ACC Football Championship Prime Time and the Big Finish

Brian: ... and I'm back. I never want to see a cardboard box again, and there are still a ton of things to unpack, but of course one of the first things I did was set up my internet connection and catch up on all the Eagles news that I missed ...

We owed you a Big Finish from yesterday. Onward.

The 'Ship is going back to prime time, but will it help attendance?

One bit of ACC conference news that I missed is league's decision to move the Dr. Pepper ACC Football Championship back to prime time this season. This year's game will be played in Tampa on December 5, 2009 starting at 8pm. This will be the first time that the game will be played in primetime since the inaugural 2005 Football Championship. Commissioner ...

"We are pleased that the 2009 ACC Football Championship Game will be nationally televised by our partners at ESPN," said Swofford. "Prime-time exposure is always a plus and will be an excellent showcase for our divisional champions to compete for an ACC title and a BCS berth."

Jeff, do you like the move?

Jeff: I love the move. Everyone watching the game at home would rather make a night of it by having some friends over or heading to a bar to catch the game and it gives people more flexibility to get to Tampa this year. If you're driving, maybe you are close enough to leave Saturday morning or leave after work on Friday. If you have to fly, you can catch a flight Friday or Saturday up until mid-afternoon. No matter what time the game is Saturday, Sunday is a travel home day.

Brian: Eagle in Atlanta chimes in on the ACC Football Championship start time. I get what he is saying with the start time not being the issue in regard to attendance but I think he misses the lead.

Heather Dinich made this (great) point when Joe Paterno rekindled talks of Big Ten expansion and the Big Ten commissioner basically threw the ACC Championship Game's attendance figures under the bus. HD went to bat for the conference she blogs for and put the Big Ten commish in his place. She said that while the ACC Football Championship's attendance has lagged behind those figures of the Big XII and SEC's Championship Games, the game still generates over 6 million TV viewers ... viewers that aren't watching Big Ten Football that weekend.

I agree that the matchup is the #1 factor that will drive the ACCCG attendance figure, but what about those 6 million viewers? While ESPN/ABC's move to prime time might improve TV ratings, what if the SEC Championship - which is broadcast by CBS Sports - goes up head-to-head with the ACC Championship in the 8pm timeslot. And where does this move leave the Big XII Championship which is also broadcast by ESPN/ABC?

The ACC already has an inferiorty complex in regards to the SEC. If the ACC and SEC Championships go up against one another, think the ACC will still continue to average 6 million viewers then?

Jeff: Of course not, but that won't happen. People on the East coast are going to tune in to the SEC or ACC Football Championship over the Big XII while people in the middle of the country will do the opposite. Not many people were turning on their TVs at 1:00pm last year and watching straight through the end of the Oklahoma-Missouri game.

Brian: Last question, is this point moot? We certainly have had a tumultuous offseason. Do you expect the Eagles to even sniff an ACC Football Championship appearance?

Jeff: I still give them a chance. At this point we would have to catch some good breaks, but it is still a possibility to be back in Tampa. Also, I'm going whether BC or Clemson are in so it is not a moot point at all for me.


Big Finish

Brian: Did I really just say that HD made a great point above? Well while I was out, she also had this to say about the newest BC Eagle, Dave Shinskie:

Matt (Philadelphia): Is there a team in the Atlantic Division right now who you would say really has no chance of winning it? It seems to be a complete crapshoot.

Heather Dinich: It is anybody’s game, and that’s in both divisions. I thought BC would have the toughest time contending in the Atlantic, but Dave Shinskie could very well be the answer (seriously).

Huh? HD hasn't seen this guy throw a pass and suddenly he is the second-coming of Chris Weinke? Jeff, your thoughts?

Jeff: I kinda agree with her. We knew what Davis gave us and we knew no one else on the roster seemed to be able to beat him out. Shinskie is no guarantee, but you can't pass judgment on him yet as you could with say, Codi Boek, who was switched to fullback last year. We know he's at least good enough to take up a scholarship.


Jeff: The ACC's two final representatives in the College World Series - North Carolina and Virginia - have been bounced from the Series. What's up with that?

Brian: No idea. Certainly a disappointment for the conference after getting a record 7 teams into the field of 64.


Brian: The men's basketball team recently promoted Pat Duquette to associate head coach. You like the move?

Jeff: Uh, sure. Long time assistants deserve some love every once in a while.


Jeff: The city of Boston finally signed off on BC's expansion plan. Your thoughts?

Brian: Given this month's baseball NCAA tournament excitement, I am most happy for the baseball and softball teams getting a legitimate ballpark.


Brian: College Game Balls has his list of twenty offseason questions for ACC football. For BC, he asks "Can Boston College overcome the loss of ACC Defensive Player of the Year Mark Herzlich, departure of Dominique Davis and compete for another Atlantic Division Championship?" Jeff, your response?

Jeff: Losing Dominique Davis is not an issue because we were hoping that someone else would beat him out anyway. The loss of Herzlich, however, may be too great to overcome.


Jeff: Andy Katz reports that BC approached Pitt to play in the men's basketball Jimmy V Classic this December. Pitt declined. BC is also talking to 'Nova to schedule an out of conference bball matchup. Which team would you rather see the men's hoops team schedule - Pitt or Nova?

Brian: Nova ... by a mile. Villanova is a much better fit in terms of the type of school (small, private Catholic school) and there are many more alum in the Philadelphia area than there are in Pittsburgh.


Brian: Last one, early handicapping of the ACC football race have Boston College as +8000 to win the ACC ... worse than even Duke at +6000. That ain't right, is it?

Jeff: 80-1, eh? I would've thought 30-1 would've been legit. How we're worse than Duke though, I cannot explain.

Going Solo and the Big Finish

Jeff: We couldn't get a deal worked out with GDF to fill-in for Brian so I'm going solo. Maybe next time Brian gets married I can get TK or Wilbon to step in.

The baseball program set one final record this season when Tony Sanchez was drafted #4 overall and became the highest Boston College selection ever in the draft. Congrats to Tony and to the program once again on a great season.

Some people are not terribly excited about Shinskie but I still think he is a great pickup. If he doesn't win the starting job we are no worse than we were and it is more than worth a scholarship to take a chance.

I may never understand how people can become as fanatical about their favorite professional sports teams as people do about their alma mater but it clearly happens, especially in the Yankees-Sox rivalry. That rivalry is losing punch though with the recent dominance by the Boston based side just like the Boston College vs. Notre Dame football rivalry.

Finally, how bad must it suck to be an Orlando Magic fan right now? Make a layup and one more free throw and they'd be up 3-1 in the series. Instead the hated (or loved) Lakers are on the verge of another title. Reminds me of some BC what ifs. The great what if in my opinion being the BC vs. Miami game in 2001 where what was about to be a go ahead score in the final minute for BC against #1 Miami turned into an unusual Brian St. Pierre interception returned by Ed Reed for a victory clinching touchdown.

It still hurts.

Spanning the Globe

Jeff: Brian and I very cleverly have stolen the template for our blog and for every post from the popular ESPN show Pardon the Interruption. I am going to venture outside of the PTI format for a moment - but not outside the ESPN family - to steal borrow a segment that Colin Cowherd does on his radio show The Herd called Spanning the Globe. This takes the work of creating content off my shoulders and distributes it to several others as I ask them questions.


First, let's check in with the man synonymous with BC Sports blogging, Eagle in Atlanta from atleagle.com. ATL, no one has a better sense of the pulse of the BC alumni Superfans than you. How many fewer victories in '09 do you think the average fan is now expecting compared to after we lost to Vanderbilt in Nashville and Jags was still our coach? Would you dare say the average fan isn't even expecting to be bowl eligible?

ATL: As we know there are three types of BC fans.

1. The diehards like us who follow everything.
2. The semi casual fans who know about Herzy and the Jags shuffle but might not realize all that has happened injury wise or with the QBs.
3. The bandwagon folks who pay attention when we are on TV or play Notre Dame.

I think group 1 wants a bowl game but will give Spaz a pass if we win 5 games, show improvement and recruit well. I think three wins or less will cause problems.

I think group 2 give Spaz a huge pass and don't expect a bowl game.

I think group 3 will wonder what happened and jump off the bandwagon if we struggle.

I've said in general, Spaz will get a pass on this season (I am not giving him one though). But he'll have to rebound quickly next year if he expects continued support from the general fanbase. Remember Henning was only given three seasons and Jack Bicknell Sr., who accomplished a lot was shown the door. Although we are considered passive fans, I don't know how much losing BC will actually tolerate.

Jeff: How high were expectations before all the bad news started rolling in? 9 or 10 wins?

ATL: Before Herzy and Mclaughlin went down, I expected 8-4 plus a bowl. Now I am hoping for 7-5 or 6-6 plus a bowl.


Jeff: There is a big difference between hoping and expecting. Let's go to another man in Atlanta and talk about the big news of signing another QB earlier this week.

BCMike, as one of the biggest prowlers of the BC blogs and message boards and avid BC fan, how excited are you about the news of our latest recruit, David Shinskie?

BCMike: How "excited" am I? Not very to be honest. I'm still very excited about Joe Boisture coming in next year, but am I excited about four plus years of Chris Weinke comparisons? Here's the thing, if the guy is 30 and leading the team four years from now, that's fine by me; as long as we're winning. But in my mind, Joe Boisture was going to be leading this team, which means you have a 30 year old guy in the college locker room with nothing to do but hold a clipboard. To me, you're asking for a little trouble there. While many BC fans are excited to have some "maturity" as an option at QB this year (and somehow forget that Boek isn't exactly 18), there's something to be said with connecting with your teammates. It could work out well in the end, but I think there's at LEAST a 50% chance it ends poorly...and that's why I'm not exactly "excited".

Jeff: Thanks for bringing me back to reality. Maybe when Brian gets back you and him can arrange a time where you can write some fan mail to Joe Boisture. Maybe he redshirts. Maybe he doesn't live up to the hype. Maybe he doesn't even come to BC. It's just too early to tell with recruits like him in my opinion.


But now let's move away from football, and go to Brian Foley from the thecollegebaseballblog.com. Brian, what are the early expectations for next years team? Can the team make the tournament again?

TCBB: I would expect BC to at least make the ACC Tournament next year as the pitching should be better. They lose number 1 man JB McDonald but bring in some quality arms. I think the rotation next season will see Dean as the number 1, Dennhardt as the number 2, and Leonard/Del Colle as the three. It is still early. I think Kevin Moran has to be the closer next year or in the starting rotation over Dennhardt as he is the second best pitcher on next year's squad.

Jeff: Thanks, Brian. I am hoping that the Eagles make the ACC Tournament again and given the strength of the ACC that likely would mean an NCAA berth as well. We'll see how they handle higher expectations.


Lastly, we turn to resident hockey expert Christian to check in on how the BCers in the NHL are doing. With one game left in the Stanley Cup Finals, talk about the BC alums playing in that series.

Christian: With the hockey season just one game from being in the record books, your team may already have been eliminated from the playoffs (if they even made it that far). So who does that lead you to root for? Clearly if you're a BC alum, you have to go with the Penguins. They have four former players vying for Cup, while BC is unrepresented on the Red Wings. Bill Guerin, Brooks Orpik, Rob Scuderi, and though he was only on a BC squad for a year (he later transferred to Dartmouth), Ben Lovejoy. How can you not side for the Penguins with a lineup like that? If the Pens wind up winning the cup, Scuderi and Orpik will join the ranks of players who have won both the NHL Stanley Cup and an NCAA Championship. In recent memory, Brian Gionta (Devils) and Ryan Shannon (Ducks) are two others that achieved this feat.

Jeff: Now talking about the entire season, what BC alum did the most for his career in the NHL this season?

Christian: I think I'm going to point at two players, both of which I mentioned previously, and both at different ends of the spectrum as far as their career goes. Bill Guerrin's 17 year career started playing for some strong devils teams in the early 90's and resulted in him hoisting the cup with them in 94. Now, in the twilight of his career, he's back on an NHL powerhouse and he's playing much better. Perhaps its just that he's playing with better players, or maybe he's just reinvigorated now that he's on a Cup-contending team, but since his late-season trade to the Penguins from the miserable Islanders, he stepped up his scoring a bit and currently has 15 points in the playoffs, which is 3rd best on the team, with only Malkin and Crosby unsurprisingly scoring more. If the Penguins manage to win the Cup this year, it'll be a great way for Guerin to finish out his NHL career.

As for my second player, I'm going to go with another Penguin, Rob Scuderi. While it's hard to quantify the success of a defensemen since they are usually much more valuable than just their point output, Scuderi did significantly boost his point total and +/- rating this year, leading the team with a +23. He also leads and did lead the team in blocked shots during both the regular season and currently in the playoffs. But aside from the stats, I feel he really made a name for himself this season, and especially in the playoffs. Time after time while watching the Penguins this postseason, all I heard about was how great Scuderi and linemate Hal Gill have been playing, shutting down opposing teams' offense. After watching the game 6 on Tuesday, you can see just how great he really is. It hasn't yet made YouTube, but if you go to the 3:00 mark on this video, you can see what I'm talking about. Win or lose in the Finals, to me, Scuderi seems to have definitely made a name for himself this year.

Jeff: I am surprised you didn't mention a certain backup goalkeeper for the Devils but that might also show how little I follow the NHL.


Please check back Friday for the Big Finish. Who will fill in for Brian?????? Will GDF return my phone calls??

Headlines: Shinskie and More Baseball Talk

Jeff: The big news of the last 36 hours is that QB Dave Shinskie is coming to the Heights and will be in an Eagles uniform this season. Will he be the starter? Who knows. Will he compete for the starting job? Absolutely. As you have probably already read, Shinskie was recruited by BC for the 2003 class but ultimately signed with the Minnesota Twins as a pitcher.

Should you be excited about this commitment? Absolutely. Do we have a Chris Weinke headed to the Heights? I doubt it. But Dave Shinskie could be something far less than a Heisman trophy candidate to still be considered a godsend next season.

Moving to baseball since baseball is still center stage in the NCAA right now we bring back BC alum and editor of the College Baseball Blog to talk about the tournament.

Jeff: Now that some dust has settled, how bad was the abuse of the pitchers in the 25 inning marathon game against Texas?

Brian from tCBB: I think the Austin Wood usage is a massive red flag. I think Belfiore being used for that amount of pitches is also questionable but how do you take a kid out of the game when he is just rolling through the lineup. Belfiore was nearly unhittable too. I still think BC should have won that game somehow and they would be in the CWS right now if they did win that game.

Jeff: With UNC and UVA left representing the ACC, what are the chances an ACC team wins it all?

Brian from tCBB: I think UNC and UVA have a good chance of winning the title. I would put them at a 33 percent chance of winning the tourney right now combined. I have LSU as my favorite still as they are the most balanced team in the tourney. If UNC and UVA keep pitching as well as they have, then they will be a tough out in Omaha.

Davis Out

Jeff: Shortly after the BC baseball team was the center of every Eagles fan's attention, the football program stole back the spotlight.

It was announced Tuesday that Dominique Davis is leaving BC after being suspended for academic reasons.

This story reminds me of the Jags-Jets interview which stole the spotlight right after BC defeated UNC in Chapel Hill which was and will be forever one of the great upsets of all time for the BC men's hoops program. After this weekend, it is likely that the BC baseball team will hold a spot in the records book for a long long time with their 25 inning loss to Texas in the NCAA tournament but instead of people like me who talk BC sports on a daily basis talking about that accomplishment for the baseball team, I, along with the rest of the BC sports world, am instead talking about Davis leaving BC.

Football is king at BC. Hockey and basketball can be extremely successful in the future but their offseason news will never draw attention like offseason football news does.

I felt bad for the players on the basketball team when their team defeated UNC and the Jags rumors and stories broke almost immediately following. Tonight I feel bad for the baseball team that was praised for a few days, but now will not be talked about again in the broader group of BC fans until maybe next season or maybe even after that. All they can do now is say what if. What if they had beaten Texas and survived to play another weekend.

More on Davis tomorrow.

Headlines: BC Done But Move To ACC Pays Off For BC Baseball

Jeff: BC baseball has been a topic of conversation for us over the last several months, because, well, um, there wasn't much else to talk about. BC is not a baseball school, we all know that. But this weekend we might have finally seen the best thing yet to come from BC moving to the ACC. Thanks to the strength of schedule of playing in the ACC the Eagles recieved an at large bid into the NCAA tournament. Meanwhile, the Big East only got their one auto bid. Sure, the Eagles might have won the Big East tournament to get that bid, but that's not something we can count on. The Eagles made as much noise this weekend or more than any other team in the field with their incredible performance against Texas Saturday night that unfortunately ended in a 3-2 loss but even got the attention of the Boston media.

There have been many critics about BC moving to the ACC.

Perhaps the Eagles could've headed to a BCS bowl last year had they still been in the Big East. Maybe the Big East is better in basketball than the ACC now.

That's what we've been hearing even though I am still a strong supporter of the move to the ACC and now we have one story of a team that went from nothing to a team on high school baseball players, and national NCAA baseball fans radars' this season and especially this weekend. None of which would've been possible if they were still in the Big East. Would the team have given Texas all it could handle had they not beaten North Carolina and Miami in the weeks leading up to that game? I doubt it.

Congratulations to the team for a great season. While Brian sits in a city where very few people if anyone knows the first thing about college baseball, I have been happy to show up to work where NCAA baseball is part of the cooler talk and BC has played its way into being part of the conversation this season.

Weekend Out: "Don't Call It A Comeback" and Play Him Off

Brian: First, the baseball team makes like LL Cool J. "Don't call it a comeback! ..."

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — John Spatola hit a three-run homer during a six-run ninth inning, and Boston College rallied to beat Texas State 8-7 in the opener of the Austin regional Friday.

The Eagles (34-24) started the ninth with five straight hits, including Spatola's homer, and sent 11 batters to the plate to turn a 5-2 deficit into an 8-5 lead.

If there was ever a game to defibrillate Superfan interest in college baseball, this be it. Next up for the Eagles is a matchup between the winner of (1) Texas vs. (4) Army. The game will be played tomorrow at 7pm.


Second, I'll be taking a bit of a vacation from the blog for about three weeks starting ... tomorrow. You can say that there will be quite a few significant changes in my life over the next month. Namely, getting hitched, quitting my (day) job, moving from New York to Chicago and going back to school for my masters degree.

Blogger batteries will be recharged, and sadly, I won't be around for the Eagles trip to Omaha.

"I promise you one thing though, a lot of good will come out of this vacation. When I return, you will never see any blogger in the entire country blog as hard as I will blog about BC the rest of the year. You will never see someone push the BCI staff as hard as I will push the BCI staff the rest of the season.

You will never see a BC sports blog blog harder than we will the rest of the season.

God bless."


Oh, sorry. Just channeling my inner Tim Tebow. I'll pop in from time to time in the comments section and will keep our Twitter feed going.

In my absence, Jeff will keep things going around here. Send any tips, suggestions or feedback to bcfaninsc@gmail.com.


Finally, here to help send off my single years in style is the keyboard cat. Play my single life off, keyboard cat:

ACC-SEC Kicking Off The Season and the Big Finish

Brian: News out of Raleigh is that both NC State and North Carolina are finalizing deals with the Atlanta Sports Council to play in the 2010 and 2012 versions of the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic. The preseason version of the Peach Bowl - pitting an ACC team against an SEC team - seems to be a growing tradition. Excerpt from said article with requisite sound byte from NC State coach Tom O'Brien:

N.C. State is set to open the 2012 football season against Tennessee in Atlanta. UNC is trying to work out a deal to open the 2010 season in the Georgia Dome against an SEC team.

It's all apart of the Chick-fil-A College Kickoff, which was started by the Atlanta Sports Council and ESPN in 2008.

"I like it," Wolfpack coach Tom O'Brien said. "You've got to play one major game that gets you on television. It's great exposure for our program."

If UNC can finalize a deal, that will make four ACC programs that have played in or signed up to play in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic, with Clemson "playing" in the inaugural game in 2008 and Virginia Tech playing Alabama in the Dome to start the 09 season.

It is well documented the Atlanta Sports Council's bias for having southern schools play in both the Kickoff Classic and the Peach Bowl. If I was going to bet, if we get to 2018 and 11 unique ACC teams have been selected to play in the Kickoff Classic, BC wouldn't be one of those teams.

My question is if BC is continually left out of the discussion in terms of ACC teams playing in the Kickoff Classic on national television, can this actually result in a competitive disadvantage for Boston College when it comes to recruiting against these other ACC schools?

Jeff: No. You're talking about playing in this game once every 5-10 years for the other ACC schools. This one game is not going to make or break BC or any other ACC school.

I would love to see BC in it some day since we all know I'd be there in a second and I'd love to see BC play an SEC team at the Georgia Dome. Will it happen? Maybe. If it does it would be against one of the bigger SEC schools guaranteed to sell the place out since BC will probably only bring a quarter of the fans that North Carolina or NC State would.

The other thing to take from this is that this is the reason TOB made the seemingly lateral move to NC State. When you think about it, it doesn't seem quite so lateral when it comes to being able to play in games such as this. BC gets passed over for bowls and these type of events while NC State does not.

Brian: I agree that it is certainly to Tom O'Brien's and his program's advantage to have the opportunity to play in these sorts of games. NC State opened the season last year on national television against an SEC opponent in South Carolina, and will do so again this year.

Especially when BC is opening up the season against teams like Northeastern and Kent State, the national exposure and buzz you can get from playing a big name SEC opponent on college football's opening weekend can certainly pay dividends to your football program down the road. However, as Doc Saturday points out, it is what you make of these opportunities. You could just as easily lay an egg against these big name SEC opponents and therefore wouldn't get the same bang for your buck in terms of exposure. See:

NC State 0, South Carolina 34
Alabama 31, Clemson 10
Georgia Tech 3, LSU 38

In the end though, I'd much rather have the Eagles be considered for these type of games instead of continually be passed over. I do think that this puts the Eagles at a slight competitive disadvantage, even if these ACC teams are playing in the Georgia Dome against an SEC opponent once every 5-10 years. You have to figure that with the Kickoff Classic and the Peach Bowl, that is two opportunities instead of one every season for an ACC to play in the Georgia Dome against the SEC, and currently BC is typically being passed over for these games.


Big Finish

Brian: Baseball is set to face Texas State today at 2pm in the Austin Regional. Watch the Gamecast live here. Chances BC knocks off the Bobcats?

Jeff: I'll go with a healthy 55% chance.


Jeff: Here is a Buffalo News article on Brooks Orpik's second chance to win the Stanley Cup. Who ya got in the Stanley Cup finals?

Brian: Detroit in 6. Crosby and Malkin are great and all, but there's a reason Detroit is called "Hockeytown."


Brian: Bodog released their early future odds to win the 2009 National Championship. BC is currently listed as 100/1. You like the odds given to any of the ACC teams?

Jeff: No, not at all. Virginia Tech is clearly the only team you would want to put any money on but at 16-1 you're not getting a ton of return for that very risky bet. The best value might - and I emphasize MIGHT - be Georgia Tech at 50-1.


Jeff: Eagle in Atlanta linked to a good article about SEC coaches whining. It's shocking that South Carolina has killed Clemson in recruiting in the last 8 years yet gets killed by them on the field. Will recruiting rankings ever be a realistic gauge of a college football team?

Brian: Talent will always be one of the factors to compare college football teams, but ultimately, it is what you do with that talent that counts.


Brian: Your boy - Sergio Garcia - is heartbroken after his girlfriend (and BC's own) Morgan-Leigh Norman broke up with him. Will Sergio now finally win a major now that Norman and Garcia are splitsville?

Jeff: No.


Jeff: HD declares that BC's stretch of at Clemson, Wake Forest and Florida State will make or break the Eagles football season. Agree?

Brian: Actually, no. If you are going to pick three consecutive games and call them the toughest stretch, it has to be Florida State, at Virginia Tech, NC State. Side note: I feel like this is the 15th variant of the same offseason blog post from HD. C'mon.


Brian: Last one, two innovative athletics department cost savings measures. Georgia Tech becomes the first athletics department to fully outsource their athletic ticketing operation, while Wisconsin, Ohio State and Michigan will stop printing media guides. Should BC adopt one or both of these cost-cutting measures?

Jeff: I'm shocked Georgia Tech is the first to outsource ticket operations and printing media guides is just one of the many things dying with the internet age. However, BC should adopt neither cost-cutting measure this year.

Oddsmakers: Super Regionals, Spaz v. Swinney and Fenway Park

What do the NCAA baseball regionals, Dabo Swinney and football in Fenway Park have in common? Absolutely nothing. But we touch on all three topics in a game of oddsmakers.


Chances BC advances to the NCAA baseball Super Regionals?

Brian: The breadth of Jeff and my college baseball knowledge is certainly limited, as is well documented on the blog. However, for whatever reason, I am feeling overly optimistic about the Eagles chances in Austin. The Eagles used a 17 run outburst last Friday and Saturday to tally a very respectable 2-1 record in the ACC Championship. I am thinking that the Eagles can use this momentum to beat Texas State in the opening game. The pitching lately has been great too, with Dean and MacDonald pitching great games against Miami and Georgia Tech in the ACC Championship.

While Texas State did finish the year at 38-14, when it came to playing the big name baseball teams, they have a mix of impressive wins - 2 at Baylor, 1 at Rice - and bad losses - 2 losses to TCU, 2 losses to Texas. Not sure what to make of this. Texas State does have an ace on their staff - Kane Holbrooks (10-1, 3.34 ERA) - so it will be interesting to see if the Eagles have to face Holbrooks or if they will save him for a possible matchup with Texas.

I really don't think much of Army's chances to run the gauntlet of Texas, Texas State and BC.

After the Longhorns, I'll say the Eagles have the next highest chance of advancing to the Super regionals. I'll give UT a 55% chance to advance, the Eagles a 25% chance, the Bobcats a 19% chance, and the Black Knights a 1% chance. 25%.

Jeff: At least you prefaced your answer by saying that you know nothing about college baseball. I am not claiming to know much but I have a least watched a few games this year which is more than you can say. Since we're handicapping the whole regional, here's how it goes.

Texas 90% ...
Boston College 5% ...
Texas State 5% ...
Army 0%

Army has no chance whatsoever. Texas is probably going to advance easily. I'd love to see BC advance but they have far worse than a 1 in 4 chance.


Chances Swinney bests Spaziani in the first full year as head coach?

Jeff: A month ago, this was a no-brainer and BC was the heavy favorite. I know Clemson has CJ Spiller back and BC has quarterback issues, but I will continue to stress that aside from the quarterback and defensive tackle positiosn, the Eagles have a really, really strong team. Now with Herzlich out of the starting lineup until further notice and when you give Clemson a few extra percentage points since we have to travel to South Carolina in September, it becomes closer to a 50-50. To set my final number though I look at each coach's all-time winning percentage as head coaches and I give Spaz the advantage since he is batting 1.000. Final answer. 39% chance that Swinney finishes ahead of Spaz this year.

Brian: I am going to throw out the quarterback issue you mentioned because Clemson is just as unsettled as the Eagles are at the QB position. Of course, you wouldn't know this if you read this HD fluff piece on backup QBs, but I digress.

Expectations will certainly be low both in Clemson and Chestnut Hill this fall. I tend to agree with you, Jeff, that even with the loss of Herzlich, BC is the more complete team going into next season. I think when you boil it down, the chances that Swinney has a better record than Spaz at the end of the year depend greatly on the Tigers and Eagles schedules.

Comparing out of conference schedules, Northeastern/Kent State and Middle Tennessee State/Coastal Carolina seems to me to be a wash, and I'd put both the Eagles and Tigers at 2-0 after these games. Although I would say TCU/at South Carolina is a tougher pair of out of conference games than Central Michigan/at Notre Dame. TCU is considered by some to be a preseason Top 25 team, and you have to think this year is as good a chance as any for Spurrier to bring the Carolina-Clemson rivalry a little closer to .500 since he arrived. Advantage: Eagles.

If you then consider each team's respective ACC slates, the advantage has to go again to BC. This season, both teams miss Duke, Clemson misses North Carolina and Virginia Tech while the Eagles miss Georgia Tech and Miami. Perhaps this is a wash, maybe a slight edge to BC. But when you look at the road sched, this seems to favor the Eagles, as the Tigers travel to Georgia Tech, Miami and NC State. The Eagles' toughest road test will come on October 10 in Blacksburg, but the road trips to Charlottesville and College Park don't seem as daunting as running the Atlanta/Miami/Raleigh gauntlet. Especially with all those high expectations in Raleigh.

After dissecting both the Eagles and Tigers 11 other matchups, I honestly think this will come down to the head-to-head matchup on September 19. Since the game is in Death Valley this year, I'll give the slight, slight edge to Clemson and say Swinney has a 50.1% chance of ending the season with a better record than Spaziani.


Last one, chances BC football plays at Fenway Park any time soon?

Brian: The reason this is a question is recently ESPN.com's Ivan Maisel came up with a list of old college football foes playing in old venues and suggested Fenway Park with BC facing Auburn. Auburn was selected as BC's opponent since the other 5 teams we played games against at Fenway - Boston U, Georgetown, Holy Cross, Temple, and Idaho - either de-emphasized football, dropped down to FCS or straight up suck. The Auburn blog Track 'Em Tigers even goes as far to suggest that BC and Auburn should be paired together as part of a larger SEC-ACC rivalry series. Having been to Jordan-Hare Stadium last season, I really like this idea. Well played, Track 'Em Tigers.

While I would love to see BC play football at Fenway Park, I don't think we'll see this happen anytime soon. I just can't imagine Gene and the Athletics Department offering to play a BCS conference opponent in a venue that seats less fans than Alumni Stadium and one in which would likely have ungodly sight line issues for football.

Sitting on top of the Green Monster and watching a football game = awesome
Sitting in the last rows behind home plate, as far away to the action as possible = not so awesome.

Not to mention the fact that if Gene and the AD continue to slavishly follow our established out of conference formula from the last four years (1 parts BCS, 2 parts non-BCS FBS, and 1 part FCS) going forward, I can't imagine a team like Southern Cal, Syracuse or Northwestern agreeing to playing at Fenway instead of Alumni Stadium. If BC is going to play a home game off-campus, this game will likely end up at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro before it ever ends up at Fenway. The athletics department would want to increase the number of seats available, not decrease the total number.

Finally, with the Red Sox actually being good again, there's no telling whether they will still be playing come October. And I can't imagine the Sox or FSG getting excited for a college football team tearing up the diamond and grass. I will go VERY low on this and say 5% chance.

Jeff: This is somewhat of a stupid question because it says anytime soon. The answer is 0%. If anytime soon actually means the next 20 years, then there's a decent chance.

I think every BC hockey fan has said to themselves at one point or another that BC and BU should play at Fenway after some other schools have played similar rivalry games in large outdoor venues. I think this will happen at some point and the date will probably be set in the next 5 years.

After that, if everyone agrees that was a huge success, then you have a strong possibility of a Thanksgiving weekend football game, i.e. BC vs. Syracuse, being played at Fenway, but at that point we're probably already well into the 2020s. Will Fenway still be around?

Five Good Minutes: The College Baseball Blog

For a preview of this weekend's NCAA baseball regional action, we welcome back Brian Foley, editor of The College Baseball Blog for Five Good Minutes.


BCI: First, put Boston College's accomplishment of receiving an NCAA tournament berth for the first time in 42 years in perspective. Just how important is experience in the National tournament for the Eagles baseball program?

TCBB: It is more important to the future of the program to get into the NCAA Tournament. The potential student-athletes in the Northeast don't look at the Boston College program being elite with several kids heading down to southern programs and becoming excellent players.


BCI: Selection Monday wasn't without its fair share of controversy. Two somewhat controversial selection committee decisions were the omission of Duke from the field of 64 and the ACC baseball tournament champs Virginia not being selected as a regional host. Did the selection committee get it right in the ACC? Tell us why these were the correct selections.

TCBB: The reason why Duke was left out was due to their pathetic RPI of 75. Boston College, on the other hand, had an RPI of 30, but won two less games in the conference than Duke did. The biggest issue is Duke's non-conference schedule. Their schedule this year was an absolute joke and has been for a few years. This Duke team was good enough to be in the NCAA tournament but with pathetic non-conference scheduling, it hurt the team in the long run.

Virginia as the #2 in the Irvine regional isn't the issue. The problem is that East Carolina got a number 1 seed which is preposterous. UVA is a better team than ECU and the Pirates will likely not get out of the NCAA Regionals.


BCI: For the Eagles, is this season more of a "one and done" kind of season, or can we expect BC to build on this season and have more successful seasons to come?

TCBB: BC has a solid base for next season and if they continue to recruit well, that base is just going to get better and better. Pat Dean should be the number 1 starting pitcher next season and John Leonard has started pitching much better over the last two weeks which is encouraging. Mike Dennhardt should be in the rotation next year also.

The biggest issue the Eagles will face over the next few years will be the loss of Tony Sanchez defensively, but the Eagles should be able to get a serviceable catcher to come into the program and play.


BCI: How do other ACC programs view BC's success this season, particularly in the ACC baseball championship? Do you think they see BC's success as a bit of an aberration? Or given BC's success against Georgia Tech and Miami (FL) in the ACC tournament, did the Eagles serve notice to the rest of the league that they can be competitive in the ACC?

TCBB: Miami (Fla)'s head coach Jim Morris stated before the season that Boston College was a team to watch and it came true. The victories in the ACC Tournament are nice and all, but you need to make some noise in the NCAA Tournament now as this is the time of year when push comes to shove.


BCI: There is certainly no love lost between Boston College and the Big East. So we had to chuckle a little when the ACC fielded a record-tying seven teams while the Big East only received one tournament berth (Louisville). How much of a factor was the switch in conference affiliation in terms of snapping our 42 year NCAA tournament drought? In other words, would BC have been able to get to this point if they were still a member of the Big East?

TCBB: The biggest difference between BC in the Big East and BC now is that the program is fully funded. Yes, the ACC is a much better conference but there are some years that the Big East gets 3 or 4 teams into the NCAAs. Plus the Big East team in Louisville is actually hosting a regional this year.


BCI: We don't know much about our opponents in the Austin regional. Give us a brief scouting report on Texas, Texas State and Army.

TCBB: I will have a complete Regional preview of every team in the country on my site in the coming days. Texas has a great pitching staff while Texas State has a solid hitting squad. Army was the best overall program in the Patriot League. However, the Black Knights really don't have any stars on the squad that could play at any of the other tournament-bound schools right now.


BCI: Should BC simply "be happy to be here?" Or given their success in the ACC Tournament, can Eagles fans expect BC to make a run at winning this opening regional and advancing to the super regionals?

TCBB: BC could win the regional. They just need some outstanding pitching and timely hitting. BC can play with any team in the country but they can also lose to anyone. See: the Holy Cross game this season.


BCI: Prediction time. First, the Austin regional. Here at BC Interruption we like to play a game called over/under. So over/under - 1.5 wins for the Eagles in the Austin regional?

TCBB: I will take the over. I say the Eagles beat Texas State twice and lose twice to Texas. I think it will be a disappointment if Boston College doesn't play for the Regional Title.


BCI: Which of New England's two NCAA tournament representatives will make more noise in the NCAAs? Boston College or Dartmouth?

TCBB: Dartmouth is 0 and 2 and barbecue. BC should at least win a game.


BCI: Who advances out of the Austin regional?

TCBB: Texas.


BCI: Last one, who ya got winning it all? Last time we had you on the blog back in March, you correctly picked Japan to win it all in the World Baseball Classic. So here's your opportunity to gloat a bit and double down on a correct championship prediction.

TCBB: North Carolina has an easy road to Omaha but they will lose to LSU in the College World Series championship series.


BCI: Thanks again for joining us Brian.


For all your college baseball needs and coverage of this weekend's NCAA regionals, go check out The College Baseball Blog.

Have something to say? Want to be featured on a future Five Good Minutes? Email us at bcinterruption at gmail dot com.

Tournament Bound

Congratulations to the Eagles baseball team, tournament bound for the first time in a loooong time. Here is your Austin Regional:

No. 1 Texas (41-13-1)
No. 4 Army (34-19)

No. 3 Boston College (33-24)
No. 2 Texas St. (41-15)


Happy Memorial Day.

ACC Baseball Championship Update and the Big Finish

Jeff: Brian, have you watched any of the ACC baseball tournament? Even though every seat has not been filled, it looks like there is decent fan support by NCAA baseball standards.

Brian: I've been following the action on Gamecasts so I can't really speak to how attendance has been at the ACC baseball championship. From the box scores, I can see that 1,518 were in attendance against Florida State and 1,194 watched the Eagles and Yellow Jackets yesterday. Is this a good draw? Bad draw? I have no idea. We're still new at this "our baseball team is now decent" thing.

Jeff: And how dumb is this tournament format? There are still two more days of round-robin play and Florida State has already clinched a spot in the finals.

Brian: Florida State had advanced to the Championship game out of Division A before Virginia and Clemson played their first of three games of the round-robin format. That is, indeed, crazy. That is going to happen every once in a while with this sort of format. It happens every so often in the FIFA World Cup too. This definitely gives FSU an advantage in the championship game as they can rest their starters in their game on Saturday vs. Georgia Tech and wait to see who comes out of Division B.

Overall though, I would say I prefer this tournament format to a single elimination or a double-elimination format. Participating teams are guaranteed three games and that can sometimes help out a team's NCAA tournament resume a great deal. That's exactly what has happened with BC. The Eagles actually rose in the RPI after their 7-2 loss to Florida State, and our RPI rose again today after the win over Georgia Tech. We are currently at #33, which should be good enough to get into the NCAAs.

Kendall Rogers of Yahoo! Sports has us as a tournament lock at this point and heaps on some praise for the BC baseball team. The College Baseball Blog's latest NCAA tournament projections have the Eagles as a #3 seed in the Oxford, MS regional. with Mississippi, Elon and Army.

Good luck to the Eagles today as they face Miami at noon.


Big Finish

Brian: This The Times West Virginian article discusses the possibility of Big Ten and Big East expansion, and mentions BC as a possible school for the Big East to scoop up to bring the number of teams back to 9. Yeah, right. Anyway, which will happen first - Big Ten expansion to 12 or Big East football expansion to 9?

Jeff: The Big East will expand. The Big Ten might never.


Jeff: Former BC standout Vinny Ciurciu returns to New England having signed with the Patriots. Will he make an impact on the team?

Brian: I hope he can be a solid contributor on special teams. Always have to root for former BC players. And Jeff, you must be especially rooting for him since he started his college career at Clemson before transferring to BC.


Brian: BC QB football recruit Joe Boisture competed in the Midwest Elite Camp last weekend and showed the "best overall passing ability" at the camp. Thanks to ACC Sports Journal for the link. You getting excited about the arrival of Boisture in 2010?

Jeff: Not really. I am not crowning him the future of BC QBs. It's way too easy to get overly exctied about recruits.


Jeff: The NAACP is not happy with the ACC rewarding the baseball tournament to South Carolina. Your thoughts?

Brian: I get that South Carolina is a central location for the conference to hold its baseball tournament, but I am more than curious as to why the ACC decided to break with the NCAA on this issue. Unfortunately, I don't think this is the last we'll hear on the issue.


Brian: College Game Balls takes a look at each BCS conference's 2009 out of conference strength of schedule and declares the ACC the weakest of the six. Although CGB uses a highly suspect mathematical equation, if this is indeed true, how disappointed are you in the ACC?

Jeff: I'm not disappointed with the ACC. The ACC needs to avoid marquee blowouts like Alabama-Clemson last year and LSU-Virginia Tech the year before.


Jeff: Here's an early look at the 2009 ESPN/ABC college football broadcast schedule. Not one BC game on the list. You surprised?

Brian: Not really. Maybe a tiny bit surprised that Florida State at Boston College didn't get picked up, but expectations are low for next season. At least Comcast finally picked up ESPNU.


Brian: To mark the occasion of Michael Vick being released from prison, Dr. Saturday gives us a Vick article. In said article, there is this highlight reel of Vick at Virginia Tech which came - of course - against Boston College.

Remember this performance, Jeff? I believe we were both in attendance. Bad memories. Can you remember a more dominant performance by an opposing player in Alumni Stadium?

Jeff: No, he was the man that day.


Brian: Last one, INCH wants the Frozen Four back in Boston after the 2012 season. I'll second that. What other cities would you like to throw back into the Frozen Four rotation?

Jeff: I might make the trip when its in Tampa if Boston College is there. I'd also go to Atlanta if it were there.

BC Gets in the Win Column at ACC Championship

Brian: The Eagles claim their first win in the ACC baseball championship:

DURHAM, N.C. (theACC.com) - Sophomore third baseman Mickey Wiswall drove in Boston College's first five runs with a double and a pair of homers to lift the Eagles to a 7-3 victory over Georgia Tech Thursday in game four of the 2009 ACC Baseball Championship.

Wiswall began the Eagles' scoring with a bases-loaded, two-run double in the bottom of the first inning, after Boston College filled the bases with a hit batsman, an error on a sacrifice bunt and a walk. He followed in his next two at bats with a two-run homer to right field and a solo shot to left center.

Big W. Believe it or not - and despite yesterday's 7-2 setback to FSU - the Eagles still have a shot to play in the Championship Game.

Here is your rooting guide the rest of the way out:

• Miami over Florida State
• BC over Miami
• Georgia Tech over Florida State

Miami and BC would then be tied atop the Division A standings at 2-1, with BC winning the head-to-head tiebreaker.

There is also this scenario:

• Miami over Florida State
• BC over Miami
  
• Florida State over Georgia Tech

In this case, Miami, BC and FSU all tie at 2-1, and each team would have beaten the other in a bizarre three-way tie eerily reminiscent of this year's Big XII South football disaster. No idea who advances to the Championship final in this case. Do they use the final BCS standings too?

[UPDATED] TheACC.com has your answer: "Three Teams Tied: (a) The team with the best overall conference winning percentage in regular season play will advance; (b) The team with the best head-to-head conference winning percentage among the tied teams in regular season play, provided that all teams were common opponents during the regular season, will advance;(c) The team with the highest seed in the respective bracket will advance." Advantage: FSU.

Either way, based on my back-of-the-envelope math, the only way BC can win the Division A round-robin and advance to the Championship final is if the Hurricanes can defeat the Seminoles right ... about ... now.

Go 'Canes!

Baseball Secures First ACC Championship Berth and the Big Finish

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

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

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

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

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


Big Finish

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

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


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

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


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

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


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

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


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

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


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

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


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

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


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

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

Renewing Rivalries and the Big Finish

Brian: Scott Toole of lehighvalleylive.com wrote yesterday about how Penn State and Pitt should renew their rivalry on the gridiron. Penn State and Pitt have played 96 times, but not since 2000. Joe Paterno is pissed Pitt spurned his idea of forming an all-sports conference that would have taken Pitt, Boston College and Syracuse out of the Big East (then only a basketball conference). I think this is a pretty cool idea. For such a rich football history (96 games is a LOT of football games), I think it's time to bury the hatchet between the two in-state rivals.

Since both Pitt and Penn State are among two of the teams that BC has played the most over the years, this article got me thinking about Boston College football rivalries. Using the College Football Data Warehouse - a really cool resource if you haven't checked it out - I took a look at the most common opponents BC has faced over the years:

Opponent	GP	W	L	T	Pct.
Holy Cross (I-AA)	82	48	31	3	0.604
Villanova (I-AA)	45	29	15	1	0.656
Syracuse	45	17	28	0	0.378
Temple	37	28	7	2	0.784
Army	36	24	12	0	0.667
West Virginia	33	11	21	1	0.348
Boston University*	32	27	4	1	0.859
Navy	29	18	11	0	0.621
Pittsburgh	29	13	16	0	0.448
Fordham (I-AA)	27	14	11	2	0.556
Miami Fla.	27	4	23	0	0.148
Rutgers	26	19	6	1	0.750
Massachusetts (I-AA)	23	18	5	0	0.783
Penn State	23	4	19	0	0.174
Detroit Mercy*	19	12	7	0	0.632
Notre Dame	18	9	9	0	0.500
Clemson	18	8	8	2	0.500
Georgetown (I-AA)	17	11	5	1	0.676
Saint Anselm NH*	17	11	3	3	0.735
Virginia Tech	17	6	11	0	0.353

I think it's time we renew our rivalries with some of these teams. And no, I'm not talking about West Roxbury HS (how did we lose to those guys?!). Three of those teams we already have current or upcoming series scheduled - Syracuse, Massachusetts, Notre Dame (if only for 2 more years) - and three ACC teams make the top 20 - Miami (FL), Clemson and Virginia Tech.

Saint Anselm is now in Division II so they are out, BU terminated their I-AA football program in 1997 and Detroit (now University of Detroit Mercy) has been sans a college football program since 1964. Jeff, would you like BC to schedule any one of the remaining 11 teams on that list in the near future. Is that something you might be interested in?

Jeff: No. I am glad we are playing Syracuse in the future and of course I hope we play Notre Dame in the future. However, I don't care to play any other teams on the list that are not in our conference aside from Penn State. I want to play Penn State because of geographic location and the quality of their program now, but not to build/continue a rivalry. Rather than play "rivalry games," I would prefer to continue to schedule two-game series with the Penn States, BYUs, Stanfords, and USCs of the world.

Brian: I think rivalry games are good for BC, as they are a football program without a whole lot of history or geographic rivals. Personally, I would like to see BC renew their series with both service academies - Army and Navy. Since the trend of scheduling I-AA opponents isn't going away anytime soon, I think scheduling Army, Navy or both is a respectable alternative to the MAC and I-AA games. Not to mention Navy runs a triple-option attack, so that is one more opportunity to get some reps in defending that unique offense (for the years when we play Georgia Tech from the Coastal).

If Gene isn't going to renew with Army and/or Navy and continue to schedule a I-AA team, why not renew with teams like Holy Cross, Georgetown, Villanova, or Fordham? BC and these schools have history, much more so than schools like New Hampshire (11 games all time), Rhode Island (7 games), Northeastern (4 games) and Hofstra (0 games).

Finally, let me say that I agree with you Jeff and love the idea of scheduling Penn State. If not Penn State, I would also like to schedule a Pittsburgh or a West Virginia, but with Syracuse already on the schedule for 8 of the next 10 years, I say we have no room for a second Big East team on the schedule. Hopefully, there is some truth to the rumor of a Penn State vs. Boston College football series, and that rivalry is renewed.


Big Finish

Brian: The $1 billion Boston College master plan was finally approved by the Boston Zoning Commission. The community staged a last ditch protest over the water supply?! Ok. Anyway, you excited? Great for the competitiveness of our baseball and softball programs, right?

Jeff: Of course I'm excited. Took way to long but it's definitely a good thing for the baseball team.


Jeff: Following up on our conversation yesterday about the ACC Atlantic Division favorite, give me one reason why NC State shouldn't be the favorite?

Brian: Among other reasons ... the schedule. At Florida State, at Virginia Tech, at Boston College. Three of their toughest ACC matches are on the road. It proved very tough to win on the road in the ACC last season and this season should be more of the same.


Brian: The ACC released its 2009-2010 bowl partnerships yesterday. The only change is the ACC dropping its affiliation with the H-Bowl in Boise and picking up the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, AL as the 9th bowl tie-in. The GMAC Bowl is scheduled for January 6 so BC doubled it chances to play in a January bowl! Do you like the changes?

Jeff: I am extremely happy that we dropped Boise and added another warm weather bowl, but the downside is that the matchup is against a MAC team.


Jeff: From the AP comes this story about how the Carolina Hurricanes were crushed when Chuck Kobasew wasn't available with the 15th pick of the 2001 NHL Draft. You surprised the Hurricanes wanted to draft Kobasew that badly?

Brian: Not at all. That BC championship team was stacked with talent - Kobasew, Kolanos, Gionta, Orpik and an Eaves.


Brian: ESPN's College Football Live will be ditching its usual format next week for a week-long series on Notre Dame football. Gross. Will you watch?

Jeff: I'm as likely to watch as I was before.


Jeff: Non-ACC baseball action this weekend with BC set to host Le Moyne on Saturday and Sunday. Where is Le Moyne? Do the Eagles get the sweep?

Brian: Yes, the Eagles will get the much needed sweep to bolster their NCAA tournament resume. Apparently Le Moyne is in Syracuse (had to look it up). The Le Moyne Dolphins? Really?? Lots of dolphins there in upstate NY?


Brian: Last one, Eagle Insider sat down with Gene DeFilippo on Wednesday and he was (again) quoted as saying "Some of our alumni want us to be Harvard Monday through Friday and Alabama on Saturdays." Are you as sick of hearing this saying as I am?

Jeff: NO! Absolutely not. This is the greatest point Gene ever makes and I support him beating it to death. We can't do it all.

Headlines: Baseball's ACC Tournament Magic Number is 2

Brian: The baseball team salvaged a win on Sunday to avoid the sweep by Miami (FL), blasting the Canes 13-3. The rest of the weekend did not break the Eagles way. On Friday, the Eagles fell 5-1 and they also lost in Brockton on Saturday 7-5. The one win weekend gets the Eagles to 29-19-0 (12-13-0 ACC) and keeps BC in the 8th ACC Tournament playoff spot.

Luckily for BC, the Hokies (27-19-0, 10-15-0) - currently in 9th place - were unable to make up any ground on the Eagles over the weekend as they were swept by Florida State in Tallahassee. If the season ended today, the seedings for the ACC Tournament would look like this:

1. Florida State (17-7-0) - Atlantic Division champ
2. North Carolina (16-7-0) - Coastal Division champ
3. Georgia Tech (14-7-1)
4. Virginia (13-8-1)
5. Clemson (15-10-0)
6. Miami (FL) (15-12-0)
7. Duke (12-12-0)
8. Boston College (12-13-0)

Virginia Tech is still alive at 10-15-0. NC State (8-16-0), Wake Forest (6-18-0) and Maryland (6-19-0) have been eliminated from ACC Tournament consideration.

One weekend of ACC play left for Boston College and Virginia Tech. The two clubs have this weekend off from ACC play and finish the regular season with the Eagles hosting North Carolina and the Hokies hosting Virginia. BC's magic number is 2. Any combination of 2 Eagle wins or Hokie losses gets the Eagles into the ACC Tournament for the first time in school history.

So on Saturday, May 16, will we be able to say the Eagles are headed to Durham to play in their first ACC Tournament, or are we looking at another monumental, BC-esque collapse in the final ACC weekend?

Jeff: The Eagles have had a very good baseball season regardless of what happens next weekend, but it is disappointing that they are going to most likely be looking for help from Virginia to knock off the Hokies twice in order for them to make the conference tournament. The Eagles might be able to get one win in the series with North Carolina but that would still leave them needing a little help. Fortunately, the Cavaliers are a strong team so the Hokies sweeping is highly unlikely and are probably even likely to go 1-2 eliminating themselves from the postseason. One way or the other, I think the Eagles will be in the ACC tournament after next weekend, but it would've been nice if they were playing for seeding and not for their ACC tournament lives in the final ACC weekend.

Brian: In the event that the Eagles don't reach that magic number of 2 in the final ACC regular season weekend, there is a possibility BC and Virginia Tech could tie for the last playoff spot with a 12-16-0 or a 13-15-0 record. Here is the ACC Tournament seeding tiebreaker procedure. Since BC and Virginia Tech didn't face each other in the regular season, the first tiebreaker is record against common opponents. That would be a dead heat as well.

You'd get all the way down to ACC tiebreaker #5 which states:

"Head-to-head competition of the tied teams versus common opponents in the opposite division with the best overall conference winning percentage (divisional and non-divisional) and proceeding through the opposite division"

In this case, I think the Eagles would win this tiebreaker as the Eagles would have gone 3-3 or 2-4 against the top two ACC teams (2-1 vs. Florida State and 1-2 or 0-3 vs. North Carolina) while the Hokies will have gone 0-5 vs. Florida State and UNC.

Let's just hope it doesn't come to this and the Eagles end up safely in the 8 team field for this year's ACC Tournament.

O-Line Experience Equals Success? and the Big Finish

Brian: Interesting read in the Wall Street Journal from a few weeks ago about how offensive line experience can predict success (HT: the new and improved Republic of Gobbler). The article notes that Notre Dame and Virginia Tech - two of the Eagles 2009 opponents - go into next season with two of the most experienced offensive lines. Both the Irish and the Hokies lines will have logged 100 starts. Florida State also will return an offensive line with a combined 86 starts.

Last season, Clemson - the preseason favorite to win the ACC - had a very inexperienced offensive line with less than 40 starts. And we all know how that turned out for the Tigers.

According to the spring football two-deep roster, our starting line next year will look like this:

LT	Anthony Castonzo	6'7"	287	Jr.
LG	Nick Rossi	6'6"	290	Sr.
C	Thomas Claiborne	6'3"	323	Jr.
RG	Nathan Richman	6'6"	284	So.
RT	Rich Lapham	6'8"	322	Jr.

The spring two-deep does not include senior center Matt Tennant, who is out this spring after having Tommy John surgery following an injured left elbow suffered in the second quarter of the Music City Bowl. Spaz is hopeful that Tennant will return for summer drills, and if he does fully recover, our offensive line should look like this opening day:

LT	Anthony Castonzo	6'7"	287	Jr.
LG	Nick Rossi	6'6"	290	Sr.
C	Matt Tennant	6'4"	294	Sr.
RG	Thomas Claiborne	6'3"	323	Jr.
RT	Rich Lapham	6'8"	322	Jr.

... moving Claiborne back to RG and placing Tennant back into the starting center position.

While statistics on offensive line starts are hard to come by on teh web, counting on Tennant returning to the starting lineup, I count that BC returns 84 starts at offensive line. This includes 28 from Castonzo, 28 from Tennant, 14 from Claiborne, and 14 from Lapham. If Tennant can't go and Claiborne plays C, BC will return 56 offensive line starts. In that case, Rossi and Richman will look to replace 55 combined starts from Matt Tennant (injury) and Clif Ramsey (graduation).

Two questions Jeff. Do you agree that college football success and experience at the offensive line positions are correlated? Are you encouraged by the fact that, hopefully with the return of a healthy Tennant, the Eagles will enter the 2009 season with so many starts at OLine (assuming of course that one of our QBs can get the ball to our receivers)?

Jeff: I am very optimistic about next season because even if we do have a subpar quarterback, I will continue to argue that he is just as good as Chris Crane last year. As long as Davis / Tuggle / Boek develops like Crane did as he got more starts, we will be just fine. The rest of our team, both offense and defense aside from the DT position should be as good or better than last season. Last year we learned early on in the Chick-Fil-A Kickoff Classic between Alabama and Clemson that a good offensive line can make you a good team and a bad offensive line can make skill players irrelevant.

Brian: Are you at all worried more about our games against Notre Dame, Virginia Tech and Florida State now that you know they return some very experienced offensive lines?

Jeff: I am naturally worried about the game at Virginia Tech and against Florida State since we haven't beaten the Seminoles in Chestnut Hill yet and Blacksburg is always a tough place to play. Notre Dame though I would say I am more worried having read that and given the fact that they almost have to get better eventually.

Brian: Not only will the offensive line be a strength for the Eagles in 2009, but the future looks bright for the line as well. Yesterday came word that St. Joseph's prep OL prospect Seth Betancourt gave BC a "solid verbal" commitment. A Scout four star recruit, Betancourt was being courted by schools like Penn State and Notre Dame, and had offers from West Virginia, Connecticut and Michigan State. Reportedly, even Florida was recruiting him hard and flew up to see him this past week. Maybe my perception isn't reality, but seems like recruiting has really stepped up this past year (with Betancourt, Boisture and Pierre-Louis). Would you agree?

Jeff: Everything is relative and given that there was absolutely no recruiting news to get excited about last year other than BC making some prospects' lists before they chose other schools, recruiting looks rosey this year. There's still a lot of time for things to happen though so I am quietly excited for now.


Big Finish

Jeff: Kevin Akins was invited to participate in the NY Jets minicamp yesterday. Any chance he makes the opening day roster?

Brian: I wish Akins all the best, but I think it will be tough for him to make the Jets opening day roster. Does he play linebacker? Safety? He probably has a better shot at safety, but will it hurt him that he didn't play the position for most of his college career?


Brian: HD thought that she'd see Justin Tuggle take over as BC's starting quarterback over Dominique Davis. Did you?

Jeff: Not really. It would've been tough for any redshirt freshman to take over for the guy who led the game-winning scoring drive against Wake Forest and then started the final 3 games last year. If Tuggle does become the starter, it will not be until right before the first game or a few games into next season.


Jeff: The AJC's Tony Barnhart lists Gary Tranquill as one of the 5 ACC assistants who will make a difference this fall. Are you expecting him to make a difference?

Brian: Tranquill certainly has the experience, but will only go as far as our eventual starting quarterback will take us.


Brian: DAP for the Atlantic Coast Conference for scheduling the second-most number of non-conference games against BCS conference opponents. ACC scheduled 41.6 percent of out of conference games against BCS opponents in 2009, trailing only the Pac 10 (15 of 30). Anything stand out to you on that list?

Jeff: It looks like the perceived weaker conferences are trying to change that perception by playing a tougher schedule.

Brian: ... or the perceived weaker conferences are perceived weaker because they play tougher competition and don't win as many non-conference games. Chicken or egg?


Jeff: Baseball shut out Dartmouth 3-0 Wednesday to guarantee their first winning season since 2006. How many games you have the Eagles taking this weekend against Miami (Fla)?

Brian: My overly optimistic projection is that the Eagles can take 2 of 3 - tonight and Saturday to be specific. The Saturday game is at 6pm in Brockton, MA though (and not Chestnut Hill) ... what's up with that?


Brian: Last one, Herzlich sat down with HD and said that his decision to return to BC for his senior season was an easy one. This surprise you?

Jeff: Nope, I never thought, nor predicted on this blog that he'd be a high draft pick.

Brian: Worth noting that B.J. Raji disagrees with you, and thinks that Herzlich would have been a Top 15 pick this year.