suffer through watching TOB's squad fail to score a touchdown two years in a row in their opening game and similarly, BC didn't look too polished last year against Georgia Tech. Wouldn't you have liked to have a crack at the Yellow Jackets when it was not the first game of the season?

Suspect #2 - ACC playing all league games in week one

Jeff as Bad Cop: Oh, this is a terrible idea!! They need to schedule the Miami (Fla.) vs. Florida State game on the first Monday night to get that paycheck the league loves so much. Besides that, all ACC programs need to schedule I-AA schools for college football's opening weekend. Then the league's record would be at least 8-4 and maybe 11-1 in good years! Florida State is already behind the eight ball in the Atlantic Division standings just because of a few miscues against a very good cross-divisional rival. A program shouldn't have so much riding on the first game of the season. BC's season this year would've looked much more hopeless if we didn't benefit from starting off with two extra scrimmages before heading south to play at Clemson.

Brian as Good Cop: I don't mind this idea. Why does the ACC have to go out and prove that it can beat the big boys of the SEC on opening weekend every year? All they ever do is fall flat on their face and give the league a very unnecessary black eye. Why not just keep opening weekend "in the family?" This way, as Caulton Tudor points out, the ACC wouldn't need any sort of damage control or spin after the first weekend as the best the ACC could do in week 1 is 6-6. That's an improvement on 4-6, to be sure. The one part I don't like about Tudor's proposal is having any intra-divisional games on the opening weekend. As you said Jeff, a program shouldn't have too much riding on week 1. So what the ACC should do is use one of the two non-intra-divisional, non-rivalry games and schedule these for week one. In this alternate reality, this year's opening schedule could have looked something like this:

Boston College at Virginia
Clemson at Miami (Fla.)
Wake Forest at Georgia Tech
Florida State at North Carolina
Virginia Tech at Maryland
Duke at NC State

I will selfishly schedule Virginia for the Eagles to open the season 1-0. NC State would have beat Duke and the wheels wouldn't have fallen off the NC State bandwagon quite so early. Virginia Tech would have blasted Maryland and kept their BCS Championship Game hopes alive, if only for a few more weeks.

Finally, you likely would have had not one but three great league games in week 1. Clemson at Miami (Fla.), Wake Forest at Georgia Tech, and Florida State at North Carolina all have the potential to be just as good as Miami (Fla.) vs. Florida State was. People would be gathering around the water cooler talking about not one but three epic ACC games, and that is exactly what this conference needs. This idea surprisingly has legs, even if it did come from the Raleigh News & Observer.

Suspect #3 - The ACC continuing to field teams in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Classic

Brian as Bad Cop: This is a no-brainer. John Swofford should say "thanks, but no thanks" to the Atlanta Sports Council and the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Classic going forward. What good has come of this game for the ACC? Last season, the ACC preseason media darling got pasted by the Alabama Crimson Tide, who went on to have an undefeated regular season. This year, while Virginia Tech was much more competitive, the Tide killed the BCS Championship Game hopes of another preseason ACC Champion pick. And, the way I see it, it’s not going to get any better from here.

In 2010, Chick-Fil-A has matched LSU vs. North Carolina in the Georgia dome on September 4. Is UNC going to be the cream of the ACC college football crop next season? Highly unlikely. Meanwhile, Les Miles will likely have LSU ready to stomp an ACC opponent for the third straight year. The 2011 game isn’t finalized, but The Raleigh News and Observer reports that the 2012 game will feature North Carolina State and Tennessee. Again, the trajectory of both of these football programs suggests that this will again be ugly for the conference. While the large payout for each school is certainly enticing, how many more opening weekend black eyes can the ACC take before the conference starts to be mentioned along with the Big East about revoking an automatic BCS bowl berth? I’m all for interesting intersectional games featuring ACC teams to start the season, but why do we have to continue to take it on the chin from a superior SEC program year in and year out? No thank you.

Jeff as Good Cop: Are you crazy? This type of exposure is great for the ACC. Alabama has had their best teams in a long time in back to back seasons and that was just tough luck for Clemson and Virginia Tech. If this series continues for a long time I'm sure the SEC will have a winning record in the series but that's OK. They're supposed to beat the ACC more often than not. This game is great for ACC fans, too. The fans of the ACC rep in this game will continue to sell out their half of the Georgia Dome

Clemson got embarrassed last year and the Bama beating they took had an impact on their entire season. Virginia Tech, however, showed it can play with the big boys and only dropped slightly in the rankings as a result. Swofford better not mess this one up by not continuing to send ACC schools to Atlanta on college football's opening weekend.

Suspect #4 - Kent State QB suggesting BC should be on upset alert this weekend

"I know they are a BCS team, but that really doesn't mean nothing," Morgan said today in a news conference at Dix Stadium. "This is college football - anybody can be beat." - Giorgio Morgan, Kent State QB

Jeff as Bad Cop: What an idiot. Didn't he learn a little from Legarrette Blount of Oregon? Blount said that Boise State deserved an ass whooping and Boise State gave said whooping instead of getting one. He should have just said that Kent State has improved since last year when they got shut out by the Eagles, blah, blah blah. It's not that hard.

Brian as Good Cop: BC should be on upset alert this weekend. At least that's what I would have the team thinking if I was Coach Spaziani. Nevermind the 54-0 final score from last week. That was last week, and it was against 2-10 Northeastern. The Eagles were far from perfect last Saturday.

Ok ... sorry. Who am I kidding? I can't possibly play the good cop on this one. I appreciate the swagger but how can you say stuff like this when you threw for no touchdowns and 2 interceptions against I-AA Coastal Carolina in your college debut? Not to mention Morgan suffered a mild ankle sprain on Saturday but will likely start for the Golden Flashes. If I was Giorgio Morgan, I wouldn't be giving the young, hungry Eagles defense any bulletin board material whatsoever. Finally, no style points for use of the double negative. Poor form, kid.

ACC Roundtable 2: Spaziani, Eagles Deliver

2009-09-09T13:02:00.010-04:00

This week's ACC blogger roundtable is brought to you by the internet's #1 purveyor of ESPN College Gameday signs, College Game Balls.

1. *Ding Dong* The pizza man is here, did your team deliver what you expected in their opener, why or why not?

BC certainly delivered in week one. Not only did they deliver what we expected, but they also threw in a free side over of breadsticks.

Even though it was Northeastern - a 2-10 CAA team - the win was just what Spaziani and this young Eagles team needed. For one, the offensive output was encouraging and not much expected. It all started with the Eagles first play from scrimmage, a Montel Harris' 48 yard TD run. The running game was able to run right through an outmanned Northeastern defense. The quarterbacks also got some much needed experience, and both Shinskie and Tuggle were able to get their first collegiate TD passes under their belts.

Second, the shutout was also a boost to the very young Eagles front seven on defense. The young linebackers played well, led by true freshman Luke Kuechly. Given all the offseason turmoil, this game was a great way to ease into a season that doesn't really heat up until BC travels to Death Valley next week.

2. The ACC was downright pathetic in week one. Which display of ineptitude shocked you the most? Going forward is there hope for the conference?

For a moment, I'll look past the Virginia and Duke losses since we really didn't expect them to make any noise this season in the ACC. That being said, you have to scratch your head when you see NC State and All-ACC quarterback Russell Wilson manage 3 points at home against South Carolina on Thursday night. NC State was a chic preseason Atlantic Division champion pick and managed to lay a huge offensive egg in week 1 on national television. NC State only managed 133 yards of total offense, and Wilson completely only 52.2% of his pass attempts. Luckily for NC State, the Wolfpack schedule is ridiculously back loaded, and Tom O'Brien's team will have time to work out the kinks offensively.

3. After the show they put on Monday night, Atlantic bloggers is FSU the team to beat and what about Miami Coastalites?

The Atlantic Division race is again going to be very interesting this season. It's simply way too soon to crown Florida State the division champ based on Monday night's performance. There were plenty of things I didn't like about the Seminoles performance that can be overlooked by simply looking at the 38-34 final score. For one, where was the Seminoles rushing game? It is true that the Seminoles rushed for 110 yards on the night, but 69 of those yards came late in the fourth quarter (and a bulk of those 69 yards came off two runs, including the Ponder scramble for 30 yards on 3rd and 3).

More importantly, where was the much heralded Seminole defense? The defensive line hardly got any pressure on Jacory Harris and only got to Harris once all night. The play in the secondary was even worse. Didn't catch the game? You didn't miss anything from the FSU secondary. Look no further than Jacory Harris's stat line on the night - 21 of 34 passing, 386 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT, 11.4 yards per throw. Mind you this is a kid making his third career collegiate start in Doak Campbell Stadium on national television, and the Seminole secondary let Harris drop Bernie Kosar-like numbers on them.

If the Seminole pass rush and secondary doesn't improve, and improve in a hurry, they may be looking at a long, long season. Imagine if FSU gives quarterbacks like Max Hall, Russell Wilson, Riley Skinner and Tim Tebow the same amount of time in the pocket as they gave Jacory Harris. If they do, the Seminoles should be more worried about becoming bowl eligible than returning to the ACC Championship Game.

No, Florida State isn't the favorite to win the division. Then again, if we learned anything from last season, it's that we are better off not having a favorite and just enjoying the Atlantic Division wild ride.

4. You've been granted one curse, other than your opponent pick one team you would like to see lose in week 2.

Sorry Jeff, but there's only one other game that matters this week for the Eagles, and that's tomorrow night's Clemson at Georgia Tech game. BC needs Georgia Tech to beat Clemson to give Clemson an early ACC loss. Not only will the Tigers losing help BC in the Atlantic Division standings, but it just might shake this young Tiger team's confidence as they play host to Boston College next Saturday.

Revised Blogpoll Ballot: Week 1

2009-09-08T17:00:00.001-04:00

Our biggest gainers on the week are Brigham Young, Alabama, and Miami (Florida). All three of those teams impressed with wins over preseason top 25 teams.

The biggest losers? Oregon, Florida State, Ohio State, and Oklahoma. Perhaps we were a bit harsh on Florida State, but they did lose at home to an unranked team (albeit ranked in our preseason blogpoll). Ohio State needed an four point swing late in the fourth quarter to avoid overtime with Navy, and Oregon's meltdown was fairly well documented on national TV. Oklahoma will be without the services of the reigning Heisman Trophy winner for what looks to be several weeks.

The only teams that start the season 0-1 in our ballot - Virginia Tech, Oklahoma and Georgia - all lost to (what we consider to be) top 10 teams. As such, we didn't think that warranted completely bouncing them from the ballot. Especially for Georgia who lost on the road in Stillwater.

Even after this weekend, we do still rank four ACC programs in the Top 25, but not really sure which one(s) to leave out. Georgia Tech? Clemson? Luckily for us, this one will be settled on the field, and in a hurry. Thursday night to be specific.

Finally, yes we are Boston College bloggers and no, we don't have Notre Dame in our top 25 ... yet. They handled Nevada. At home. Notre Dame should have beat a middle-of-the-Pack WAC team, just like BC should have waxed Northeastern, Duke should have beaten Richmond and Virginia should have taken down William & Mary. We'll watch the Irish's game against Michigan intently this weekend and if they handle the (dare I say) resurgent Wolverine spread offense, we'll take a closer look.


Rank	Team	Delta
1	Florida (1-0)	--
2	Texas (1-0)	--
3	Alabama (1-0)	10
4	Southern Cal (1-0)	--
5	Oklahoma State (1-0)	4
6	Penn State (1-0)	--
7	Mississippi (1-0)	2
8	California (1-0)	3
9	Brigham Young (1-0)	15
10	LSU (1-0)	3
11	Oklahoma (0-1)	8
12	Virginia Tech (0-1)	4
13	Michigan State (1-0)	2
14	Miami (Florida) (1-0)	7
15	Georgia Tech (1-0)	1
16	Clemson (1-0)	4
17	Boise State (1-0)	5
18	TCU (0-0)	1
19	Nebraska (1-0)	2
20	Georgia (0-1)	2
21	Missouri (1-0)	5
22	Cincinnati (1-0)	4
23	Pittsburgh (1-0)	2
24	Ohio State (1-0)	14
25	Utah (1-0)	2

For your reference, here is last week's ballot.

Dropped Out: Oregon (#12), Florida State (#14).

Welcome! Missouri (#21), Cincinnati (#22).

Waiting Room: Florida State, Notre Dame, Kansas, Tennessee, Texas Tech, North Carolina, Oregon, Oregon State, Boston College

By Conference: Southeastern 5, Big XII 5, Atlantic Coast 4, Mountain West 3, Big Ten 3, Pac-10 2, Big East 2, WAC 1

Teams We Disagree On The Most: LSU (8.49), Boise State (8.49), Pittsburgh (8.49)

Teams We Agree On: Florida (#1), Texas (#2), Virginia Tech (#12)

Games Brian Watched: The best thing about the opening weekend of college football? Plenty of opportunity to watch lots of college football ...

Towson at Northwestern (in-person)
Oregon at Boise State
Miami (Fla.) at Florida State
Cincinnati at Rutgers
Georgia at Oklahoma State
Alabama vs. Virginia Tech
Northeastern at Boston College (50%)
South Carolina at NC State (50%)
Oklahoma vs. BYU (50%)
Maryland at California (50%)
Missouri vs. Illinois (50%)
Minnesota at Syracuse (25%)

Games Jeff Watched:

Oregon at Boise State
Alabama vs. Virginia Tech
South Carolina at NC State
Miami (Fla.) at Florida State
Cincinnati at Rutgers (66.7%)
Minnesota at Syracuse (50%)
Navy at Ohio State (50%)
Georgia at Oklahoma State (25%)
Oklahoma vs. BYU (25%)
Maryland at California (25%)

Headlines: Blaudschun Changing His Tune?

2009-09-08T10:00:00.000-04:00

Brian: I know one game a season doesn’t make, but Blaudschun’s Labor Day column asks the question as to whether the Eagles can contend for a third straight ACC Atlantic Division title this season?

"The point is this: BC has the right ingredients to continue its bowl run for another season. Spaziani knows what he is doing and he knows how to do it. The offensive line is solid, the running backs are solid, the wide receivers are solid, the defense just needs experience and the quarterbacks can manage -- if not win -- games on their own.

And the ACC looks like it has for the last few years -- a basketball conference that has some fun in the fall before concentrating on contending for national hoops championships."

With Virginia Tech, NC State, Wake Forest and Maryland falling flat against BCS conference competition this weekend, and Duke and Virginia dropping to I-AA programs, can the Eagles compete for the ACC title this season? Or is Blaudschun simply overstating the importance of the ACC's week 1 results?

Jeff: Blaudschun is calling it the way we have all offseason. We predicted the Eagles would contend for the division once again but maybe fall a little short while others in the media were predicting either 0-8 or 2-6 seasons in ACC play for the Eagles. Even though it was a very weak opponent that the Eagles beat up on, everyone in sports media has to up their expectations for BC after the 54-0 win on Saturday.

As for the rest of the ACC, Blaudschun is completing over-reacting to a small sample of games. Duke and Virginia are in the Coastal Division and were never expected to do much this season. Meanwhile, Wake Forest and NC State lost close games that were supposed to be close. Finally, Virginia Tech lost to Alabama, but proved that they could beat them on any given Saturday (which was a sharp contrast to what Clemson showed in the same stadium a year ago).

With Florida State getting off to a 0-1 start in ACC play, there is no doubt that the Eagles will be in the mix for another trip to Tampa going into November. Whether they will get some luck as far as injuries go and whether some young players will develop throughout the season enabling them to actually head to Tampa, however, remains to be seen.

Headlines: What We Learned In Week 1

2009-09-08T08:30:00.002-04:00

9/5/2009 - Boston College 54, Northeastern 0 - 1-0

Brian: Yes, it may have only been Northeastern, but a win is a win. After what happened to Duke and Virginia this weekend, at home, against I-AA opponents (albeit much better I-AA programs), I’m glad the Eagles came away with a win in convincing fashion. It seemed to be a typical game against a I-AA opponent not named UMass:

Year	Opponent	Result
2009	Northeastern	W 54-0
2008	Rhode Island	W 42-0
2007	Massachusetts	W 24-14
2006	Maine	W 22-0
2004	Massachusetts	W 29-7

The Eagles rushing game shined against an outmatched Northeastern defense, with Montel Harris leading the way with 113 yards on 15 carries for two touchdowns, including a 48-yard run to pay dirt for the Eagles first play from scrimmage.

Montel Harris – 15 carries, 113 yards, 7.5 avg., 2 TD, 48 long
Rolandan Finch – 7 carries, 58 yards, 8.3 avg., 1 TD, 48 long
Josh Haden – 11 carries, 45 yards, 4.1 avg., 1 TD, 17 long

The surprise in the rushing game had to be true freshman Rolandan "Deuce" Finch. Are you surprised that Spaziani didn’t redshirt the freshman? And are you encouraged by the play of the Eagles running backs?

Jeff: I am not surprised at all. Injuries at running back can occur all the time and with Haden and Harris only being true sophomores, Finch could always redshirt next year or the year after.

As I said on Friday, I expected the run game to dominate Northeastern because of our huge size advantage on the offensive line. While I am happy with what the running backs did, I am not really encouraged at all. We had high expectations for them heading into the season and running on a I-AA school is nothing to get too excited about. Especially a I-AA program that went 2-10 last year.

Brian: The Eagles ended up burning the redshirts of six true freshman including Jim Noel, Conor O’Neal, John Wetzel, Michael Marscovetra, Luke Kuechly and Rolandan Finch. Speaking of quarterbacks, Marscovetra was the only quarterback that was perfect on the day (3 for 3 for 21 yards), but the majority of the snaps were split between Shinskie and Tuggle.

David Shinskie – 7 for 10, 110 yards, 11 avg. 1 TD, 0 INT
Justin Tuggle – 3 for 5, 56 yards, 11.2 avg., 1 TD, 0 INT
Michael Marscovetra – 3 for 3, 21 yards, 7.0 avg.
Codi Boek – 2 for 4, 18 yards, 4.5 avg.

The game and the opponent didn't really afford the Eagles QBs the opportunity to distinguish themselves from one another, so for a second straight week Spaziani will use a QB rotation against Kent State.

"I think it's status quo," first-year BC coach Frank Spaziani said during his weekly conference call yesterday. "They improved, that's the first thing. They made some progress and showed some different stuff. I think we'll stay the way we were and we'll practice this week and we'll figure it out at the end of the week."

Do you like the decision to continue to rotate in starting quarterback candidates for our game against Kent State? And will you like this decision if the Eagles still don't have a starter after Saturday?

Jeff: Do I like this decision? Not exactly, but I can't say I dislike it either. Spaz's job is to win football games and after what he saw on Saturday, I doubt he feels he is jeopardizing the team's chances to win against Kent State by extending this "QB tryouts" another week. If it is not clear which quarterback will get all or the majority of the snaps against Clemson on September 19, I will not be happy with Spaziani at that point. Eventually, he needs to make a decision and go with it. If the player topping the depth chart performs poorly, put in #2. But there must be someone labeled the starter soon.

Brian: On defense, the young BC linebackers played well, led by true freshman Luke Kuechly (7 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 deflected pass). DiSanzo notched a safety, and LeGrande ended with four tackles. The young guys played well, and this unit should only get stronger when Will Thompson and Mike McLaughlin return from injury.

The official attendance for the opener was 33,262, a few thousand less than last year’s I-AA game against Rhode Island. While last year’s URI game was Parents’ Weekend (but was played in what looked like a monsoon), are you disappointed by the Eagles’ draw against Northeastern?

Jeff: I am not disappointed by the attendance at Saturday's football game at all. It was a holiday weekend and other than being a game, fans had no reason whatsoever to turn out. While last year's game turned out to be monsoon-ish, it was not bad weather at kickoff and don't forget that Parents' Weekend guarantees you a sellout against any opponent. If anything, I'm happy with the turnout but it was basically what I expected. The shutout and offensive performance should help the turnout this Saturday but the attendance figure will probably be similar.

Brian: The Eagles now turn their attention to Kent State, a team that defeated Coastal Carolina this week 18-0. The Golden Flashes are similarly breaking in a new starting quarterback in Giorgio Morgan. For facing a I-AA opponent, Morgan didn’t have the greatest of debuts, throwing for 201 yards and 2 INTs on 21 of 35 passing. The Kent State offense runs through Eugene Jarvis, who rushed for 141 yards on 27 carries and one score. Last year, the Eagles were able to limit Jarvis to 51 yards on 11 carries in the 21-0 opening weekend win at Cleveland Browns Stadium. The Eagles open as a 19 point favorite. Do you expect the Eagles to be able to neutralize Jarvis and the Golden Flashes offense on Saturday?

Jeff: Absolutely. Last year the Eagles opened against Kent State and their offense was not clicking yet. This year I expect our team to put up more points and even though they probably will not shut out Kent State again, they will hold them to one score or two at the most. I certainly like the Eagles at -19.

A Look At How Our Opponents Fared: Week 1

2009-09-07T14:37:00.014-04:00

Brian: Did the Eagles chances for a good-to-great season improve greatly over college football's first weekend? Or is it still too soon to tell? We'll have more on that question tomorrow.

It is hard, however, not to get just a tad bit more excited about the Eagles chances in 2009 after the first full weekend of college football. Simply put, our 2009 opponents didn't exactly set the college football world ablaze this past weekend. The Eagles' opponents went 4-6 this past weekend, with Florida State set to play later tonight. Let's say that again. 4-6. That pathetic mark includes an 0-4 record against BCS conference competition and a Virginia loss to I-AA William & Mary. Only two of those four wins (Clemson over MTSU and Notre Dame over Nevada) came against FBS teams.

Here’s a look at the good, the bad and the very, very ugly of our 2009 opponents' week 1.

The Good

Clemson 37, Middle Tennessee State 14. This game was over as early as the opening kickoff, when C.J. Spiller returned the game’s opening kickoff 96 yards for a Tigers touchdown. Jacoby Ford added two scores in the first half, including a 61-yard punt return, to increase the Tiger lead to 30-7 at half. Spiller was taken out of the game in the first half after suffering a hamstring/foot injury, but he should be good to go for next week’s game at Georgia Tech. Speaking of that game, that should be a huge test early for this young Tigers team and will prove whether the Tigers will be a factor in the Atlantic Division race.

Notre Dame 35, Nevada 0. Jimmy Clausen threw touchdown passes of 70 and 88 yards to Michael Floyd to power Notre Dame past Nevada 35-0. The shutout was the first Irish shutout since 2002. The defense did allow 5.5 yards per play, but the Wolf Pack offense only managed to go 2 of 12 on third and fourth downs. Next week’s game against Michigan (31-7 winners over Western Michigan) should be a good litmus test to see just how good this Irish team truly is.

North Carolina 40, The Citadel 6. The Tar Heels shook off a slow start to power their way over The Citadel 40-6. The Tar Heels amassed 375 yards of total offense, including 118 yards on the ground from Shaun Draughn. UNC QB T.J. Yates threw for 114 yards, 2 TDs and 1 INT. "There's definitely some things we can work on in the passing game, but our running game was absolutely awesome," Yates said. North Carolina travels to UConn this Saturday as the conference tries to better their 0-4 mark against BCS competition.

The Bad

Baylor 24, Wake Forest 21. The Deacons lost this game on turnovers, as Riley Skinner threw three interceptions and Baylor converted a total of 4 Wake Forest turnovers into 10 points. The score ballooned to 24-7 late in the third quarter as the Bears took a page from Jim Grobe’s playbook. Robert Griffin threw a backwards pass to RB Ernest Smith, who then found a wide open Lanear Simpson for a 33-yard touchdown pass. Wake Forest mounted a late fourth quarter comeback, but in the end, it was too little, too late. Wake hosts Stanford at home this week. The Cardinal is coming off a 39-13 opening weekend win over Washington State.

Alabama 34, Virginia Tech 24. Somehow the Tide was losing this game at half. Alabama used a punishing run game and capitalized on a couple Hokie special team mistakes to take down the ACC representative in the Chic-Fil-A Kickoff Classic for a second straight year. Tyrod Taylor and the Hokie offense picked up where they left off last year. The Hokies, who ranked 103rd in total offense and 111th in passing offense nationally a season ago, managed 91 yards through the air on 9 of 20 passing. Taylor also rushed for -26 yards on 10 carries. The Crimson Tide defense held Ryan Williams to 71 yards on 13 carries. While the Hokies have a week to regroup as they host Marshall at Lane Stadium this Saturday, the natives are getting restless with the Hokies’ offensive production. And that offense will have to improve by leaps and bounds throughout the season if Virginia Tech expects to three-peat.

Arizona 19, Central Michigan 6. The Wildcat defense was successful in shutting down senior Chippewa QB Dan LeFevour, who only managed 108 yards on 18 of 31 passing and threw one interception. “LeFevour's highlight came when he ran for a 5-yard touchdown with 12:21 to go, cutting Central's deficit to 16-6. But the Chippewas botched the two-point conversion when LeFevour fumbled the snap in the shotgun.” The Chippewa rushing attack only managed 74 yards on 20 carries. CMU will need to regroup in week 2 but it won’t come easy as the Chippewas travel to East Lansing to play Michigan State in week 2.

Kent State 18, Coastal Carolina 0. Yes, the Golden Flashes won, but it wasn't pretty by any means. Senior running back Eugene Jarvis ran for 141 yards and a touchdown to lead Kent State past I-AA Coastal Carolina. Halftime score: Kent State 2, Coastal Carolina 0?! Kent State insisted on moving the ball throw the air in the first half and was met with very limited success. New starting quarterback Giorgio Morgan had a forgettable debut, throwing a pair of interceptions and no touchdowns. It was the first shutout for Kent State since 1994.

The Ugly

William & Mary 24, Virginia 16. Umm. So much for the newly-installed Virginia spread offense. After Virginia QB Vic Hall scampered into the end zone on a 34 yard score for the first score of the game, it was all downhill from there for the Cavaliers. The Tribe scored 19 unanswered points, including 13 in the second half, to knock off UVA in Charlottesville. Virginia turned the ball over seven times, including 3 INTs from James Sewell, and the Cavaliers offense was kept off the scoreboard in the second half. This has to be one of the most surprising results from week 1, and the road doesn’t get any easier for UVA. The Cavs host No. 17 TCU this week, then travel to Southern Miss (who trounced Alcorn St. 52-0) and North Carolina to wrap up the month of September. If the Cavaliers don’t improve and improve fast, they could be staring at a 0-4 start and be looking for a new coach before the season is out.

South Carolina 7, NC State 3. Another opening night game for the Wolfpack against South Carolina, another loss. In what had to be the ugliest game of the opening weekend, defenses dominated in a 7-3 South Carolina victory. NC State’s Toney Baker fumbled for the first Wolfpack play from scrimmage to set up the only touchdown of the night. All-ACC QB Russell Wilson looked unsettled and seemed to be looking to pass and not use his legs even when pass protection broke down early. What have we learned, JPG? "Tom O’Brien’s an exceptional coach in the second half of the season but at some point, November Tom (6-2 at State) needs to meet September Tom (3-7). State’s 0-3 in openers under O’Brien, and he’s 6-7 in openers going back to his 10-year stint at Boston College." The loss drops O’Brien’s record to 11-15 at State.

California 52, Maryland 13. Cal QB Kevin Riley threw for nearly 300 yards and 4 touchdowns as the No. 12 Cal Bears routed an outmatched Maryland Terrapin team. "These guys are learning on the run," Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen said of his inexperienced team. "We have got to make it as best as we can. I told them in the locker room, we have to look at this game and learn from it." Terp RB Da’Rel Scott had the teams only touchdown and finished the game as the Terps leading rusher (13 carriers, 90 yards) and leading receiver (3 receptions, 31 yards). Maryland kicker Nick Ferrara scored on field goals of 26 and 42 yards. Maryland hosts a good CAA South team in James Madison this week. As Duke, Virginia and Temple proved this weekend, nothing is guaranteed against the CAA South.

Preliminary Blogpoll: Week 1

2009-09-07T10:44:00.010-04:00

Here is our preliminary blogpoll ballot for week 1. Yes, we realize there are still games to be played today. We'll revise based on the results of today's Cincinnati-Rutgers and Miami (Fla.)-Florida State matchups.

As always, your thoughts/comments are appreciated.

Last week's ballot

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Florida
2	Texas
3	Southern Cal	1
4	Alabama	9
5	Oklahoma State	4
6	Penn State
7	Mississippi	2
8	California	3
9	Brigham Young	15
10	LSU	3
11	Oklahoma	8
12	Michigan State	3
13	Virginia Tech	5
14	Miami (Florida)	7
15	Georgia Tech	1
16	Florida State	2
17	Boise State	5
18	Clemson	2
19	Nebraska	2
20	TCU	1
21	Georgia	3
22	Missouri
23	Pittsburgh	2
24	Ohio State	14
25	Utah	2

Dropped Out: Oregon (#12).

Let the Games Begin! and the Big Finish

2009-09-04T16:30:00.001-04:00

Brian: It has been 248 days since the Eagles last took the field. It has felt like 2,480. I, for one, am just glad college football is back. The Boston College Eagles begin their 2009 campaign against Northeastern starting at 2pm ET. Jeff, break down the game for me. What are you expecting this Saturday?

Jeff: Well, first let me say I am expecting a win and I am expecting an easy win too. Against a team like Northeastern I don't think we'll feel the effects of having a smaller front seven because they're still plenty big enough to dominate in this game.

On offense, I hope to see nearly 200 yards rushing which should be enough to win easily without the passing game clicking. Will it be a 45-0 type game? Possibly, but perhaps a 25 point differential is more realistic.

Brian: Spaziani has basically resigned himself to the position that he’ll play all three quarterbacks on Saturday and see in game action the hand he was dealt.

"As best we can determine, no one has separated themselves," Spaziani said. "They all have some redeeming qualities, or else they wouldn't be on our football team. We've got about as far as we can go with practice, trying to determine where we're going to make a decision with these guys. We're going to have to put them in a game. You really never know about a quarterback until you get in the game, even if you've picked one."

Do you like this philosophy? And which starting quarterback candidate do you expect to have the best performance tomorrow?

Jeff: I really, really wish that one of the quarterback candidates had elevated his game enough prior to this point to be deserving of the starting quarterback position. Unfortunately that has not happened though, so I must say that I love Spaziani's quotes and approach to the whole situation.

Most coaches at this point would be trying to boost player morale by saying they have two or three very talented players that have all been pushing each other and they're a better team because of the 2 or 3 candidates vying for the position as compared to just having one clear starter. Spaz knows that isn't the case (and so do we) so he is not sugar-coating anything. He is telling it like it is. I think the team and this quartet of QB candidates will be better in the long run because of his approach right now.

Brian: Yesterday, Blaudschun lamented the lack of buzz surrounding the Eagles opener vs. Northeastern and praised Gene for scheduling in a way that has allowed Boston College to maintain a high level of success over the past 10 years. He goes on to ask the question:

"Would you rather start 2-0 going into the game at Clemson against two ho-hum teams? Or would you rather deal with the deck that Miami’s Randy Shannon has, which has his team starting out against Florida State, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech and then Oklahoma?"

Recognize that the question is somewhat flawed. Miami has limited control over the fact that they get three of the toughest ACC opponents to start the season. Not to mention you only have to go back to 2007 to find a case where the Eagles had to play three straight ACC opponents to start their season. Anyhow, which would you prefer? Would you rather see the Eagles get challenged straight out of the gate, or do you like these two "warm-up" games?

Jeff: The argument is flawed like you said because Miami can give the league office a preference as to when to play a game or two, the Canes didn't choose their entire September ACC schedule. For once though, especially after watching the mistake-filled games that were on TV last night, BC has it right. Playing a very winnable game is the way to start the season because there are going to be plenty of mistakes and you want to play the better opponents and conference opponents when you're playing at or closer to your highest level of play.

Big Finish

Jeff: The ACC blog On The B.Rink delves deeper into why BC never seems to get any respect. What do you think is the number 1 reason on his list?

Brian: The "small school, big city" excuse is probably the best reason on that list, but that only tells part of the story. I don't think geography is a reason though because Miami gets similarly disrespected and is frequently mentioned as a program the ACC should jettison. Winning, however, will cure all.

Brian: After we both had to sit through the ugliness that was South Carolina 7, NC State 3, are you considering revising your prediction that NC State will beat BC on October 17?

Jeff: Not at all. Remember Russell Wilson is a baseball player and played in a wooden bat league this summer. He and that Wolfpack team will improve.

Jeff: Over/under 37,000 official attendance at Alumni Stadium tomorrow?

Brian: Considering last year's I-AA game didn't even come close to that mark (32,628), I'll sadly go with the under. Although an inter-city team and the home opener will certainly help things out.

Brian: Joe Trapani is one of Rush the Court’s 2009-10 Impact Players from the Northeast. Did they pick the right Eagle?

Jeff: Well it was either him or Rakim Sanders. Maybe it should've been Sanders but I'm not going to say they're wrong.

Jeff: Penn State's 2010 game at Indiana is being moved from Bloomington to FedEx Field in Maryland. Moving conference games to neutral site locations – fair or foul?

Brian: Very foul. When you have to travel over 400 miles further than your opponent for one of your home games, something is seriously awry.

Brian: Last one, HD predicts the Eagles will win 28-7. Will the Eagles score more or less than 28 points?

Jeff: I think the Eagles score in the 30s but might give up more that seven points, especially if the offense makes multiple mistakes.

Pick 5

Brian: For the second straight season, Friday's Big Finishes will feature our pick 5s. Last season, Jeff finished the year at 42-33 while I finished at 39-36. As Jeff beat me by 3 games last season (even though he did everything in his power to cough up his lead in the final week of the season), he gets to select first.

Ground rules: The winner of the previous week will pick games first (think: honors in golf). We can't pick the same game unless we want to take the other side of the same line.

As always, you are more than welcome to play along by posting your picks in the comments section.

Let the beatdown begin!

Jeff:

Western Michigan (+13) at Michigan
Nevada (+14.5) at Notre Dame
Maryland at California (-21)
LSU (-17.5) at Washington
Colorado State at Colorado (-10)

Brian:

Central Michigan (+13.5) at Arizona
Cincinnati (+5) at Rutgers
Miami Fla. (+6.5) at Florida State
Brigham Young (+22.5) vs. Oklahoma (Dallas)
Virginia Tech vs. Alabama (-6.5) (Atlanta)

Enjoy all the college football on this Labor Day weekend! Go Eagles!

ACC Power Rankings: Preseason

2009-09-03T18:06:00.001-04:00

Part of BCI's season preview week.

For the second straight season, we will publish our ACC power rankings weekly. Before a down of football has been played, here's how we think the ACC programs stack up against one another. As always, critique and berate in the comment section below.

Preseason

Virginia Tech
Florida State
Georgia Tech
Miami (Fla.)
Clemson
North Carolina State
North Carolina
Boston College
Wake Forest
Maryland
Duke
Virginia

Notes

Oddly, the champs didn’t end the season as our #1 but do start the season as our preseason #1. Although I have some doubts, until someone serves the Hokies notice ...
Most college football pundits are higher on North Carolina than we are, while we might have Miami Fla. higher than they'll finish

This Week

Games that matter - South Carolina at North Carolina State (today!, ESPN) ... Baylor at Wake Forest ... Alabama at Virginia Tech (ABC) ... Maryland at California (ESPN2) ... Miami (Fla.) at Florida State (Monday, ESPN)

Glorified exhibitions - Jacksonville State at Georgia Tech ... Northeastern at Boston College ... Citadel at North Carolina ... Middle Tennessee State at Clemson ... William & Mary at Virginia ... Richmond at Duke

Fortune Teller: ACC Champions and Bowl Predictions

2009-09-03T18:04:00.002-04:00

Part of BCI's season preview week.

First we gave you the Atlantic Division picture, then the Coastal. Last up, who will win the ACC Championship Game and where will teams go bowling this season? Our ACC Championship Game and bowl picks (and right in time before the season kicks off!) below for your approval.

Brian's ACC Championship Game and Bowl Predictions

ACC Championship - Miami Fla. > Clemson, for their first ever ACC Championship

Orange - Miami (Fla.)
Peach - Clemson
Gator - Florida State
Champs - Virginia Tech
Music City - Georgia Tech
Meineke Car Care - North Carolina
Emerald - Boston College
EagleBank - NC State
GMAC - Wake Forest

Miami (Fla.) faces Ohio State - a BCS at-large - in the Orange Bowl.

Even though the Peach Bowl has passed on the ACC Championship Game runner-up every year since the conference started playing championship games, that rule won’t to Clemson. Atlanta is more than happy to take the Tigers in a year where the SEC will send two teams to BCS games and the Peach will have to settle for a middle of the pack program like Tennessee or Ole Miss. Also, the fact that the 2007 game between Clemson and Auburn pulled in the highest rating in the bowl’s history won’t be lost on the Atlanta Sports Council.

The Gator scoops up Florida State and the Hokies are sent to Orlando. Georgia Tech dusts off the Wrambling Wreck and makes the short four hour drive up to Nashville, and the Meineke Car Care Bowl is happy to take the local team in UNC for the second consecutive season.

Boston College is sent west to face a big draw Pac-10 team (a UCLA or Oregon State,) while Tom O’Brien and the Wolfpack set out to prove that they are the best team in the state of North Carolina (woo!) for the second straight season* as they face East Carolina in the EagleBank Bowl.

Finally, Wake Forest heads to the Mobile to face a directional Michigan team in the GMAC Bowl.

* NC State will have knocked off Gardner-Webb, Duke, Wake Forest and North Carolina, but will lose to ECU in Washington.

Jeff’s Coastal Division predictions

ACC Championship - Virginia Tech > Clemson

Orange - Virginia Tech (again)
Peach - Clemson
Gator - Florida State
Champs - Georgia Tech
Music City - Miami (Fla.)
Meineke Car Care - Boston College
Emerald - North Carolina
EagleBank - NC State
GMAC - Wake Forest

Virginia Tech will play Oklahoma State in the Orange Bowl which will be a true "Orange Bowl" when the Oklahoma State Cowboys wear their orange uniforms and Virginia Tech fans wear their orange.

This rest shapes out fairly simply because Clemson will have been 10-2 entering the ACC Championship Game and travels well such that the Peach Bowl will take them. After that, it's basically a matter of the next best teams going to each bowl after that since the two best traveling fan bases - Virginia Tech and Clemson - will have already been gobbled up.

Boston College should have a good game against Rutgers or West Virginia in Charlotte. Not a matchup that will produce a sellout but should get a good number of BC fans traveling to Charlotte.

Your thoughts/predictions?

Headlines: The Crazy Offseason of 2009 Has Come Full Circle

2009-09-03T11:21:00.009-04:00

Brian: We have certainly come full circle, that's for sure. Two days before the Eagles kick off the 2009 season, Jeff Jagodzinski is again looking for work:

The Buccaneers announced today that they have dismissed Offensive Coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski.

Quarterbacks Coach Greg Olson has been promoted to offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach.

Jagodzinski was named the Buccaneers offensive coordinator on January 29, 2009. He came to Tampa Bay after two years (2007-2008) as the head coach at Boston College. Prior to his stint at Boston College, Jagodzinski served as the offensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers in 2006 and spent the two seasons (2004-2005) prior to that on the staff of the Atlanta Falcons.

Olson joined the Buccaneers as quarterbacks coach in 2008 and was retained when the team promoted Raheem Morris to head coach. Olson previously served as the offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions in 2005 and the St. Louis Rams from 2006-07. He has also previously served as the quarterbacks coach for the Lions, Chicago Bears and San Francisco 49ers.

Head Coach Raheem Morris was set to address these moves at a press conference at One Buccaneer Place at 12:00 p.m. ET. That press conference will be carried live on Buccaneers.com.

Jagodzinski released the following statement:

“I am certainly disappointed but I wish nothing but the best for Raheem Morris and the entire Buccaneer organization. I was given the chance to remain on staff as the quarterbacks coach, but felt that the timing for such a move was not in the best interest for either side. I appreciate the opportunity that was given to me. Again, I wish nothing but the best for this organization."

Apparently, Jags and quarterback coach Greg Olson disagreed with who the starting Buccanneers QB should be. Instead of making an Olson-for-Jagodzinski-switcharoo for the Bucs offensive coordinator and quarterback coach positions, Jags preferred to bow out. Now Olson has Jags' job and Jags is out of work.

While I won't be dancing on the flaming wreckage that is Jags' football coaching career and wish him nothing but the best, I do find this a tad bit ... ironic?

Fortune Teller: ACC Coastal Division Standings

2009-09-03T09:00:00.001-04:00

Part of BCI's season preview week.

Yesterday, we unveiled our picks for the 2009 Atlantic Division race. Here is how we see the Coastal Division race playing out this season.

Brian’s Coastal Division predictions

Miami (Fla.) 9-3 (6-2)
Georgia Tech 10-2 (6-2)
Virginia Tech 9-3 (6-2)
North Carolina 9-3 (5-3)
Duke 5-7 (2-6)
Virginia 3-9 (0-8)

My ACC Coastal ends up looking like last year’s Big XII South, with a three-way tie atop the division. In a bold and surprising move, I give Miami Fla. the nod over both the Hokies and the Jackets. Miami will lose at both Florida State and Wake Forest, but knocks off the Hokies, Jackets and Heels to earn a spot in their first ACC Championship Game.

Virginia Tech loses to Miami and at Georgia Tech while Georgia Tech loses at Miami and at home vs. North Carolina.

Of course the biggest disappointment for the conference is that no team (cough, cough, Virginia Tech) emerges as a BCS National Championship Game contender this season. We will continue to here the meme about how the ACC has parity but no powerhouse programs.

Duke doubles its ACC win total from 2008 by defeating both Maryland and Virginia (for a second straight season, I might add). However, the Blue Devils come two games short of making a bowl. Finally, Virginia goes 0-for-ACC and is shopping for a new coach come December.

Jeff’s Coastal Division predictions

Virginia Tech 10-2 (6-2)
Miami 8-4 (5-3)
Georgia Tech 8-4(5-3)
Duke 6-6 (3-5)
Virginia 6-6 (3-5)
North Carolina 7-5 (3-5)

I, like many others, have Virginia Tech winning the Coastal Division (again). Of the rest of the division, I like Miami's chances best to change that and expect the Canes to defeat the Hokies this year. However, I think Virginia Tech will finish with a better conference record. I also think the Canes will beat Georgia Tech, but will slip at a few less predictable points throughout the season to finish at 5-3 in conference.

Georgia Tech should have another nice season but I think they'll lose to Georgia to finish 8-4 overall.

Duke will be the big surprise when they beat North Carolina this season. This W will give the Blue Devils a chance to become bowl eligible going into their final game of the season against Wake Forest (spoiler alert: Duke falls to Wake Forest and won't go bowling again this season).

Virginia will come up with a few wins this season in Coastal Division play to finish 6-6 including a win vs. North Carolina, which leaves the Tar Heels in last in the division.

North Carolina should roll in non-conference play but will struggle in the tough Coastal Division and fail to live up to their preseason expectations/ranking. Even though I picked them to beat Boston College, they will rack up the losses against Coastal Division opponents. Seven wins is just enough to get the Heels bowling in December.

Your thoughts/predictions?

Fortune Teller: ACC Atlantic Division Standings

2009-09-02T17:00:00.003-04:00

Part of BCI's season preview week.

The cat's out of the bag. Neither Jeff or I have the Eagles above .500 in ACC play so essentially both of us don't think the Eagles have enough to three-peat in the ACC Atlantic. But what does our crystal ball have in store for the rest of the division this season?

Jeff’s Atlantic Division predictions

Clemson 10-2 (6-2)
Florida State 8-4 (5-3)
Boston College 8-4 (4-4)
NC State 6-6 (3-5)
Wake Forest 7-5 (3-5)
Maryland 5-7 (2-6)

Clemson may lose to Boston College on September 19th but they'll bounce back and beat TCU the following week. TCU hasn't won a tough road game since beating Oklahoma in 2005, which ended up being one of two Oklahoma non-conference losses that season.

Florida State - having lost at Clemson - will finish second in the Atlantic Division and lose their regular-season finale against Florida.

Boston College will finish third with a .500 record, a far cry from the last few year's final standings.

NC State wins the tie breaker over Wake Forest to finish fourth. After a 6-1 start, they lose their last five games of the season to finish 6-6.

Wake Forest will win all four of its non-conference games but only get 3 conference wins.

Maryland's five wins will come against James Madison, Middle Tennessee State, Rutgers, Duke and NC State.

Finally, for the first time, the Atlantic Division will finish 1 game under .500 vs. the Coastal Division.

Brian’s Atlantic Division predictions

Clemson 8-4 (5-3)
Florida State 8-4 (5-3)
Boston College 7-5 (4-4)
NC State 8-4 (4-4)
Wake Forest 7-5 (4-4)
Maryland 3-9 (1-7)

Jeff with the hometown pick in Clemson! Hate to do this, but I have to agree with him, although I don't expect Clemson to win 10 games breaking in a brand new quarterback and coaching staff. C.J. Spiller is certainly a playmaker, but Clemson will wind up dropping more than 2 games. The Tigers win a highly competitive (mediocre?) Atlantic Division race with a 5-3 mark. Clemson ties Florida State at 5-3 atop the Atlantic but Clemson goes to their first ACC Championship game based on winning the head-to-head tiebreaker. Clemson also drops games in conference on the road at Georgia Tech and Miami (Fla.).

Florida State's hopes to get back to the ACC Championship Game die on November 14, as the 'Noles yet again struggle to put away the Demon Deacons in Winston-Salem.

Every team in the Atlantic will drop a game to a BCS opponent this season except for NC State, who conveniently plays all of their non-conference schedule at Carter-Finley Stadium. Florida State will lose at Florida, Clemson will lose at home vs. TCU, Boston College loses at Notre Dame, Maryland drops two to California and Rutgers and Wake loses to Baylor this weekend (and if they don’t, I’ll predict a 1-1 split between their games with Baylor and Stanford in weeks 1 and 2).

Finally, BC will go 3-1 in non-conference play, losing a heart breaker to Notre Dame. In conference, BC won’t be able to get past Florida State and North Carolina at home, and Clemson and Virginia Tech on the road.

Fortune Teller: Predicting The Season

2009-09-02T08:26:00.034-04:00

Part of BCI's season preview week.

The 2009 Eagles football season is sure to be one of the most unpredictable in recent memory. Today we peer into our crystal ball to find out how the 2009 football season will play out. Jeff's pick is listed first followed by Brian's.

Northeastern. Win / Win

Jeff: There isn't a whole lot to think about here. A few draws up the middle to Harris should be enough to beat Northeastern. Only the final score is in question.

Kent State. Win / Win

Brian: In last year's game, Golden Flashes senior quarterback Julian Edelman accounted for 64% of Kent State's total offense. Edelman is gone, and even with playmaker Eugene Jarvis returning for his senior season, the Eagles shouldn't have too much difficulty shutting down the Flashes offense. But can the Eagles offense move the ball on offense?

at Clemson. Win / Loss

Jeff: With the way the offseason has unfolded, Boston College will enter this game as underdogs once again against the Tigers. Fortunately for BC, though, they are undefeated against Clemson as underdogs since joining the ACC and I expect that trend to continue. A quick Eagle score will put the Clemson coaches and players on their heels, and the Eagles will be able to play loose due to the low expectations the fans and media have for them this season.

Wake Forest. Loss / Win

Brian: Since 2003 when the Eagles renewed a series with the Deacons, every game has been an adventure. This year's game should prove to be no exception. The battle on both sides of the ball will prove to be exciting. Wake Forest's offense led by senior quarterback Riley Skinner vs. another Spaziani-led defense, and BC's young offense vs. a depleted Wake Forest defensive unit. Jeff and I are split on this game, but I think the home field advantage gives the slight edge to the Eagles. This will be a wild game, but the Eagles winning ways at home against Wake Forest continue.

Florida State. Win / Loss

Jeff: This is without question the biggest home game of the 2009 season and I think the players will respond. Back in the Tom O'Brien days, BC pretty much never won a game where they were a significant underdog. However, that trend has changed in the last few years. In one of the few BC games this season that is likely to be on ABC/ESPN in prime time, the young Eagles team will play their hearts out just as they did in Tallahassee last year. That being said, it could go either way since Florida State is the most talented team in the division this year, hence Brian and I being split on who will win.

at Virginia Tech. Loss / Loss

Brian: I certainly have my doubts about the Hokies chances to three-peat in the ACC this year (the play of Tyrod Taylor, no Darren Evans, an otherwise anemic offense, etc. etc.), but there probably isn't a tougher, more intimidating place to play in the ACC than Lane Stadium. Without some Matt Ryan magic this season, this may very well be an unpleasant road trip for the Eagles. My only hope for this game is that it is a noon kickoff and the Eagles D comes up huge and catches the Hokies sleep walking.

North Carolina State. Loss / Win

Jeff: A loss here assumes that Russell Wilson is healthy. NC State is better this year than last year, and last year's game was too close for comfort. The Wolfpack nearly knocked off the Eagles despite Chris Crane having one of the greatest statistical games for a Boston College quarterback. This year we won't have the firepower to win a shootout. If Russell Wilson is not able to play though or if our offense progresses a little more than expected, this game is very winnable for the Eagles as well as long as they are not trapped by looking ahead to Notre Dame.

at Notre Dame. Win / Loss

Brian: The Eagles luck against the Irish runs out this season in a heartbreaking, last minute "Petersen-to-Gonzalez-in-the-corner-of-the-endzone-like" loss. While I personally don't think much of this year's Irish team (and feel their preseason Top 25 ranking is based solely on their easy schedule), I think the home field advantage gives the edge to Notre Dame in this one. However, Jeff foresees a win. He must think the Irish will have a letdown after getting throttled by USC the week before, or that they are going to break out those stupid green jerseys.

Central Michigan. Win / Win

Jeff: Central Michigan isn't even the favorite to win their division of the MAC. Some people might be confused because the favorite is another directional Michigan, but I just can't see the Eagles losing to a MAC team that won't even go to the MAC championship game.

at Virginia. Win / Win

Brian: Virginia installs a new offensive scheme this year (the spread) which can only help an offense that finished 105th in total offense in 2008. But UVA doesn't have the personnel to successfully pull off this offense. This team isn't going to start putting up Tulsa numbers overnight, and time seems to be running out for Groh in Charlottesville. While this game is on the road, the difference will be the Boston College defense shutting down the Cav offense. BC should run the 'Hoos off the field with the 1-2 punch of Harris and Haden. Oh yeah, and win this one for Kiwanuka (I don't hold grudges or anything).

North Carolina. Loss / Loss

Jeff: It pains me that we are unanimously against the Eagles here but North Carolina has always had the Eagles' number. Even when they met in the Meineke Car Care Bowl before BC joined the ACC, BC had the superior team but struggled to win the game. Since joining the ACC, UNC has stomped on BC during seasons that Boston College has gone on to have more success. I expect this year to be no different even though the focus of the Chapel Hill fans will already have shifted to basketball before this late November matchup. The Tar Heels will remain the one ACC program that Boston College has failed to beat since joining the conference.

at Maryland. Win / Win

Brian: This game will come down to play in the trenches, and both Maryland's lines are in need of some serious overhauls. The Terps have lost five of their top seven linemen on the offensive side of the ball, and two of four of their starters on the defensive line. Even with Chris Turner and Da'Rel Scott, I don't think the lines will hold long enough to sustain much offense. Boston College will have revenge on their minds for their last trip to Byrd Stadium and roll to their seventh win of the season. The Terps, on the other hand, will finish November with an 0-4 record and losses to NC State, Virginia Tech, Florida State and BC.

Let us recap.

Game	Jeff	Brian
Northeastern	Win	Win
Kent State	Win	Win
at CLEMSON	Win	Loss
WAKE FOREST	Loss	Win
FLORIDA STATE	Win	Loss
at VIRGINIA TECH	Loss	Loss
NORTH CAROLINA STATE	Loss	Win
at Notre Dame	Win	Loss
Central Michigan	Win	Win
at VIRGINIA	Win	Win
NORTH CAROLINA	Loss	Loss
at MARYLAND	Win	Win
Record	8-4 (4-4)	7-5 (4-4)

Preseason Blogpoll Roundtable, or How T. Boone Pickens Fixes the BC Tailgating Scene

2009-09-01T15:08:00.028-04:00

Throughout the season, much like last year, we'll be participating in the blogpoll roundtable. The first one of the year is hosted by Doug at Hey Jenny Slater.

1. Without naming names, a few teams seem to have popped up frequently on everyone's "overrated" lists in the preseason, so let's forget about them for the moment and concentrate on a different group: sleepers. Which currently unheralded team are you currently putting at least a few of your chips behind in the hopes that you'll be able to say "totally called that" once they've accomplished big things by the end of the season?

In my opinion, any sleeper would essentially be a team that was left out of the preseason Top 25 polls, makes a 2008-Utah-like leap into the polls and remains in the top 25 for much of the second half of the season. Remember: Utah went unranked in both major polls to start the 2008 season, and did a little thing called "going undefeated and finished #2 in the final AP Poll," is all. So for this question, a good starting point has to be the Big East Conference because, hell, somebody has to win the conference and no Big East program is ranked in the preseason Top 25.

So why not South Florida? It seems it is now or never for the Bulls in Grothe and Selvie's final season. USF has flirted with greatness early the past few seasons only to fall back into their previous, upstart-CUSA-like form. The talent is certainly there, and the schedule sets up fairly nicely. The Bulls can sleepwalk through their first three games against two I-AA teams and a I-A upstart (Western Kentucky) before traveling to Tallahassee to face Florida State. With the exception of USF's October 24 road trip to Pittsburgh, all of the teams projected to finish atop the Big East this season - namely Cincinnati and West Virginia - travel to Tampa. The road Big East schedule isn't too difficult with stops at Syracuse, Pitt, Rutgers and Connecticut. If the Bulls can split their in-state ACC matchups, Leavitt could very well be looking at a 10-2 or 11-1 season and a BCS bowl berth. Or the wheels could again fall off the Bulls wagon mid-season, and South Florida could fade down the stretch. Your guess is as good as mine.

2. In a similar vein, pick a sleeper player on your team whom nobody's talking about right now and tell us why we will be talking about them by December.

Much like Mark Herzlich and Mike McLaughlin exploded onto the defensive scene last year, expect big things from junior defensive end Alex Albright. Albright has been plagued with injuries throughout his brief career with the Eagles, but if he can stay healthy and return to his 2007 form (38 tackles, team-high 8.5 sacks, 10 TFLs), Albright will be a much needed boost to a defensive line that lost both Raji and Brace up the middle.

3. Florida is about as big a consensus favorite as we've seen in recent years, but remember, USC got 62 out of 65 first-place votes in the AP's 2007 preseason poll and still managed to lose to Stanford. Given how difficult it is to go undefeated period these days, where do you think the Gators are most likely to stumble in the regular season?

If Florida is to stumble this season, the chic pick for the Gators lone loss is the October 17 game against Arkansas in the Swamp. The Gators will be coming off an epic, double overtime win over LSU in Death Valley and this game has let-down written all over it.

Ole Miss : 2008 :: Arkansas : 2009

I just hope the University of Florida has room at their new football facility for another plaque.

4. Which regular-season game not involving your team or conference are you most looking forward to this year?

Without question, the answer here has to be the Red River Rivalry (nee Shootout) between Texas and Oklahoma. Whatever the over/under is for that game, take the over. These teams have high-powered offenses and don't play defense. This has all the makings of a 56-52 final score. Should be fun to watch.

5. In honor of Georgia's opening-weekend opponent and their most prolific booster, let's say you somehow come into T. Boone Pickens money and can buy anything you want for your program -- facilities upgrades, an airplane for recruiting, buy out the contract of that coach you hate, you name it. Where does your first check go?

My first purchase wouldn't be to expand Alumni Stadium, upgrade our practice facilities, or give Coach Spaziani a contract extension (or buy him out, depending on your preference). No. Ask any Eagles fan about the BC gameday experience and likely their first complaint about is tailgating. When a good percentage of fans are either parking at one of our satellite campus and taking a bus to the game or tailgating IN a parking garage, you know you have a problem. Indeed, our tailgating scene is whack and pales in comparison to the scenes at Penn State, Clemson or even Virginia Tech.

So, T. Boone, if you'd be willing to throw some bills at the Eagles, might I suggest the following:

You've heard of retractable roofs on baseball stadiums. How about a retractable asphalt parking surface that could extend over the entirety of the Chestnut Hill Reservoir? You've instantly created a temporary tailgating area about the size of BC's main campus and vastly improved the BC tailgating scene.

On Saturdays, open up the Reservoir for tailgating. As the school will have essentially reclaimed otherwise unusable land, said tailgating area would not be subject to the City of Boston's strict tailgating rules. Yes, this temporary area would open 24 hours before kickoff and be Eagles tailgating heaven. On non-game days, simply retract the parking surface to return the Reservoir to its natural aquatic beauty. An added bonus is this tailgating area's proximity to Roggie's, MaryAnn's, Pino's and Presto's for postgame celebratory activities. Win, win, win.

Food Chain: Ranking The 2009 Schedule

2009-09-01T09:25:00.000-04:00

Part of BCI's season preview week.

The 2009 Eagles football season is sure to be one of the most unpredictable in recent memory. Before we reveal our final season predictions tomorrow, we thought it would be useful to rank the Eagles schedule in terms of the toughest victories to come by. Our list and thoughts below. Leave your thoughts on the list in the comment section below.

Food Chain: Toughest 2009 Games

September 5: Boston College vs. Northeastern

Brian: This is the obvious choice for the easiest game of the year. In what will be a glorified exhibition game, the Eagles should roll behind a bruising ground game. I wouldn’t expect much of a passing game and this game will likely resemble last year’s 42-0 beat down of Rhode Island where the Eagles scored 5 touchdowns on the ground and 0 through the air.

September 12: Boston College vs. Kent State

Jeff: For the real BC haters out there this game against Kent State will be our second and last victory of the season. This MAC team showed it was clearly over matched by the Eagles last year in Cleveland when they failed to score and still let BC score 21 points when their offense was not working well at all.

September 19: Boston College at Clemson

Jeff: Are Clemson fans more worried about Boston College or BC fans more worried about Clemson? BC will be 2-0 heading into this game while Clemson might be coming off a loss to Georgia Tech in Atlanta where a second loss would pretty much solidify another disappointing season for the Tigers. Clemson is in a similar position to the Eagles on offense because they have CJ Spiller returning which leaves them nothing to worry about in the backfield. However, the Tigers are going with a new quarterback in Kyle Parker who does not have terribly big shoes to fill.

September 26: Boston College vs. Wake Forest

Brian: The Deacons have to take a step back this season, right? I know that Wake Forest will be sound offensively led by senior "it feels like he’s been there for 8 years" quarterback Riley Skinner. But the Deacons seem to have lost just too much talent on the defensive side of the ball to rank this game too high up in pecking order. It is true that you should never count out a Jim Grobe-led team, and Wake Forest has given the Eagles fits at Alumni Stadium over the years, but this game seems to be one of the more winnable ACC games this season. I guess that is saying something.

October 3: Boston College vs. Florida State

Brian: Florida State has owned the Eagles in Chestnut Hill since we joined the ACC (0-2, including ending any hope of a perfect season in 2007) and this season should prove yet again to be one of the toughest outs of the season. Best case scenario for the Eagles is that the ‘Noles limp into Alumni Stadium at 2-2 with losses to Miami and at BYU in September. My fear though is that FSU comes rolling into Boston with the momentum of a 4-0 record.

October 10: Boston College at Virginia Tech

Jeff: Virginia Tech is pretty much unanimously the highest ranked team in the ACC entering the season by everyone covering the conference and college football. Those same writers would probably unanimously rank Blacksburg as the most intimidating road game for ACC opponents. Add those two factors and it does not look good for the Eagles.

Brian: Darren Evans or no Darren Evans, Blacksburg continues to be one of the toughest places to play in the ACC. Beamer will have the Hokies ready for this game and despite an anemic Hokie offense, will likely get the job done yet again on defense and special teams.

October 17: Boston College vs. NC State

Jeff: If Russell Wilson isn't giving you nightmares thinking about the problems quarterbacks of his pedigree have always given BC in the Spaziani era, he will give you nightmares after October 17. If healthy, Wilson gives NC State the chance to win virtually every game on their schedule this season. If he's not healthy, however, NC State will be in for a long disappointing season.

October 24: Boston College at Notre Dame

Brian: Despite what the media pundits would have you believe, this is not the greatest of Irish teams. You’ll see the Irish popping up in preseason Top 25 ballots based more on their strength of schedule than because of the talent they return. Notre Dame will likely have their asses handed to them by USC the week before, so they will be hungry for a win against the Eagles the following week. If the Eagles can get the offense clicking by week eight (they better!), this will be one hell of a game. Not to mention the Eagles always get up for a trip to South Bend. Still, because this game is on the road, I'd say you have to place it in the top half of the toughest games of the year for the Eagles.

October 31: Boston College vs. Central Michigan

Jeff: In most preseason rankings Central Michigan is either right above or right below BC. Central Michigan is perhaps the most well-known team in the MAC as a respectable, bowl-bound program. And with Dan LeFevour returning at quarterback, they are going to be tough to beat and hopefully will not be overlooked by the players simply because of the conference they are from.

November 14: Boston College at Virginia

Brian: The Cavaliers may very well be 3-6 or 4-5 going into this game and might even be without their head coach. With a 3-6 record including a loss to Duke at home, the Virginia AD may have already started looking in a different direction for the program’s head coach. Even though this game is on the road, Virginia doesn’t scare me all that much. Offense will be a big question for the 'Hoos starting at the quarterback position. And because of the uncertainty at quarterback, I’m less concerned about this game than I am about, say, the Central Michigan game.

November 21: Boston College vs. North Carolina

Brian: Butch Davis should have his team ready for a late season surge against Duke, Miami Fla., Boston College and NC State. I wouldn’t expect a late-season collapse from the Heels like last season. UNC will be in the hunt for the Coastal Division crown and their last two games against the Atlantic Division’s Eagles and Wolfpack will go a long way to determining whether they should challenge Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech and Miami for the title.

November 28: Boston College at Maryland

Jeff: Is BC going to a bowl game this year? It's entirely possible that their postseason fate will come down to the final game of the season at Maryland. Maryland returns their starting quarterback, a Meggett and Da'Rel Scott at tailback, not to mention several other players. However, the Terps do lose the top 10 WR they had in Darrius Heyward-Bey. If Maryland couldn't be successful through the air with Heyward-Bey, how will they be without him? Too much of their offensive success came off of running reverses to Heyward-Bey or other gimmicky plays that his speed allowed. It will be interesting to see how much success, if any, the Maryland offense has this year.

Jeff's Food Chain
12. vs. Northeastern
11. vs. Kent State
10. vs. Central Michigan
9. at Virginia
8. at Maryland
7. at Notre Dame
6. vs. Wake Forest
5. at Clemson
4. vs. Florida State
3. vs. NC State
2. vs. North Carolina
1. at Virginia Tech

Brian's Food Chain
12. vs. Northeastern
11. vs. Kent State
10. at Virginia
9. vs. Central Michigan
8. vs. Wake Forest
7. at Maryland
6. at Notre Dame
5. vs. NC State
4. vs. North Carolina
3. at Clemson
2. vs. Florida State
1. at Virginia Tech

Game Week!

2009-09-01T08:54:00.008-04:00

Fall is in the air, and that can only mean one thing: college football is back and not a moment too soon. What seemed like an excruciatingly long and painful offseason - which included an unexpected coaching change, plenty of injuries, an academic dismissal, a 25-year old minor league journeyman, one of the strangest QB competitions in recent memory and a cracked rib - has finally come to an end.

The season begins Thursday night when NC State hosts South Carolina on ESPN at 7pm ET. Tom O'Brien and the Wolfpack will try to avoid getting embarrassed by an SEC opponent on opening night for the second consecutive season. After that, we go to the blue turf of Boise as the #16 Oregon Ducks visit the #14 Boise State Broncos at 10:15pm. We're already getting our apartments ready. Is it too early to start tailgating?

The Eagles 2009 campaign begins at 2pm ET Saturday against Northeastern. If you are in town, go to the game. If not, huddle ye around the laptop monitor.

BCI will be moving into our regular season college football format later this week, where we'll hit you up with a healthy dose of headlines, oddsmakers, over/under, toss up, power rankings, and of course, the big finish. For the second season, we'll also be bringing back pick 5 where in 2008 Jeff (42-33) pulled out a 3 game victory over Brian (39-36).

Let's Go Eagles! Clap clap clapclapclap ...

Headlines: BC-Northeastern Depth Chart Released

2009-08-31T07:30:00.000-04:00

Brian: The Boston College football depth chart was released on Sunday and not a moment too soon, with only 5 days to kickoff. Here’s what we know.

On offense

Looks like both Justin Tuggle and Michael Marscovetra are going to have a shot at the starting quarterback position.
The hybrid tight end/fullback spot is a bit of a surprise with sophomore Lars Anderson getting the nod over junior Jordon McMichael
Jarvis and Gunnell are the starting WRs, Megwa must still be injured
Redshirt freshman Chris Pantale has the starting TE position
Redshirt freshman Emmett Cleary takes the LG spot

On defense

Albright reclaims his spot on the depth chart, providing some much needed experience on the defensive line
Dillon Quinn will redshirt
The loss of Herzlich, McLaughlin and now Thompson in the LB corps hurts. The starting LB corps will contain two freshmen (Kuechly and DiSanzo) and a sophomore (LeGrande)
Giles and Scafe will be tabbed to replace Raji and Brace up the middle
Secondary will be a strength, with Bowman and Davis at safety and Gause and Rollins are corner

Specialists

Aponavicius is the starting kicker
Gunnell gets the punt returning spot while Harris will take kickoffs

Jeff, the biggest surprises for you?

Jeff: Surprise? There is no surprise in any of this information unfortunately. Can we at least name a starting quarterback? I feel that with the injuries, the rest of the depth chart was predictable aside from where freshman step in. But since they are freshman and we've never seen them play before, can we judge anything? No.

I think Spaziani continuing to hold off on naming a starting quarterback means that Shinskie is the starter as soon as he is healthy. I don't think it is good to go into your final week of practice with three guys splitting time at the most valuable position on the field. If that OR in the depth chart is really ultimately for the #2 quarterbacking spot, I think we have a much better chance of developing some team chemistry amongst the first unit ASAP.

Preseason BlogPoll Released

2009-08-30T18:34:00.004-04:00

Brian: The preseason blogpoll was released last Wednesday by Brian at MGoBlog. Not many surprises, other than the lone #20 vote for BC by the Florida State blog Tomahawk Nation. Upon closer inspection, the only reason BC comes in at #20 is because TN based its preseason blogpoll ballot based solely on schedule strength.

Florida is the near-unanimous No. 1 overall, receiving 99 of 101 first-place votes. The other two first place votes went to Utah and Georgia (the above-mentioned Tomahawk Nation weirdness).

Top 25 ACC teams include No. 9 Virginia Tech, No. 14 Georgia Tech, No. 19 Florida State, No. 21 North Carolina and No. 25 Miami (Fla.). Notre Dame also makes the poll at No. 23.

Headlines: Final Scrimmage in the Books

2009-08-26T18:37:00.006-04:00

Jeff: The Eagles finished their final scrimmage today and the offensive numbers were far more impressive today than they have been up until this point. Tuggle got off to a fantastic start by going 6 of 9 for 104 yards including a 41 yard TD pass to Rich Gunnell. But then he must have faded quickly after that because he finished the game 7 of 19. Completing only one of his final ten passes, no matter how good our defense might be, is not the way you want to finish off the preseason and head into the first game where he may not start but I imagine is sure to get playing time.

Codi Boek also threw a touchdown pass today but it sounds like he is not in the mix to be the starter on opening day. It still appears that Shinskie will start if he can get back to practice soon and Tuggle will start if Shinskie is unable. Spaz had high praise for Tuggle after the game ... sorta.

"Tuggle has made a lot of strides," said Spaziani. "In the beginning of this, he was somewhere else on the ladder, but he took a licking and came back ticking. He could have gone two ways. He went the positive way. It means a lot and he's made progress."

If Boek ends up in the mix look for an option type offense unlike any we have seen at Boston College, at least since I've been following the team.

Preseason Football Rankings

2009-08-25T20:45:00.005-04:00

Jeff: By now, you have probably seen that Boston College received votes in both of the major preseason polls. How can a team that some predict to go 2-12, 4-8, or maybe by the most pro BC/ACC writers, 6-6 be in others' preseason top 25? How does that make sense?

Well first, realize that a lot of teams receive votes in the preseason polls. Even though BC is in some voters top 25, they are essentially 40th in the AP and tied for 49th in the USA Today Poll. Both of these rankings are still higher than a 4-8 or even 6-6 ACC team deserves but the ranking is deserved. Why you ask?

How many college football teams can you absolutely assure me(like bet your house on) will be ranked ahead of BC in the final BCS standings this season. Personally, I can only come up with 3. Texas, Florida and Oklahoma. Sure, there are plenty more teams that I think will finish ahead of BC at the end of 2009, but only 3 that I am absolutely be sure of because I cannot promise you that USC will win the Pac-10 and BC will not win the ACC, for example. Why else does BC deserve to get some top 25 votes?

Boston College has proved since joining the ACC that they have competed for their division and conference title every year and gone on to bowl games. Since a preseason top 25 poll ranks basically every BCS conference team that will ultimately head to a bowl game. BC certainly has earned the right to be considered based on their past success and the inaccuracies of preseason polls.

Lastly, the uncertainties of Dave Shinskie, the new coaches and the injuries not only leave the possibility for a disastrous season, but also leave the possibility of having an unpredictably successful season and if that scenario pans out, at least a few writers will be able to say "I told you so."

Comparing the two polls, I have to say that I agree with the AP Poll a little more than the USA Today poll because of where we are ranked relative to a few teams I follow closely. In the AP Poll South Carolina got 2 votes while Wake Forest got zero but in the USA Today Poll both teams are ahead of BC. No one can convince me that either team deserves to be ranked ahead of BC.

Headlines: 2009-10 Basketball Schedule Released

2009-08-25T20:37:00.004-04:00

Jeff: The schedule for the upcoming season was released today and if you are a season ticket holder or a student, you have to be excited that both Duke and North Carolina come to Chestnut Hill this year. Out of conference, Boston College could play as many as 5 BCS conference teams depending on how the Paradise Jam shakes out where they could face Purdue again and BC alum Bruce Pearl's Tennessee squad. BC will play at Providence, at Michigan, and South Carolina for sure with Rhode Island and UMass being their next toughest non-conference games.

More on the Boston College basketball schedule once Brian returns to America.

Headlines: What We Learned From The Scrimmage

2009-08-25T01:36:00.005-04:00

Jeff: Now that all reports are confirmed, we know that Dave Shinskie did break a rib in Sunday's scrimmage and that was the reason why he did not see more snaps. This clears up all doubt that Shinskie was the favorite to be the starter for Boston College's season opening game against Northeastern on Sept 5th, but now, due to the injury, we are uncertain if he will be ready and able to do so.

As a point of reference, Matt Ryan went 35 of 63 for 304 yards and 2 TDs in the three scrimmages leading up to the 2007 season. While these numbers are slightly better than the numbers our QBs have been putting up this fall, it was still well shy of the 32 of 52 for 408 yards and 5 TDs that he put up in the season opener against Wake Forest that year.

The only other thing I've taken away from the scrimmages is that the place kicking seems to be decent. Aponavicius only went 2 for 4 but the two misses were a block and a bad snap issue. It seems to me that in the spring and so far this fall he has been solid with his 35-45 yard attempts. If this continues into the regular season, that would fill a glaring defect we have had in our special teams for the past several seasons.

All Eyes on QB and the Big Finish

2009-08-21T07:00:00.002-04:00

Brian: Pictures say a thousand words, eh? Well, scrimmage #2 is in the books and all eyes are on the Eagles' anemic offense but most importantly, the quarterback competition. During Wednesday's scrimmage, Shinskie and Marscovetra winded up taking a majority of the snaps. Was there improvement? Well, I guess slight improvement? Here are the respective lines of our freshman quarterback candidates:

David Shinskie (Fr.) - 9 for 16, 127 yards, 1 INT
Michael Marscovetra (Fr.) - 6 for 11, 43 yards, 1 INT

The Eagles offense didn't find the end zone until the last play of the scrimmage, when Marscovetra handed off to Jeff Smith for a three yard TD run. For those keeping track at home, here are the combined QB stats from scrimmages 1 and 2.

David Shinskie (Fr.) - 12 for 24, 149 yards, 2 INT
Michael Marscovetra (Fr.) - 11 for 17, 58 yards, 2 INT
Codi Boek (Jr.) - 4 for 6, 15 yards
Justin Tuggle (RS Fr.) - 2 for 6, 9 yards, 1 INT

Yikes! So two questions Jeff. Who do you think will emerge from the QB competition between Shinskie and Marscovetra? And what should Spaziani and the Eagles do with Justin Tuggle, who has been relegated to 3rd in Spaz's QB pecking order.

Jeff: First, Tuggle is a redshirt freshman who, if he is the number 3 man, should hold a clipboard and like it. The only question of "what do you do with this guy?" relates to Marscovetra who is the only person being considered to redshirt. The potential redshirting of Marscovetra might also be reason why he saw so many snaps in the scrimmage. In a way, right now, Spaz and the staff need to learn more about Marscovetra than any other quarterback on the team.

Brian: Are you getting concerned that without a quantum leap forward, what we've heard from the two summer scrimmages is what we are going to get come September 5?

Jeff: You have to be concerned since Spaz's quotes and sound bytes make it sound like he is disappointed with the QB play so far. He had expectations when he offered these two freshman scholarships and he's been around the Heights long enough that his expectations should be realistic. Spaz being disappointed is not a good sign for the Eagles. However, Shinskie is averaging 12.4 yards per completion over the first two scrimmages, and that seems decent to me purely from a statistical standpoint. You have to consider that the first-team defense he was up against is much stronger than the second-team defense. So at this point, I feel that Shinskie is clearly the heavy favorite to emerge as starter.

Big Finish

Brian: Here is a pretty fair assessment of Boston College's offense from the FSU blog Tomahawk Nation. Montel Harris - product of BC's great offensive line or damn fine running back?

Jeff: BC has not had any damn fine running backs since I've been following them. They've all somewhat been products of good lines.

Jeff: Blaudschun reports that Coach Spaz is in favor of scrimmaging other local teams as part of the summer workouts. Agree?

Brian: It's a good thought but the injury bug has already hit ACC teams fairly hard this summer. I'd imagine injuries would be even more prevalent if you scrimmaged a Harvard, New Hampshire, UMass or Rhode Island, no?

Brian: Steve Conroy of the Herald talks about the opportunity that this year's true freshmen have to step up. Name one freshman you expect to make a name for themselves this season.

Jeff: Dave Shinskie will continue to be the BC freshman getting more ESPN air time than any other freshman.

Jeff: Maine goaltender prospect Brian Billet commits to BC. Good news?

Brian: As the only goalie signed for the class of 2014 and reportedly one of the best goalie prospects in the country, yes. Definitely. Especially since he lives in Maine and plays for the EJHL's New Hampshire Monarchs.

Brian: SI's Stewart Mandel thinks this is the season (or next season!) that the ACC finally lands two teams in those coveted BCS bowl slots. Agree?

Jeff: Yes. Unlike previous years, there are a couple of teams that have just enough preseason hype that a 10-2 type record could get them in without winning the ACC Championship Game. Florida State, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Miami Fla. ...

Jeff: Greg Paulus was named the starting QB at Syracuse. Good thing or bad thing for when BC plays Syracuse starting next season?

Brian: Good thing. You want Syracuse to turn in a respectable performance this season so BC isn't criticized for weak scheduling next season, and apparently Paulus is the Orange's best option this season. Also good that Paulus won't be around next season and Syracuse will turn to yet another green QB.

Brian: The Sun Bowl unanimously chose to take the 5th best ACC team for the years 2010-13 over the Big East offer (the conference's 3rd best team or Notre Dame). Is this a blow to the Big East?

Jeff: Well, in all reality, Notre Dame would not fall to the Sun Bowl often so it was a great business decision by them to take an NC State or Clemson type team with a good fan base. The Sun Bowl will also get the occasional FSU or Virginia Tech appearance over having Rutgers or Pitt play annually with hopes of Notre Dame falling into their slot. But, this is yet another indication that it's laughable how some think BC should have stayed in the Big East.

Jeff: Last one, BCMike's new blog BCDraft drafted the best tailgating drinks and the #1 overall draft pick went to Bloody Mary's. WTH?

Brian: Sorry, BCMike, but true Eagles only drink Bud Light whilst tailgating. Or Busch Light, if you are strapped for cash.

Brian is on an international ~~recruiting~~ school trip next week so aside from a few season preview posts written this week, you will be in Jeff's hands. Who will play LeBatard ("BAM!") to Brian's MW next week?

Football season is almost here ... Go Eagles!

Go Forth, and Heckle The Hecklers (Updated with 50% More Heckling)

2009-08-20T17:05:00.012-04:00

Care of Joe Ovies over at 850 AM THEE Blog ...

And cgb over at College Game Balls takes it a step further ...

Finally, Gobbler Country's F4H pulls out this very obscure reference.

Over/Under: 09 College Football Preview SEC

2009-08-19T17:30:00.002-04:00

Brian: Next up on our preview of the BCS conferences is the $2.25 billion dollar industry known as the S-E-C.

Our previous BCS conference previews: Pac 10, Big XII, Big Ten, Big East

For reference, here is a composite prediction of how the experts think God's Conference will play out this season:

SEC East
1. Florida
2. Georgia
3. Tennessee
4. South Carolina
5. Vanderbilt
6. Kentucky

SEC West
1. Alabama
2. Louisiana State
3. Mississippi
4. Arkansas
5. Auburn
6. Mississippi State

First up, Over/Under - 7 regular season wins for South Carolina

Brian: I simply don’t see things getting any better for Steve Spurrier and the Gamecocks this season. Last season’s 7 regular season wins seems to be a bit of a ceiling for South Carolina. The non-conference schedule doesn’t do South Carolina any favors with two ACC programs book-ending the season along with Florida Atlantic and South Carolina State. I wouldn’t expect a repeat of South Carolina’s 34-0 beatdown of NC State to start the season, especially with this year’s tilt at Carter-Finley Stadium and even with Clemson at home, I see the Tigers continuing their recent dominance over their intra-state rivals. Assuming that South Carolina goes 2-2 out of conference, I would need them then to go 5-3 in conference just to push and 6-2 for the over. Last season’s four SEC wins came at Ole Miss and Kentucky and at home vs. Tennessee and Arkansas. This season they have to travel to Knoxville and Fayetteville, and both Tennessee and Arkansas should be vastly improved from a season ago. Ole Miss will be better. I don’t see USC going any better than 2-2 in those games. Tack on losses at Alabama, at Georgia, Florida. I’m fairly confident in the under (-200) here. Maybe, maybe South Carolina gets to 6 wins and goes bowling, but that’s about it this season. Yes, Spurrier will get more consistent quarterback play from sophomore Stephen Garcia, but there are still lots of question marks on the offensive line – an O-line that gave up the second most sacks in the SEC last season. Take the under here for easy money.

Jeff: This is my local team you are talking about, Brian, and you hit the nail on the head. The Gamecocks will NOT win more than 7 games. Take the under (-200) here and the worst you'll do is get your money back at the end of the season. I have talked to people who have attended some of their practices and they say USC look worse than last year. Not only does Smelley continue to get into off the field issues but they also play in an extremely tough division. If they lose to NC State to start the season, it will be tough for the Gamecocks to go bowling again.

Over/Under - 7 regular season wins for Tennessee

Jeff: I like Tennessee to bounce back this year, make some noise in the SEC and get some wins against ranked opponents this year. But as far as their prospect of getting to 8 wins, I don't like it. Tennessee doesn't play any major powers out of conference but UCLA could knock them off and depending on how things go, Memphis could prove to be a tough game. In SEC play they unfortunately have to travel to Florida, Alabama and Ole Miss. That's 3 preseason Top 10 teams on the road. What a brutal schedule. Since I have to make a pick here I'll take the under (-165) but if we were playing with real money I'd stay away from this bet entirely.

Brian: This is a tough call as there are a ton of unknowns going into the beginning of the Lane Kiffin era in Knoxville. I'm fairly certain the Vols will improve on last year's 5-7 record but by just how many games is the million dollar question. The bright spots for the Volunteers will be All-American junior safety Eric Berry. The weaknesses will be in the linebacking corps and in the offensive skill positions. But the Tennessee offense can't possibly be worse than it was last year. Giving a cursory glance over the Vol schedule, I would predict a 7-5, 4-4 SEC season for Kiffin in his first year. Wins in non-conference play against Western Kentucky, Memphis and Ohio, and conference wins over Vanderbilt, Kentucky, South Carolina and Auburn. But since pushing is unmanly, I'll hesitantly take the under (-165) here and predict that either South Carolina or Auburn take care of the Vols in Knoxville. 6-6, 3-5 in the SEC in Kiffin's first season, and the Vols return to the postseason.

Over/Under - 7 1/2 regular season wins for Auburn

Brian: I have no doubt that Auburn will turn it around eventually, but I think the faithful on the Plains can’t expect monumental change to come in one season. And turning a 5-7, 2-6 season into an 8-4, 5-3 season in a single year is what I would consider monumental change. I went to an Auburn game last season right when the wheels were starting to fall off the Tommy Tuberville train, and Auburn dropped 6 of their last 7 games to end the season with their only win coming against I-AA Tennessee-Martin. Chizik will face the same sorts of problems that led to Tuberville’s departure – trying to fit a square peg (a spread offense) into a round hole (players traditionally recruited to run the power-I). It might get better with new offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, but his new system will take time to develop. Quarterback is equally as much of a question, with Chris Todd and Kodi Burns stinking up the joint last season (I ended up seeing both in the 25-22 loss to Arkansas). Throw in Neil Caudle and much like the Eagles, I’m not sure we’ll have a Tiger starting QB named until very late in August. To expect 8 or more wins for the Tigers this season is simply too many. Three non-conference gimmes (Louisiana Tech, Ball State, Furman) and a home game against Kentucky seem to be the only locks for Ws this season. Auburn has a tough non-conference opponent in West Virginia coming to Jordan-Hare on September 19, and could foreseeably go 0-4 on the road in the SEC this season (Tennessee, Arkansas, LSU, Georgia). Throw in tough home games against Alabama and Ole Miss, and the under (-220) seems to be the EASY, easy choice for Auburn this season.

Jeff: Predicting that Auburn will win 8 games this season is a tough thing to do. Tough even though I do expect significant improvement over last season with the Tigers getting back to a bowl game this year. Ole Miss and Alabama are both ranked high entering the season in the SEC West and they also travel to Athens and Morgantown in out of conference play. I see a lot of wins on Auburn's schedule to get them to the six they need for bowl eligibility but to predict 8+ is just impossible given their incredible struggles last season. Under (-220).

Over/Under - 8 1/2 regular season wins for Georgia

Jeff: Georgia will most likely go 6-2 in SEC play this year. But the Bulldogs have, by far, one of the most interesting non-conference schedules of any BCS team this year. Because of that tough non-conference schedule, UGA aren't a lock to reach 9 or 10 wins and go over. Among their games against Oklahoma State, Arizona State and Georgia Tech, will they go 3-0, 2-1, 1-2??? Given that Georgia will be breaking in a new quarterback, a new running back, and that crazy non-conference schedule ... I think you have to take the under here (-110) and expect Georgia to lose a game or two along the way to a team they should normally beat.

Brian: You are right Jeff. In predicting this line, the focus should be on Georgia's non-conference schedule. I have to give the Bulldogs credit though. After spending years in the friendly confines of the Peach state, snacking on I-AAs and Sunbelt teams between the hedges, UGA went out and scheduled a damn fine slate of non-conference games this season. So good, in fact, that is considered by some to be one of the toughest schedules in the BCS. The Bulldogs start the season in Stillwater against a top 25 squad in Oklahoma State. The Bulldogs also scheduled Arizona State, and go to Atlanta to face Georgia Tech at the end of the season. The problem, as you alluded to, is that Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno aren't walking through that door. A year ago, Georgia was a mythical national championship contender. A 10-3, 6-2 SEC finish was actually a disappointment for Bulldog nation. If the Athens faithful thought 10 wins was a disappointment last season, they aren't going to like what they get from UGA this season. I'll predict that Georgia loses at least 2 of their 4 non-conference games (in all liklihood at Oklahoma State and at Georgia Tech). In addition, I'll predict the Bulldogs go 6-2 at best in SEC play with losses to Florida (yes, again) and LSU. There are plenty of other trap games on the sched this year including September 19 at Arkansas (who UGA didn't face last season) and October 10 at Tennessee. Go with the under (-110) here. Georgia won't go any better than 8-4 this season.

Over/Under - 8 1/2 regular season wins for LSU

Brian: This is an extremely interesting line. An over here would mean a two game improvement from last season’s 3-5 SEC finish. I’ll assume for a moment that LSU coasts through their non-conference schedule of UL Lafayette, Tulane, Louisiana Tech and a road trip to Seattle (Washington) and gets to 4-0 just as they did last year. So then the Tigers have to turn two SEC losses in 2008 to two wins in 2009. Only two of LSU’s five SEC losses came on the road, and it’s questionable whether the Tigers can take down Florida at home this season. Let’s assume that LSU will turn the Arkansas game from a loss to a win, which leaves me looking for one more SEC W. The most likely candidates then are the road trips to Athens or Tuscaloosa, as I expect both Georgia and Alabama to take a bit of a step back this season. Not to mention the Alabama game was lost in overtime last season. Overall, I like LSU’s chances to get back on track this season, win at least 9 games and be in the running to take the SEC West crown after a one-year hiatus from being unstoppable. Go with the over here (+100) and expect LSU to challenge Ole Miss and Alabama for the West division crown.

Jeff: Brian finds this line fascinating while I find it easy money. Like he said, LSU should go 4-0 in non-conference play so 5-3 in the SEC would get the Tigers to 9-3. LSU was down last year but when you have the opportunity to make money off a team that has two recent national championships by only winning 9 games, you take it!! OVER OVER OVER (+100) and don't look back.

Over/Under - 9 regular season wins for Ole Miss

Jeff: As indicated by our preliminary preseason blogpoll ballot, we are high on Ole Miss this season. Even though I have the Rebels lower in my blogpoll ballot than Brian, there is no way this team wins 8 games or less this year. Over (-130).

Brian: Yes, we are high on the Rebels, but with good reason. The Rebels finished last season on a 6 game winning streak, including wins at LSU and vs. Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl. Junior QB and Texas transfer Jevan Snead looks poised to have another outstanding year under center should the offensive line gel. Whether right or wrong, preseason polls are becoming as much about who you play as they are about the talent you return. Mississippi's 2009 schedule is THE weakest in the SEC and one of these weakest for a BCS conference team (77 of 120 to be specific, according to Phil Steele). Only my Northwestern (85) and Rutgers (106) have a weaker preseason strength of schedule. Two I-AA teams (SE Louisiana and Northern Arizona), two 'meh' Conference-USA teams (at Memphis and UAB), and two of their toughest SEC West opponents have to come to Oxford (Alabama and LSU). Not to mention Ole Miss misses both Florida and Georgia and instead gets Tennessee, South Carolina and Tennessee from the other side of the conference. To win less than 9 wins this season would be a HUGE disappointment. Some might point to last year's preseason media darlings like Georgia or Clemson and say the same fate awaits Mississippi this season, but I just don't see it. The talent is there and the schedule so weak that Ole Miss should be playing in their first SEC Championship Game come December. Over (-130).

Over/Under - 9 1/2 regular season wins for Alabama

Brian: Much like the LSU line, I find the Bama line extremely interesting this year. Alabama benefits greatly from missing both Florida and Georgia from the other side of the conference this season. I’m not going to expect a repeat of last season’s 12-0 start, especially with the departure of John Parker Wilson and questions on the offensive line. Still, the Bama defense should be filthy with nine of twelve starters back in 2009. For me, this line comes down to whether I think Alabama can win at least one of their three games against marquee opponents this season, including the Chick-Fil-A College Kickoff against Virginia Tech in Atlanta, a road trip to Oxford against Ole Miss in October, and a November 7 home date against LSU. Not only will they have to take 1 of those 3 games, but they’ll also have to avoid getting tripped up against the rest of the SEC and in non-conference play. If there is anything we learned from recent history, it’s that even the games against FIU, North Texas and Chattanooga aren’t 100% gimmes (cough: UL-Monroe). A lot of magazines and prognosticators have Bama in their preseason top 5, but for some reason I’m higher on Ole Miss or LSU’s chances to win the SEC West this season. I’ll take the under (-175) assuming that a 9-3 season or worse is much more likely than 10-2 or better.

Jeff: I expect Alabama to regress from last year, at least in terms of total number of wins. Despite losing the SEC Championship and the Sugar Bowl, Alabama still won 12 games last year in a perfect regular season campaign. This year, however, there is no way the Tide get to twelve wins again. Since I'm an ACC guy, I'll protect the shield and count the Virginia Tech game as a loss for them. But once conference play hits, the good news, as Brian points out, is that Alabama misses both Florida and Georgia from the SEC East. So getting to 10 wins mostly comes down to splitting the LSU and Ole Miss games. I like their odds of doing that so without any other missteps in conference play they would get to 10-2. But, this is the SEC so I feel sure someone will trip them up this year now that they have a huge target on their backs. An upset loss in the SEC brings them back down to 9-3. But then again, Brian took the under here and I have not gone back on my never failing logic of Brian typically being wrong with these things and I will take the OVER (+125)!!!

Last one, Over/Under - 11 regular season wins for Florida

Jeff: Is it more likely that Florida will win them all or lose two games? I am going to say that it is more likely that the fighting Tim Tebows run the table than lose two game even though the most likely scenario is that they lose one game again and push with 11 wins. Over (-120).

Brian: While I won't discount the possibility of a loss or two on the Gators schedule this season (a la 31-30 at home vs. Ole Miss last season), you simply can't ignore the facts here.

The Gators are loaded with talent, not only on offense but more importantly, on the defensive side of the ball. Every defensive member of the Gator's two-deep roster returns, and that was a defense that ranked first in the SEC for scoring defense. Yikes.
The schedule is manageable, particularly in non-conference play where all four of their games are at home (Charleston Southern, Troy, FIU, Florida State). The Gators also miss Alabama and Ole Miss this season from the SEC West.

There are definitely trap games on the schedule, including Arkansas October 17 and Florida State on November 28, but until proven otherwise, the champs are still the champs. Take the over (-120) and expect to see the Gators in both the SEC Championship Game and BCS Championship.

No lines on Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, or Arkansas.

Your thoughts?

Proper Player Etiquette While Playing NCAA Football 10?

2009-08-18T17:50:00.014-04:00

Brian: In a recent interview with Retired Rookie.com (a quality general football blog by a BC Guy, by the way), BC FS Wes Davis admitted that when he plays EA's NCAA Football 10 video game, he usually doesn’t play with Boston College ...

RR: A lot of college players play the NCAA College Football 2010 video game. Do you guys play that?

WD: Oh man... we all play it (everyone on the team who plays video games). It's funny because I remember I was reading an article on the Internet when Dominique Davis had gotten kicked out, some reporter was criticizing him for playing video games. I'm like... I'm the one playing video games. [laughs] He criticized me and everybody else.... some of the better players on our team. It's nice, ya know, a little release time.

RR: Yea, I remember when I was there and leaved near a bunch of the players, they played a bunch.

WD: Especially when you're in high school, that's the one thing you dream of... being on the video game. Once you're there, it's not really that big of a deal, but it's fun.

RR: You normally use BC?

WD: Man.. I wish, but these EA people can't get our ratings the right way [laughs]. If they had our ratings where they needed to be, I'd play with the team more often, but they got us terrible. I'm a competitive person, I can't lose games on principle.

Now admittedly I haven't gotten the chance and upgrade to NCAA Football 10, and my only frame of reference is last year's rankings. But still, something doesn't sit well with me here. Jeff, a member of the BC football team not playing with Boston College? Fair or foul?

Jeff: Davis makes a very legit point that BC is underrated by EA Sports (a point that we hammered home a year ago). But at the same time, he's playing somewhere on the campus of Boston College. Why do they need to play Texas vs. Florida all the time? Why don't they play Boston College vs. Boston College with home and away jerseys? Or why not BC against some of the similarly ranked ACC opponents like Duke, Maryland or Wake Forest?

I want to say I understand him, but no. He's wrong. Stick with BC. You can play as yourself!

ACC Roundtable 1 Wrap-Up Over at Tomahawk Nation/CBSSports.com

2009-08-18T12:14:00.004-04:00

You can find a thoroughly exhausting yet informative wrap-up of yesterday's ACC Roundtable discussion over at Tomahawk Nation. If you wanted to know anything and everything about our 8 ACC opponents for 2009, head on over and check out the preseason scouting reports.

Headlines: Possible Bowl Shakeup Rearranges ACC Opponents

2009-08-18T11:30:00.003-04:00

Brian: On Friday, it was reported that the Champs Sports Bowl is in discussions with the Big East to bring the No. 2 team from the conference to Orlando. As part of this deal, a provision would also be put in place where Notre Dame could be taken one time in a four year period. The Champs Sports Bowl currently pairs the No. 4 or No. 5 Big Ten team against the No. 4 ACC program. If this goes through, the Champs Sports Bowl would be sort of a mini-Orange Bowl, pairing the second pick of the Big East (or Notre Dame) with the ACC's no. 4 pick in Florida.

With this arrangement, it sounds like the Gator Bowl will be ditching their hybrid affiliation with the Big XII, Notre Dame, and the Big East, and would instead pick up the Big Ten's number 4 or 5 pick.

Not following? Here are the changes with respect to the ACC's potential bowl opponents:

Pick	Bowl	Location	Old	New
2	Peach	Atlanta	SEC #3/4/5	SEC #3/4/5
3	Gator	Jacksonville	Big East #2 OR Big XII #3 OR ND	Big Ten #4/5
4	Champs	Orlando	Big Ten #4/5	Big East #2 OR ND
5	Music City	Nashville	SEC #6/7/8	SEC #6/7/8
6	Meineke	Charlotte	Big East #4	Big East #4
7	Emerald	S.F.	Pac-10 #4/5	Pac-10 #4/5
8	EagleBank	D.C.	Army/Navy	Army/Navy
9	GMAC	Mobile	MAC	MAC

This opens up the possibility of the Irish and Eagles meeting in a bowl game, with would certainly be welcomed by Eagles fans considering that the Irish are not renewing their contract with BC past 2010 at this time. The possibility of an Irish vs. Eagles bowl game previously existed but only if the planets aligned and both BC and Notre Dame found themselves in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville. Given the Eagles history with the city of Jacksonville, I would say this was VERY unlikely.

Jeff, you like this move by the Champs Sports Bowl?

Jeff: Love it, love it, love it!!! Well, let me qualify that first. I will love it assuming that the Gator Bowl reaches an agreement with the Big Ten to be slightly higher on the bowl pecking order than the Champs Bowl was. The Champs Sports Bowl is getting better by now having either a 10 win Big East team or Notre Dame play the ACC representative annually. This is a huge step up from an unranked Big Ten team that was never going to be Penn State, Michigan or Ohio State.

Meanwhile, the Gator Bowl will presumably put itself in a position to have a good shot at getting Michigan, Penn State or Ohio State each year and if they don't, should at least get a Big Ten team that either is in the top 25 or has been for a good chunk of the season. Over the past few years where BC has been considered for the Gator Bowl and in contention for the Orange Bowl berth at the same time, my best case scenario was to land in Atlanta playing an SEC opponent rather than heading to Miami or Jacksonville to play a "you're supposed to beat them" Big East team. Now two of the ACC's top three bowls won't be against a Big East opponent which is a great, great thing for the ACC and its fans.

Brian: I'm not so high on this bowl shakeup as you are. I do agree that the Gator Bowl arrangement is much better for the ACC as this clears up any ambiguity that Jacksonville previously had with the selection of the ACC team's opponent. It was never clear whether the Gator Bowl would take a Big XII team, a Big East team or Notre Dame, and pairing itself with the Big Ten helps alleviate any confusion. Also as you alluded to Jeff, there is a much better possibility that the Big Ten will send one of their top 3 teams, especially if the Big Ten keeps placing a second program in one of the BCS at-large berths (as they've done for each of the last four years).

In addition, with the Champs Sports Bowl adding the second best team from the Big East, this could give Boston College more of a fighter's chance at landing one of these top bowl slots. The Eagles getting passed over by the top ACC bowls is well chronicled, but a matchup between BC and one of its former Big East rivals - say West Virginia, Pittsburgh or Rutgers, or even Notre Dame - becomes much more appealing to Orlando as the city's second bowl matchup.

One thing that does bother me though is that the ACC now has three bowl tie-ins directly with the Big East. Aside from the Big East champion, I'm not sold that in any given year there will be two other quality Big East opponents that I'd want to see in the Champs Sports and Meineke Car Care bowls. Quality programs in the Big East bottom out quick, and after the historical cream of the crop - Pittsburgh, West Virginia, (once) Syracuse - there seems to be a lot of 'meh' opponents out there, including Connecticut, Rutgers, Cincinnati, South Florida and Louisville.

That's 3 bowl tie-ins with the Big East, 2 with the SEC, 1 with the Big Ten, 1 with the Pac-10, and 2 throw-away matchups. Although the hybrid arrangement that the Gator Bowl had was confusing as anything, it did pose the possibility of the ACC playing a historically significant Big XII team. The last two years the ACC faced Texas Tech and Nebraska. With this new arrangement, the ACC and Big XII won't meet unless the stars align and it's in one of the BCS bowls. That is a shame.

The big winner in this whole shakeup is the Big Ten, who would now have the possibility of playing in four of the five bowl games on New Year's Day. Playing in a January bowl clearly doesn't carry the same weight as it used to, but the Big Ten would be gaining one more post-December bowl date at the expense of the Big East.

Love the new bowl lineup for BC and the ACC? Hate it? Thoughts?

ACC Roundtable 1: Preseason Edition

2009-08-17T17:44:00.017-04:00

The Florida State blog Tomahawk Nation is hosting the football season's first ACC roundtable discussion. We did our best to answer his questions about Boston College as did other ACC bloggers representing (hopefully) 11 of the 12 programs. Over the next few days, Tomahawk Nation will post a wrap-up of all the participating blogs' answers.

Here are TN's questions and our answers:

Will your team be better than last year, why or why not? Will it show in the record, why or why not?

BC will likely be better on the offensive side of the ball and worse on the defense side. Overall, this is probably a net loss. Unfortunately, this will show in the Eagles' final record. Notre Dame has a better chance of beating the Eagles this year (the game in South Bend). Our game against Virginia Tech in Blacksburg is nearly a sure loss, and it's difficult to find definite wins on our ACC schedule. A record of 9-3 (5-3 ACC) is likely a best, best case scenario with anywhere from 6-6 to 8-4 a possibility. In all liklihood the Eagles won't surpass their 2008 win total.

The ACC has been racked hard by injuries in the off-season. Which guys did your team lose and how will you replace them if you can? On the flip side, who are the newcomers expected to step up, if any?

I don't know if you can call it an injury per se, but obviously the biggest void for the Eagles to fill this season is in the linebacking corps with the loss of All-American Mark Herzlich. Add to this the uncertainty of when Mike McLaughlin will return from tearing his Achilles back in March, and the Eagles will need newcomers to step up at linebacker. The Eagles will look to sophomores Dominick LeGrande and Will Thompson to fill the holes left by Herzlich and McLaughlin. Spaz will likely also rotate in redshirt freshmen Alex DiSanzo and Nick Clancy as well as senior Kevin Distaso. Of that group, however, only Will Thompson has significant experience as he played behind Robert Francois. These Eagles will hopefully step up, but it would be unreasonable to expect them to completely fill the void left by Herzlich and McLaughlin.

Incumbent starting quarterback Dominique Davis leaving for academic reasons might actually be a blessing in disguise. This allowed the Eagles to go out and recruit another quarterback in Dave Shinskie, who appears to be the front-runner for the starting position. Also, where Jeff Jagodzinski and Steve Logan favored more of the duel-threat style quarterback (Davis and Tuggle), early it appears Frank Spaziani and OC Gary Tranquill favor more of the traditional, pro-style quarterback (Shinskie, Marscovetra, Rettig, Bordner).

Less importantly, it would have been nice to see WR Clarence Megwa back in pads during the Eagles opening practices, however Megwa injured his right hand and has had to sit out of practice. If Megwa can get back on the field, he will join a talented wide receiving corps that has the potential to be one of the better units in the conference (provided the starting QB can get them the ball). Still, we are glad Megwa is back and has recovered from a fairly gruesome broken leg injury suffered vs. Clemson last season. Again, if the QB can get the receivers the ball, I would expect big things from seniors Rich Gunnell, Clarence Megwa and Justin Jarvis. Hopefully, Ifeanyi Momah will step up and serve as more than a goal-line, possession receiver.

Which existing player (or group of players) must step their game up in order for your team to over-achieve?

Without a doubt, the preseason focus is on the starting quarterback position. We will only go as far as our starting quarterback will take us. Right now, the candidates are trying to shake off the rust in practice as no QB has any FBS game experience.

The Eagles proved last year that they could make noise in the ACC simply by having a competent, game-managing quarterback. If David Shinskie (or Tuggle/Marscovetra) can manage the game and not lose games a la Chris Crane, the Eagles will likely live up to or slightly surpass their preseason expectations. However, the starting quarterback will have to step up their game and be even better than Crane was last season if Eagles fans expect the team to overachieve this season. There are too many questions on the defensive side of the ball this season. To overachieve, BC will have to win the games they won last year with defense (Notre Dame, Virginia Tech round 1, Florida State) with their offense.

2009 Preseason Blogpoll Ballot

2009-08-17T09:03:00.017-04:00

The Blogpoll is Back

The blogpoll is back and BC Interruption will again be representing Boston College in this year's voting. If you aren't quite sure what the blogpoll is, be sure to read this. In a nutshell, it's basically the AP poll except with bloggers.

The BC Interruption Approach

Instead of coming to some general consensus week to week (no small task), Jeff and I each compile our own Top 25 ballot and average the two together to arrive at this blog's ballot. This is a fairly unique approach to blogpoll voting that not many participating blogs follow, and this has two unintended consequences.

Whack Blogpoll Ballots - If one of us REALLY likes a certain program and that program isn't even on the other's radar, this team could sneak into our Top 25 ballot.
Law of Averages - Sometimes our ballot might look strangely boring and predictable, but that is simply a byproduct of averaging out two very distinct ballots. It's not a reflection of us "mailing in our ballot" and just going with what the mainstream media is saying. Trust us. We take our blogpoll balloting seriously.

After we throw out a preliminary ballot for the week, that's where you come into play. Tell us why we're flat out wrong, pose changes to our first ballot (all in the comments section), and we'll try to incorporate your feedback into the week's final ballot.

Our approach and the goal of the blogpoll is also for full transparency, so we'll let you know which games we watched from week to week.

Here is our 2009 preseason Top 25 ballot.

Rank	Team

1	Florida
2	Texas
3	Oklahoma
4	Southern Cal
5	Mississippi
6	Penn State
7	LSU
8	Virginia Tech
9	Oklahoma State
10	Ohio State
11	California
12	Oregon
13	Alabama
14	Florida State
15	Michigan State
16	Georgia Tech
17	Nebraska
18	Georgia
19	TCU
20	Clemson
21	Miami (Florida)
22	Boise State
23	Utah
24	Brigham Young
25	Pittsburgh

Other Teams Considered: Oregon State, Cincinnati, West Virginia, Kansas, Iowa, Texas Tech, North Carolina, NC State, South Florida, Tennessee, Northwestern, Missouri, Boston College, Notre Dame (to name just a few)

By Conference: SEC 5, ACC 5, Big XII 4, Pac 10 3, Big Ten 3, Mountain West 3, Big East 1, WAC 1

Jeff's Thoughts

Texas, Florida, and Oklahoma are the only teams you should be considering ranking #1 and should fill out everyone's top 3 slots. USC might be four in some polls but they are a distant fourth.
Who's the second best team in the ACC behind Virginia Tech? We'll find out but it could be just about anyone including Boston College. But more likely the second best team in the conference will be Georgia Tech, Miami (Fla.), Florida State or Clemson.
Don't be surprised if South Florida plays Miami (Fla.) in the Orange Bowl ...
... or if Alabama loses 4+ games.
Lastly, the Big XII South is loaded!!!!

Brian's Thoughts

Jeff and I disagreed on who should be No. 1. I was initially leaning Texas but switched over to the defending champ's camp. Besides, as Jeff mentioned, the Big XII South is loaded, and while I have no doubt that Texas will beat both Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, they seem to have a bit of a harder road to get to the National Championship. (Since we can't have ties on our ballot, the tiebreaker goes to the champs.)
The SEC West is as equally loaded as the Big XII South this season. I like Ole Miss's chances the best out of the three as they get both Alabama and LSU at home this season. Can the Rebels make their first SEC Championship game appearance riding the arm of Jevan Snead?
Clemson and Miami (Fla.) miss my Top 25 but make our combined ballot, while Boise State and Utah miss Jeff's Top 25 ballot make the cut.
I previously made a stand against Rutgers, and I'll make a similar stand against Notre Dame. While I do think they have the talent of a Top 25 team, I want to see them rattle off a few wins before I consider voting them in (Nevada is no slouch).
Speaking of Rutgers, who is the best team in the Big East? We have no idea, and considered the chances of basically 1/2 the league - Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, West Virginia and South Florida. Jeff likes Pittsburgh the best while I give the nod to the defending champs.

Leave your thoughts, comments, and suggestions in the comments section below.

Headlines: All Signs Point to Shinskie

2009-08-17T08:24:00.013-04:00

"If you've got four, you don't have any."

Brian: Despite what Mark Blaudschun hinted at last week (that BC would name a starting quarterback by this past Saturday's scrimmage), the first scrimmage came and went without Coach Spaziani naming a starter. The four QB candidates - Codi Boek, Justin Tuggle, Michael Marscovetra, and David Shinskie - all had underwhelming performances in the hour-long scrimmage.

David Shinskie (Fr.) – 3 of 8, 22 yards, 1 INT
Codi Boek (Jr.) – 4 of 6, 15 yards
Justin Tuggle (RS-Fr.) – 2 of 6, 9 yards, 1 INT
Michael Marscovetra (Fr.) – 5 of 6, 45 yards, 1 INT

The quarterback situation is obviously messy. Tranquill has never gone into a season without a QB that has had at least 1 game of I-A experience. That’s 47 years of experience! Not to mention the offense tends to struggle in the season-opening scrimmage, yet these kind of numbers are indeed ugly. Cause for concern?

Jeff: The numbers that the quarterback candidates put up (while I would've liked to have seen one of them find the end zone) are no cause for concern whatsoever. Clearly, no candidate was in long enough to get truly comfortable back there and find any rhythm. Also, when you are playing an intrasquad scrimmage, the defense always has the advantage and we also know that our defense is our strong point to begin with.

Brian: Blaudschun is now reporting that, while Spaziani still appears to be hedging a little, Shinskie will be the No. 1 starter going into the opener against Northeastern. Marscovetra is currently the No. 2, Tuggle the 3, and Boek won't get as much work.

"Nothing clear cut yet,'' said BC's first-year head coach. "We're still in the evaluating process. But David (Shinskie) is going to get a little more snaps than anyone else and Michael (Marscovetra) will follow him and Justin (Tuggle) will follow him. Codi (Boek) won't get as much work."

As Blaudschun points out, Spaz's big decision will be whether to play or redshirt true freshman Marscovetra. There are certainly questions about Marscovetra's maturity, but he has shown the best arm strength in camp early.

The next scrimmage is scheduled for this Wednesday. Over/under on when Spaziani will name a starter?

Jeff: I think he wants to officially name one but no one has stepped up enough to let him. I expect the starter named within 10 days.

Big East Expansion Talk and the (Extra) Big Finish

2009-08-14T16:05:00.002-04:00

Brian: While we were away, we seemed to have missed quite a lot of fun and commotion. The mainstream media - starting with the NY Post - manufactured a "Big East to re-raid ACC story," rumoring that either Maryland or Boston College would jump from the ACC and become the ninth football member of the Big East (give 'em hell, ATL). Perhaps the rumors are stemming from Big East football coaches clamoring for a ninth team to ease scheduling constraints, or maybe it’s an attempt to sweep under the rug the embarrassment that is not placing one football team in the Top 25 of either major poll.

Now we all know that BC isn't rejoining the Big East Conference, despite what out-of-touch Carolina news writers would have you believe. Sorry, Caulton, there is no "second-guessing" here at Boston College.

Let the record show that the Big East football conference coaches are in favor of expanding, but they say that that ninth "team" isn’t out there. They are looking for a team that adds value, an athletic, academic and financially successful future. I guess beggars CAN be choosers.

So instead of wasting words on the Big East to re-raid ACC story - which is, at best, a non-story - paint the picture for me. In all likelihood, the Big East will expand to a ninth or tenth team at some point. So who you got? And what is going to become of the already bloated 16-team basketball conference?

Jeff: Like you said the Big East will expand and it will only be a question of who joins and what happens with basketball. I think they would probably like to get a team like Central Florida to join because it would add another Florida team and at least give USF one short road trip down I-4 every other year. Also, UCF would probably be agreeable to joining for football only. Schools with better programs would only agree to come on for both sports.

Brian: In my opinion, the Central Florida to the Big East ship has sailed. Not enough winning on the gridiron of late and too many bridges burned, including buying out of football series with Syracuse, West Virginia and Pittsburgh. Not to mention that South Florida will likely do everything in its power to prevent UCF from joining the conference.

The other likely teams to steal from a mid-major conference would be East Carolina or Memphis. The Memphis question is interesting, and Big East officials will be paying close attention to how Memphis fares in basketball in particular post-Calipari. I highly doubt that the Big East would look in the direction of the MAC - with a school like Buffalo - after having had to deal with the failed experiment of Temple in the Big East.

Another option is recruiting a I-AA that is willing to make the jump to I-A. Delaware, New Hampshire or Massachusetts come to mind. These would likely have to be football-only members like Temple was until 2004. This option would certainly be intriguing to BC fans. The inclusion of UNH or UMass would put a second I-A BCS Conference team in New England, and there wouldn't be any bad blood between the school and the newest member of the Big East.

My money is on East Carolina joining the Big East as a football-only member in the next few years. As long as they keep winning in Conference USA, they will be an attractive option for Big East football to gain market share in ACC country and bridge the geographic gap between South Florida and their next closest geographic Big East member (Louisville/West Virginia). If ECU wanted to join the Big East for all sports, I'm sure the league would have no problem giving the boot to a DePaul and sending them either back to Conference USA or the Horizon League. Conference USA could easily backfill ECU's slot with a MAC team (already with an odd 13 football members) or a Sun Belt team.

With East Carolina, I would imagine the conference also has some option value in bringing on a 10th football school in the future. The Big East could later bring on a close geographic neighbor to ECU in the Charlotte 49ers fledgling FBS program, set to start in 2013.

Granted, this is all conjecture and fun to play out in our heads. Two things are certain though. Maryland and Boston College aren't going to be jumping onto the Big East train anytime soon, and this mega-mega conference proposal makes absolutely 0 sense.

Twice the Big Finish for the price of one (catching up edition)

Jeff: You coming down to my neck of the woods for the ACC vs. SEC men’s hoops battle next year?

Brian: Nope. If I'm going to make it down for a basketball game in South Carolina, I'd rather go to a game that means a lot more to the program. Namely, a road game at Littlejohn Coliseum.

Brian: Masik Collegiate Fragrances has introduced a line of colognes and perfumes that capture the essence of universities such as Penn State, LSU, and North Carolina. (Florida, Georgia, Auburn, Tennessee and Bama fragrances are on the way!). Curious: if this catches on, what would Boston College cologne smell like?

Jeff: That is an answer I will never find out.

Jeff: When we recruited and signed the best football player from Maine, things didn’t turn out particularly well. Is it gonna be any different with the best football player from the state of Delaware?

Brian: Yes. I’ll go out on a limb and say Delaware is a better recruiting state than Maine, and the cornerback position doesn’t have nearly the impact on the game as the quarterback.

Brian: Vegas lines are out on a few opening weekend ACC football games (no line for BC vs. Northeastern since we snack on a I-AA opening weekend). Most surprising opening line?

Jeff: I am surprised that NC State is giving 3.5 points to USC after getting destroyed by the Gamecocks in last year's opener. More is expected of the Pack this year but a pick 'em is what I expected.

Jeff: First Raji is holding out up in Green Bay, now he is officially a Packer. Did Raji's 12 day holdout make any sense?

Brian: I understand the tactic of holding out until Eugene Monroe signs, but in the end, Raji signs for $28.5 mil and Monroe is still holding out, right? Make sense? Not particularly.

Brian: NC State was dealt a serious blow yesterday when they learned that linebacker Nate Irving will be out for the season due to injuries. How concerned should the Eagles be about the Wolfpack defense now?

Jeff: Darren Evans and Irving go down this week. I don't wish injuries on anyone but hopefully all the Eagles' bad fortune is out of the way and it's time for it to fall on some other teams.

Jeff: Fifth-year seniors Rich Gunnell, Mike McLaughlin and Matt Tennant were elected captains for the 2009 season. That cool with you?

Brian: Yep. Would have been nice to see Herzlich there this season as he is the emotional leader of the team, but there is always next season.

Brian: HD thinks BC will be one of ten bowl teams from the ACC for the second straight year (albeit the 10th at-large bowl berth). Give me one reason why HD is crazy to think the ACC will again send 10 teams bowling?

Jeff: Maryland. After they miss a bowl this year, who will replace them?

Jeff: ACC Sports Journal asks "What is Frank Spaziani's (offensive) football philosophy?" More TOB, or more Jags?

Brian: Sounds like more TOB, especially if Shinskie gets the nod. Sounds like he is more a TOB prototype QB than cut of the Jags (Davis/Tuggle) mold.

Brian: Yesterday, Boston Globe BC beat writer Mark Blaudschun tweeted "BC is playing its opening two games starting at 2 p.m. Who starts football games at 2 pm? One reason: it allows fans to play golf in a.m." Seriously? How many Eagles fans do you know that want to get a round of 18 in before kickoff?

Jeff: Going to the game? None. Not in attendance? All of 'em because they probably don't care to watch BC-Northeastern on their computer if they can get it anyway.

Jeff: BC just missed Dick Vitale's early preseason top 25. Do you think we should be a preseason Top 25 team?

Brian: Based on the talent we have returning to the Heights, absolutely. Based on our showing in last year's NCAAs, absolutely not.

Brian: Last season's ACC men's basketball tournament netted $22.9 million for the city of Atlanta. Surprised?

Jeff: Nope, there were a ton of people there and they got a piece of my wallet too.

Jeff: From yesterday’s practice notes, I read that Steve Aponavicius made a 48-yard field goal. Does this surprise you as much as it does me?

Brian: Maybe he is finding extra range with age?

Brian: Gobbler Country is going week-by-week and predicting each ACC team’s seasons. After week 4, he has the Eagles at 2-2. Tell him why he’s wrong.

Jeff: We've never lost to Clemson as an underdog. We will certainly be an underdog this year.

Jeff: Last one, if you could be Tiger Woods or Matt Ryan, who would you be?

Brian: My love for Matt Ryan runs deep, but c'mon. Is this even a real question?

Five Good Minutes: ACC & SEC Blog

2009-08-13T14:12:00.009-04:00

Shameless self-promotion: about a week or two ago, we sat down with the guys at the ACC & SEC Blog to answer some questions about the Eagles upcoming football season. In addition to selling them the exclusive rights to our BC season prediction (we'll have a more in-depth breakdown of said predictions over the next two weeks), you can check out our answers to their questions here.

In addition to previewing Boston College, the ACC & SEC Blog has also been previewing each of the ACC teams by asking bloggers from each program to weigh in on the state of their football program. Be sure to check out their season previews of these Eagle 2009 opponents:

Sep 19: Clemson Tigers (Jeff Fann at All About Sports)
Oct 17: NC State Wolfpack (Allen Lopp from B/R)
Nov 14: Virginia Cavaliers (From Old Virginia)
Nov 28: Maryland Terrapins (Turtle Droppings)

Be sure to check back with the ACC & SEC Blog guys as they continue to preview the rest of BC's ACC opponents throughout the month of August.

Game On! BC-BU at Fenway January 8, 2010

2009-08-12T18:18:00.016-04:00

Game On!
Game On!

The rumors and speculation about a Hockey East version of the NHL's popular Winter Classic may now come to an end. According to the Herald, an official announcement for BC-BU at Fenway will be made next week (August 20).

Boston College and Boston University will play their own Winter Classic at Fenway Park on Friday, Jan. 8. The official announcement will be made next week.

Sources confirmed the game will take place at 8 p.m. It will be preceded by a women’s game between the University of New Hampshire and Northeastern University.

Jerry York is a) very excited b) wants it to be COLD! and c) expects a high turnout ...

"It’s going to be a late start (8 p.m.). How cold might that be?," York asked quizzically. "I think it’ll be a lot of fun. I think ticket prices will be pretty good. I envision 25,000 people, maybe. What a thing for Hockey East. Hey, the CCHA has done it. The WCHA has done it."

25,000 at Fenway for outdoor BC vs. BU Hockey East action a week after the NHL's Winter Classic's Bruins vs. Flyers game? Overly ambitious? I'm as excited as the next Eagles and Terriers hockey fan, but 25,000?

Your thoughts?

Andy Marsh 1982-2009

2009-08-06T09:00:00.002-04:00

On Tuesday, our dear friend, brother, roommate, guest blogger, and all-around BC Guy Andy Marsh lost his fight against cancer at the age of 27. Without a doubt, we can both say that he touched our lives in unimaginable ways and we are both better people for having had him in our lives.

Jeff and I are going to step away from the blog for a little while to celebrate the life of our dear friend and be with our BC family.

Andrew Craig Marsh, 27 PORTLAND -- Andrew Craig Marsh passed away on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2009, at Maine Medical Center in Portland, at the age of 27, after a 2.5 year battle with melanoma. Andy was born in Framingham, Mass. on June 10, 1982, and is the beloved son of Craig and Virginia Marsh of Portland.

Andy attended Cheverus High School, where he excelled in academics, and was very active in sports and community service, earning his Eagle Scout Award. He graduated in 2000, and attended Boston College, where he double majored in Finance and Operations Management. Andy graduated from Boston College in 2004 and went to work for Sun Life Financial in Wellesley, Mass., with an incredible team of people. In 2006, he left Sun Life to pursue a law degree at Roger Williams University in Bristol, R.I.

It was the last week of his first year when he was diagnosed with melanoma. The following two years and three months he fought hard against his cancer, facing each treatment and trial with the utmost bravery and grace. During his illness, Andy volunteered at the Maine Volunteer Lawyer Project. Andy found great joy in spending time with his family and friends, and loved sports, both playing and watching them. His favorite teams were BC, Celtics, Red Sox, and the Patriots. Andy was such a beacon of love, strength, patience, and peace to all who knew him. He was bright, funny, and had a huge heart. His family is so proud of who he was, during both his best and worst times.

Andrew is survived by his parents; brother Matthew and sister-in-law Elisabeth, and sister Jennifer; his grandparents Stephen and Marion Marsh of Gorham, and Norman and Dorothy Heying of Bella Vista, Ark.; as well as aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends. All have an infinite love for Andy and will miss him dearly. His family would like to give heartfelt thanks to the staffs of Newport Hospital, Rhode Island Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, the National Institutes of Health, Dana Farber, InterMed, Mercy Hospital, and Maine Medical Center for all their excellent care throughout Andy's battle.

Friends and family are invited to attend visiting hours on Sunday, Aug. 9, from 5-7 p.m. at Jones, Rich and Hutchins Funeral Home, 199 Woodford St., Portland. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held Monday, Aug. 10, at St. Patrick's Church, 1342 Congress St., Portland. Internment will follow at Evergreen Cemetery in Portland.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made to: The Andrew C. Marsh Memorial Scholarship Fund PMB 117 11 Main St. Suite 7 Westbrook, Maine 04092-5199 Andrew Craig Marsh Jones, Rich & Hutchins Funeral Home & Cremation Service 775-3763

Turnover Margin and 2009 Expectations

2009-08-04T12:57:00.026-04:00

Brian: In a recent post, college football guru Phil Steele attempts to explain the correlation between the previous season's turnover margin and next season's success.

Every year in my College Preview Magazine I do an in-depth article on Turnovers = Turnaround which shows that basically only 20% of the time does a team that benefited from double digit turnovers the previous year manage to increase its record or a team that had the misfortune of negative double digit turnovers stumble to an even weaker record. That is an 80% success rate for this very easy to follow system which I have published 15 straight years.

But what does it all mean for Boston College and the rest of the ACC?

Check out the below table of ACC programs, their 2008 turnover margin and win totals. Should you subscribe to Steele's theory on turnover margin, you can make the appropriate adjustments to your preseason predictions.

ACC Team	08 TO Margin	08 Win Total	09 Steele Predictor
Wake Forest	+17	8	8 wins or less
Virginia Tech	+14	10	10 wins or less
NC State	+8	6	N/A
North Carolina	+6	8	N/A
Duke	+5	4	N/A
Boston College	+3	9	N/A
Georgia Tech	+2	9	N/A
Florida State	0	9	N/A
Clemson	-1	7	N/A
Virginia	-7	5	N/A
Maryland	-8	8	N/A
Miami (Fla.)	-10	7	7 wins or more

Unfortunately, Steele's turnover margin theory doesn't really hold for BC's three FBS non-conference opponents this season - Central Michigan (+4), Notre Dame (-3), and Kent State (-3). So if you subscribe to this theory, it doesn't tell us much of anything about our non-conference slate of games.

If you are somewhat skeptical, which I am, this theory held true for every ACC program with a double digit turnover margin in 2007. Clemson (+13) led the ACC in turnover margin in 2007 only to see their win total decrease by 2 last season. Virginia Tech (+11) finished second and also saw their win total decrease by 1. On the flip side, NC State (-16) increased their win total by only one game in 2008.

How about 2006? Going backwards in time, BC happens to be the first ACC outlier to Steele's theory. The Eagles led the conference in turnover margin (+15) and saw it's 2007 win total increase by 1 to 11 wins in 2007. However, the other three ACC programs with double digit turnover margins all fit this theory. Wake Forest (+13) dropped two more games in 2007. NC State and North Carolina (-11) both saw increases to their win total in 2007.

2009 ACC Atlantic Division Ultimate Football Schedule

2009-08-04T11:30:00.001-04:00

Brian: Collegehoops.net came up with their 2009 ultimate ACC Atlantic football schedule, picking a game a week following the same rules that ACC programs have to follow. Here are the rules:

Four non-conference games
Eight conference games (five within the division and three against Coastal Division opponents)
ACC Championship Game

Here is Collegehoops.net’s ultimate schedule:

Week 1: South Carolina at NC State (9/3)
Week 2: Clemson at Georgia Tech (9/10)
Week 3: Florida State at BYU (9/19)
Week 4: TCU at Clemson (9/26)
Week 5: Florida State at Boston College (10/3)
Week 6: Maryland at Wake Forest (10/10)
Week 7: NC State at Boston College (10/17)
Week 8: Florida State at North Carolina (10/22)
Week 9: NC State at Wake Forest (10/31)
Week 10: BYE Week (11/7)
Week 11: Clemson at NC State (11/14)
Week 12: NC State at Virginia Tech (11/21)
Week 13: Florida State at Florida (11/28)
Week 14: ACC Championship Game (12/5)

The ACC Atlantic ultimate schedule is a great idea, but I have some issues with this version of the ultimate Atlantic Division schedule. Namely, it’s far too NC State heavy. I’m a fan of Carter-Finley Stadium and everything, but there’s nothing “ultimate” about having to watch TOB and the Wolfpack five times in 2009. If I was going to come up with an ultimate ACC Atlantic schedule, it would look a little different (with changes in bold).

Week 1: Maryland at California (9/7)
Week 2: Clemson at Georgia Tech (9/10)
Week 3: Boston College at Clemson (9/19)
Week 4: TCU at Clemson (9/26)
Week 5: Florida State at Boston College (10/3)
Week 6: Boston College at Virginia Tech (10/10)
Week 7: Wake Forest at Clemson (10/17)
Week 8: Boston College at Notre Dame (10/24)
Week 9: BYE (10/31)
Week 10: Florida State at Clemson (11/7)
Week 11: Florida State at Wake Forest (11/14)
Week 12: NC State at Virginia Tech (11/21)
Week 13: Clemson at South Carolina (11/28)
Week 14: ACC Championship Game (Tampa, FL)

South Carolina at NC State doesn't really do anything for me. Replace this with Maryland's return trip to Pac-10 title contender California. In week 3, BC at Clemson will have Atlantic Division champ implications straight out of the gate, so this game is much better than FSU at BYU. In week 6, would you rather see the Maryland and Wake Forest pillow fight for last place in the Atlantic, or the fifth installment of BC vs. Virginia Tech in the last 3 years. Go with the ACC Championship Game x2 rematch. In week 7, I give the slight edge to Wake at Clemson instead of NC State at BC.

And in week 8, how can you not throw some love the Holy War’s way, as it’s possibly the last game in South Bend in a long time. Florida State vs. North Carolina isn’t that great of an intra-division game. Use week 9 for the BYE week instead of NC State at Wake Forest and go see Florida State travel to Death Valley in week 10. That game also has Division champ implications whereas NC State at Wake Forest likely won’t. In week 11, go check out FSU at Wake Forest as Wake has had the Seminoles number the last 3 years. Finally, I’d rather go to Clemson at South Carolina instead of Florida State at Florida. I’d simply rather go to a more competitive game, and Florida is going to run away with that game.

Jeff, your ultimate Atlantic Division schedule?

Jeff: How can you possibly choose Clemson vs. South Carolina instead of Florida State vs. Florida. Are you nuts? But anyway, for the rest of my schedule it would go something like this. Differences from your schedule are in bold.

Week 1: Miami at Florida State (9/7)
Week 2: Clemson at Georgia Tech (9/10)
Week 3: Boston College at Clemson (9/19)
Week 4: Rutgers at Maryland (9/26)
Week 5: Florida State at Boston College (10/3)
Week 6: Boston College at Virginia Tech (10/10)
Week 7: NC State at Boston College (10/17)
Week 8: Boston College at Notre Dame (10/24)
Week 9: NC State at Florida State (10/31)
Week 10: Florida State at Clemson (11/7)
Week 11: Florida State at Wake Forest (11/14)
Week 12: BYE (11/21)
Week 13: Florida State at Florida (11/28)
Week 14: ACC Championship Game (Tampa, FL)

I would must rather see the battle between Rutgers and Maryland than watching Clemson play a third week in a row and beat down TCU.

Brian: That would only be two straight games in Death Valley as the first game would be in Atlanta. What? I can't stay at your place for a week and catch both the BC and TCU games against Clemson? Sounds like a great week to me.

Jeff: My schedule leaves me 6 games with Florida State 5 games with Boston College, 3 with Clemson, 2 with NC State, and 1 each for Maryland and Wake Forest. Boston College and Clemson are the only stadiums I would like to visit twice. Sounds like a good year to me!

Clearing out the RSS reader ... Dave Shinskie is getting his old man strength up ... The ACC.com features Boston College as part of their 12 days of ACC Football ... Under Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech dominates the ACC on the road, but two of Beamer's four losses in conference came against the Eagles ... Buster Sports argues that the ACC and Big East should swap West Virginia for BC ... CBSSports's Dennis Dodd ranks the best FBS schools of the past decade and has BC at #22 ... All About Sports ranks Matt Ryan the 6th best player in the ACC this decade ... B.J. Raji remains unsigned up in Green Bay ... Ron Brace feels at home with the Patriots ... 850 & 620 THEE Blog Joe Ovies is not a believer in BC in 2009 ... Tomahawk Nation takes a look at BC basketball's 2009 recruiting picture (or lack thereof) ... The Hockey News takes a look at BC's incoming recruiting class ... BCMike, there are 32 days until your next fix.

Vote BC One of 40 Best FBS Programs

2009-08-03T17:14:00.012-04:00

Brian: College football is a little over a month away. Seat backs and tray tables in their upright and locked positions.

While the preseason is making its final descent, but not descending soon enough, ESPN.com's Pat Forde is filling this month's last dead period of college football coverage by rebuilding the FBS. In these tough economic times, it's time to trim back college football's top division. No more I-AA games and games against MAC opponents. No, it's time to rebuild the FBS and only 40 of 120 teams will make the cut.

Be sure and vote Boston College into the top 40. As of this writing, BC was holding onto the 31st spot.

Here was my ballot, which "somewhat" neatly breaks into four divisions of 10:

East
Boston College
Michigan
Michigan State
Notre Dame
Ohio State
Penn State
Pittsburgh
Virginia Tech
West Virginia
Wisconsin

South
Alabama
Auburn
Clemson
Florida
Florida State
Georgia
Georgia Tech
LSU
Miami (FL)
Mississippi

Midwest
Arkansas
Iowa
Kansas
Missouri
Nebraska
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
Texas
Texas A&M
Texas Tech

West
Arizona State
BYU
California
Colorado
Oregon
TCU
UCLA
USC
Utah
Washington

Vote. And discuss.

Thoughts on UNH Men's Hockey Recruiting Violations

2009-08-02T16:23:00.024-04:00

Brian: Move along. Nothing to see here. Or at least that's the best I can gather right now.

Back on July 23, USCHO.com reported that the NCAA placed New Hampshire's men's hockey team was placed on two years probation for major recruiting violations. A New Hampshire associate head coach reportedly sent 923 impermissible e-mail messages to 30 prospective high school freshmen and sophomores during the 2007-08 season.

The university self-reported the violations to the NCAA, but the NCAA decided that the self-imposed punishments weren't severe enough. The NCAA's punishment of UNH men's hockey, which will run from April 24, 2009 to April 23, 2011, will include:

Public reprimand and censure.
Reduction by one in the number of permissible recruiters in men’s ice hockey who can be off-campus at any given time from April 24, 2009, through October 23, 2009.
Two years of probation. The period of probation begins the date the university accepted the committee’s additional recommended penalties. (Self-imposed)
The 30 involved prospective student-athletes will not receive an expense-paid visit to the university’s campus. (Self-imposed)
None of the 30 involved prospective student-athletes will be allowed to sign a National Letter of Intent with the university. (Self-imposed)

The NCAA's punishment of New Hampshire men's hockey will not affect either their hockey scholarships or eligibility to compete in post-season play. In addition, New Hampshire is still scheduled to host the 2011 NCAA Northeast Regional in Manchester.

My take: I'm trying hard to find a competitive advantage for BC over UNH's men's hockey program but I'm failing to find one.

I was expecting to read some reaction over The UNH Men's Hockey Blog, but there hasn't been a post on the recruiting violations as of yet. The only analysis on the violations I can find is from Mike McMahon over at Warrior Rink Rat blog. I largely agree with his analysis.

While UNH can still technically sign the 30 recruits involved in the violation, it is unlikely that they will given that these recruits can't receive a paid visit to campus and can't sign a National Letter of Intent (meaning that even if these recruits commit to UNH they will be a significant flight risk to Dick Umile). From everything I can tell, the specific list of 30 recruits will be kept well under wraps, so even if BC can sign a few of these players in a year or two, it will be hard to tell whether these recruits were involved in this specific recruiting violation.

Certainly UNH's recruiting will take a bit of a hit as a result of this violation. However, outside of UNH losing out on most (if not all) of these 30 recruits, I don't think there's much to be gained by York and BC. Maybe the Eagles will be able to sign another recruit that we wouldn't have otherwise, but that seems to be the extent of what the Eagles stand to gain from UNH's recruiting violations.

ACC Blogger Preseason Ballot Results

2009-07-31T18:00:00.001-04:00

The blogosphere has spoken and apparently this year we contribute little more to the conversation than what the mainstream media predicted. The only difference between this year's media picks and the ACC blogger picks was a flip-flop of Miami and North Carolina in the Coastal standings. On second thought, perhaps that fact is significant given all the Virginia Tech voters and their disdain for da U.

It's also clear that the weight of preseason expectations has shifted from the Atlantic to the Coastal Division this year, with Virginia Tech the overwhelming pick to three-peat, Jonathan Dwyer the offensive player of the year and Jason Worilds the defensive player of the year.

Gobbler Country has the complete breakdown of this year's poll participants and results.

Predicted Standings

Atlantic Division

1. Florida State (12)
2. Clemson (3)
3. NC State (2)
4. Wake Forest (1)
5. Maryland
6. Boston College

Coastal Division

1. Virginia Tech (13)
2. Georgia Tech (4)
3. Miami (1)
4. North Carolina
5. Virginia
6. Duke

Conference Champion

1. Virginia Tech - 10
2. Georgia Tech - 4
3. Florida State - 2
4. Clemson - 1
4. Miami - 1

Offensive Player of the Year

1. Jonathan Dwyer, Georgia Tech - 10
2. C.J. Spiller, Clemson - 6
3. Darren Evans, Virginia Tech - 1
4. Riley Skinner, Wake Forest - 1

Defensive Player of the Year

1. Jason Worilds, Virginia Tech - 4
2. Dekota Watson, Florida State - 3
3. Sean Spence, Miami - 2
3. Quan Sturdivant, North Carolina - 2
5. DaQuan Bowers, Clemson - 1
5. Morgan Burnett, Georgia Tech - 1
5. Kam Chancellor - Virginia Tech - 1
5. Mark Herzlich, Boston College - 1
5. Stephan Virgil, Virginia Tech - 1
5. Alex Wujciak, Maryland - 1
5. Willie Young, NC State - 1

Rookie of the Year

1. Greg Reid, Florida State - 2
1. Kyle Parker, Clemson - 2
1. Ryan Williams, Virginia Tech - 2
4. Josh Adams, North Carolina - 1
4. Anthony Allen, Georgia Tech - 1
4. Ray Ray Armstrong, Miami - 1
4. Tajh Boyd, Clemson - 1
4. Justin Dixon, North Carolina - 1
4. Dustin Hopkins, Florida State - 1
4. Jacobbi McDaniel, Florida State - 1
4. Brandon McGee, Miami - 1
4. Donte Moss, North Carolina - 1
4. Desmond Scott, Duke - 1
4. Jamal Womble, North Carolina - 1
4. No vote - 1

Inter-Division ACC Rivalry Games at Season End? and the Big Finish

2009-07-31T11:39:00.019-04:00

Brian: On Monday at the ACC Media Kickoff, Tom O’Brien was quoted as saying he doesn’t like playing cross division rival North Carolina on the last weekend of the season.

"I think it's a dumb game to play at that time of the year, because you're crossing divisions," O'Brien said Monday at the ACC media kickoff."

"Certainly you don't want them or you don't want us again playing in the championship game (the next week)," O'Brien said. "We'd be much better served as a conference, I think, to work games within the Coastal Division or Atlantic Division the last game."

However, James C. over at YANCSSB has a very different take, and argues that a scenario where UNC and NC State meet at the end of the year in a game that may determine who goes to the ACC Championship Game in Charlotte would only be good for the ACC and North Carolina football.

Imagine for a second that Gene didn’t have the Syracuse game ear-marked for the annual football game after Thanksgiving starting in 2010. And imagine that Virginia Tech vs. Virginia isn't annually scheduled over the last weekend of the regular season. Then the ACC comes in and schedules Virginia Tech as the last game of the season for the Eagles.

What side do you come down on? Inter-division ACC rivalry games at the end of the season ... yea or nay?

Jeff: I am 100% on Tom O'Brien's side on this one. Boston College vs. Virginia Tech playing in the final game of the regular season and then possibly meeting in the ACC Championship Game a week later would've been absolutely terrible and I hope the ACC fixes the problem before they land in any such situation.

Brian: I also agree with Tom O'Brien, but find it hard to imagine a North Carolina vs. NC State ACC Championship Game. Ha. Besides, the one Championship Game the league brass have been praying for post-expansion - Florida State vs. Miami - has happened all of 0 times in the last four years, so how much more of a long shot is NC State vs. North Carolina in Charlotte?

If the league wanted to make games like NC State vs. North Carolina - which I'm told is the best football rivalry in the state - mean something more, then they should have placed the two programs in the same division when the ACC expanded to twelve and had them play the last game of the regular season annually. How satisfying was it for Hokie fans to defeat in-state rival Virginia on the last game of the season in a "winner-take-all" sort of game for the right to advance to the ACC Championship game?

What did the Eagles knocking off the Hokies in the regular season the last two years mean for BC? Other than another league win that did have an effect on who won the Atlantic Division, not a whole lot, since the Hokies won the rematch and consecutive trips to the Orange Bowl. The argument that pro-BCS proponents (me not one of them) hold close to their chest is the assertion that college football has the best regular season where every game counts. With scheduling these inter-division rivalry games for the end of the season, they are at least opening themselves up to the possibility of having teams face each other in consecutive weeks which, in my mind, can cheapen the value of the first matchup.

If the ACC wanted to further fuel the NC State vs. North Carolina rivalry, they should have placed them in the same division. Since they didn't do that, I'll also agree with Tom O'Brien here and say keep these inter-division rivalry games away from the last weekend. You will get more out of these matchups playing within the division on the last weekend of the year. Or the next-to-last weekend of the year, with reserving the final weekend for non-conference rivalries like Florida vs. Florida State, Georgia vs. Georgia Tech, South Carolina vs. Clemson. The league could probably more benefit from ending ACC play a week earlier, reserving the final weekend for a non-conference rivalry game, and giving programs an extra week to sell tickets to the ACC Championship Game.

Big Finish

Jeff: The Orlando Sentinel ranked the salaries of all FBS head coaches. Spaziani came in tied for 66th with a $1,000,000 salary. Who would you say is overpaid and underpaid in the ACC?

Brian: Taking Spaz and Dabo off the table because they are new, Friedgen and Groh seem to be overpaid (Fridge in particular as his post-expansion ACC record is, shall we say, lacking at 18-22) and Grobe is massively underpaid.

Brian: On Wednesday the ACC announced its 2009 preseason All-ACC football team. On the offensive line, both Castonzo and Tennant represent Boston College on the team. Anything stand out to you about this year’s selections?

Jeff: Shouldn't Herzlich be on on this list? He hasn't missed a game yet. Isn't he still technically a part of the team, university, and the league?

Brian: The omission of Herzlich didn't bother me as much as the fact that BC didn't land a single defensive player on the first team. For a team that prides itself on its defense, that's a scary thought.

Jeff: Speaking of Mark Herzlich, there were several articles out on him this week. Any new news?

Brian: The Kevin Armstrong Sports Illustrated article is a must read and last night was BC's Lift for Life event which sounds like an awesome fundraising event.

Brian: The Georgia Tech boys over at From The Rumble Seat took a look at ACC and SEC football parity in 2008 and determined that the ACC league games were closer than in the SEC. They also note that ACC teams tend to not run up the score against other conference opponents like the SEC likes to do. Surprised?

Jeff: No, not surprised by either. First of all out teams at the top are not the level of the top SEC teams most years. Additionally, if you throw out Duke, the bottom teams in the ACC might be better than SEC programs like Kentucky, Vanderbilt, and Mississippi State.

Jeff: At least one writer thought the ACC media kickoff lacked controversy. Agree?

Brian: Obviously, any other conference media day will pale in comparison to the SEC's in terms of controversy. But do I really care if someone left a player off the All-conference team ballot? Or whether Tim Tebow is still a virgin? These are manufactured headlines to fill the dead period of college football coverage.

Brian: HD interviewed Spaziani regarding the availability of BC linebacker Mike McLaughlin. It looks like now McLaughlin might not be ready to go before the start of the season. What are your expectations on when McLaughlin will return?

Jeff: I really hope he is ready on September 19th. Otherwise maybe before the Florida State game.

Jeff: Did you hear Dominique Davis is going to community college?

Brian: I did. Perhaps he'll resurface in a year on an FBS roster. Maybe not. Regardless, he has my "best wishes."

Brian: Last one, Boston College recently ranked ninth in the "Students Pack the Stadiums' category and 14th in “Great College Towns” category of a recent Princeton Review annual nationwide survey. Your thoughts?

Jeff: The students show up for football games, that's for sure. But is Chestnut Hill really the 14th best college town in America?

Over/Under: 09 College Football Preview Big East

2009-07-29T13:00:00.001-04:00

Brian: Next up on our preview of the BCS conferences is the Big East. Yeah, I don't miss it that much either.

Our previous BCS conference previews: Pac 10, Big XII, Big Ten

For reference, here is a composite prediction of how the experts think the Big East will shake down this season:

West Virginia
Pittsburgh
Rutgers
Cincinnati
South Florida
Connecticut
Louisville
Syracuse

After last season where Cincinnati came out of left field and took home their first Big East football championship, West Virginia is back on top of the preseason rankings. But do Bill Stewart and the Mountaineers have enough pieces left post-White to reclaim their stranglehold on the Big East crown?

Good things are expected of Rutgers and Pittsburgh, while looks like Connecticut will be counting down the days to Midnight Madness. The plane has officially crashed into the Kragthorpe mountain at Louisville, while Syracuse's preseason predictions from every major college football prognosticator is consistent: unanimous suckage. More the same from the Orange?

The most important question though is who will win the conference and take their Orange Bowl Hokie beatdown in stride?

First up, Over/Under – 6 1/2 regular season wins for Connecticut

Brian: Not much is expected of Connecticut in the Big East this year, which is music to my ears. Not only are expectations low for the Huskies this season in conference, but UConn didn’t do themselves any favors this year with their non-conference schedule. Right now, I see 3-4 guaranteed wins (at Ohio, Rhode Island, Syracuse, Louisville) but after that, I’m struggling to scrounge up some more wins for Edsall’s crew. A home game against North Carolina and trips to Baylor and Notre Dame look like losses to me at this point. UConn has more home games than road games in the Big East this season, which is a plus, but the downside is that they have to travel to three of the best teams in the Big East (including defending champs Cincinnati, West Virginia and Pittsburgh). Even if they manage to steal one of these Big East games on the road, it’s not a given that they can take care of both Rutgers or South Florida at home. I have the Huskies going 2-3 out of conference and as a “best, best case scenario” 4-3 in the Big East. More realistically it will be 3-4 or 2-5 in the Big East, so I’ll confidently go with the under here (-200) and not make too much cash on this one.

Jeff: The Huskies, somewhat similar to BC but on a much smaller stage, have surpassed expectations year after year and Randy Edsall is a good coach so I am going over (+160) here.

Over/Under – 7 1/2 regular season wins for Pittsburgh

Jeff: Pitt has a pretty legitimate non-conference schedule this year where they face NC State, Notre Dame, MAC Champion Buffalo and Navy. They might end up being slight favorites in all four of those so I think 3-1 is a most likely scenario. Add in one gimme against Youngstown State and they go 4-1 out of conference. From there they only need to win 4 Big East games which for a team in the preseason top 25, is not asking much. You should take the over (-165) here with reasonable confidence because even if they lose 2 OOC games they can still easily win 5 in conference.

Brian: Even though Pitt has creeped in to some preseason Top 25 polls, I’m not sold. You only have to look at our preseason blogpoll ballot from last season to caution you to use preseason polls as an indicator of future success. Cough. Auburn. Cough, cough. Clemson.

The Panthers enter the fifth season under head coach Dave Wannstedt, but the results have been mixed at best (25-23). Pittsburgh goes into this season with plenty of question marks on offense, including quarterback and running back (with the loss of LeSean McCoy), as well as breaking in a new offensive coordinator. Given all the question marks on offense, I have to expect a bit of a drop off from last season’s 9 game win total. The Panthers will have time to get off to a fast start with wins over Youngstown State and Buffalo, but Navy should at least give the Panthers a game, and I expect Pitt’s road trip to Raleigh to be an unsuccessful one. That’s probably 3 wins, and I would need 5 to go over. I’ll give Pitt the benefit of the doubt against Louisville, Connecticut, Rutgers and Syracuse, but the Panthers finish the season with Notre Dame, at West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl and vs. Cincinnati. I think this one will come down to the October 24 game against perennial underachiever South Florida. Win that game and the Panthers go over. Lose and I think it will be a 7-5, 4-3 season for Pitt. The difference I think will be South Florida’s offense under senior Matt Grothe, so I’ll take the under (+135), although I wouldn’t be surprised if Pitt gets to 8. This one is a toss up in my mind.

Over/Under – 8 regular season wins for South Florida

Brian: Speaking of South Florida ... Bull talent returns in the form of senior QB Matt Grothe and All-American DE George Selvie. While the talent is certainly there, it’s hard to get too excited about a team that started off 6-1 last season only to limp to a 1-4 regular season finish. That 1-4 mark down the stretch included a 24-20 loss at punch-less Louisville. The Bulls will get out of the gate at 3-0 with wins over Wofford, at Western Kentucky and Charleston Southern, but that will be counterbalanced with two losses at Florida State and at home to Miami Fla (but props to USF for scheduling some tough, in-state ACC competition). To go over, that would mean USF would nearly run the table in the Big East, and I just don’t see that happening. Although they are both home games, I’m predicting that both Cincinnati and West Virginia will take care of South Florida, and a trip to Rutgers in mid-November could just as easily be a loss (the Scarlet Knights handed the Bulls a 49-16 beat down in Tampa a year ago). A push would not surprise me, but I think it’s more likely that USF goes 4-3 (or worse) in conference rather than 5-2 so I’ll take the under (-120).

Jeff: You talked about the two high profile players returning to South Florida this season, but you took the under? Last season was a disappointment for the team which could've easily won the Big East in a year when WVU tripped up a little. But now the great players are gone at WVU and the league is theirs for the taking once again. I'm going to put the Miami and FSU games down as losses even though there's a chance they could steal one of those games. Then like you said all they need to do is go 5-2 in the Big LEAST. USF may very well win the league this year so why wouldn't you take them to go 6-1 or 5-2. I like the over (-110) here and will be happy to take your money.

Over/Under – 8 regular season wins for Rutgers

Jeff: Rutgers has an interesting line here at 8 when they have 4 gimmes in non-conference play. Then let's say they should be able to beat Syracuse and Louisville this year and lose at West Virginia and Maryland. This leaves them 6-2 with four toss-up type games left. But since I am more of a Rutgers hater than a Rutgers fan, I going to go ahead and put their season opener against Cincinnati down as a loss leaving them 6-3 with three toss-ups left. Those remaining games are against better coached teams - that's right - better coached teams in UConn, South Florida, and Pitt. I like taking the under especially when it's +160. The worst I'll do on this one is push.

Brian: Yes, Rutgers is hot, coming off finishing last season with 7 straight wins including stopping an equally hot NC State team in the Pizza Bowl. However, gone are Mike Teel and Kenny Britt, two of the most prolific offensive players in Rutgers history. There are plenty of questions on offense, including who will start under center. The front runner, fifth year senior Domenic Natale, threw for a whopping 36 yards last season (but hey, I guess that is 36 more yards that BC quarterbacks threw for last season). Offensive questions aside, Rutgers might have the biggest joke of a 12-game football schedule in the history of a BCS conference program. Seriously. Out of conference superpowers Howard, Florida International and Texas Southern visit Rutgers Stadium, and the Scarlet Knights also travel to Maryland and Army. I don’t think much of the Terps chances this season, so that’s 5-0. Easy. From there, a 4-3 finish in the Big East is more than possible, as Rutgers’ toughest Big East opponents all come to Piscataway – Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, South Florida and West Virginia. Three trips to Big East bottom feeders Syracuse, Louisville and Connecticut should be three more Ws, and I’ll easily give 1 of 4 of their Big East home games to RU for their 9th win. There’s a reason the over is -230 here, since I’m sure you could find I-AA teams that have a tougher SOS than Rutgers. Rutgers easily goes 9-3 or 10-2 so take the over (-230), but don’t expect me to have Rutgers anywhere near my Top 25 blogpoll ballot, EVEN if they finish 10-2. I’m not kidding. Why reward a team for beating 5 crappy non-conference teams and going 5-2 in the Big East?

Last one, Over/Under – 8 1/2 regular season wins for West Virginia

Brian: Even with Pat White gone, the Mountaineers should coast to either 6-1 or 7-0 to start the season with wins over Liberty, Syracuse, Marshall, Connecticut, Auburn and one of East Carolina/Colorado at home. The second half of the season should determine whether West Virginia can regain the Big East title, as they travel to South Florida, Cincinnati and Rutgers, and play Pittsburgh and Louisville at home. I like WVU to go no worse than 3-2 in those games and if I had to chose, I’d give them Ws over South Florida, Louisville and Pittsburgh. That’s 9 including 5 Big East wins. Go with the over here (-110), but an under with the Mountaineers finishing 8-4 would not surprise me. Anything less than 8 wins for Bill Stewart and the Mountaineers, though, and I would be SHOCKED!

Jeff: I very much disagree that Auburn is a win for West Virginia. Sure Auburn had a tough year last year but they will bounce back while the Mountaineers have slid. Also, East Carolina is a legitimate threat and Colorado is another improving team. So what you see as 6-1 at worst I see as 5-2 at best. Then in the rest of their Big East play, West Virginia is likely to split the games games against Pittsburgh, South Florida, Rutgers and Cincinnati. I'm already up to four losses for the Mountaineers. Not to mention West Virginia is also the team with a target on their back in the Big East so you never know if another team will take the opportunity to kick them while they're down and provide an upset. Under (-120).

Brian: Surprisingly, no line on this site for Cincinnati, as well as - more predictably - no lines for Louisville and Syracuse. And looking back, Jeff and I disagreed on every Big East team this year. Should have labeled this segment good cop / bad cop.

2009 ACC Blogger Preseason Predictions

2009-07-29T10:22:00.044-04:00

For the second straight year, the Virginia Tech blog Gobbler Country is polling the ACC blogosphere for some preseason predictions:

Predicted order of finish for both divisions (no ties please)
Conference champion
Preseason Offensive Player of the Year
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year
Preseason Rookie of the Year

This year, unlike last year, we are assured that there is adequate Atlantic Division representation so it won't be another Coastal Division tongue-bath. We hope, anyway.

On to our ballot (and note, we retain the rights to change these predictions between now and our series of season preview posts later in August).

ACC Atlantic

Florida State
Clemson
Boston College - Some are quick to forget that this is still a defensive league and despite the losses we still have one of the best. Plus, NC State and Wake have to come to us. We'll get our Ws, don't worry about it.
NC State
Wake Forest
Maryland

ACC Coastal

Virginia Tech - not 100% sold on Hokies, certainly won’t be dominant and has little-to-no shot at the MNC with that non-conference sched, but until someone proves otherwise ...
Miami (Fla.)
Georgia Tech
North Carolina
Duke
Virginia

Predicted ACC Championship Game Winner: Virginia Tech (yeah, it pains me too)
Offensive Player of the Year: C.J. Spiller (he'll be scoring TDs on the reg. Atlantic Division. Represent.)
Defensive Player of the Year: Mark Herzlich (yes, I know he's not playing this year. Doesn't matter. He's that good.)
Rookie of the Year: Desmond Scott, RB, Duke (who knows. As Russell Wilson proved last year, an injury here or an injury there could thrust some no-name rookie into the spotlight in a hurry.)

BONUS: Coach of the Year: David Cutcliffe (Triples ACC win total in year 2. Six wins but no bowl for the Dukies.)