A Closer Look at Historical Men's Hoops Attendance

Brian: I alluded to this earlier today in the comments section from yesterday's post. Using the NCAA's website, here's a closer look at Boston College men's hoop attendance going back to 1992-1993.

Year	G	Att.	Avg.	DI Rank	% Filled	Prev. Record
2008-09	19	105,418	5,548	99	64.47%	14-17
2007-08	19	109,789	5,778	99	67.14%	21-12
2006-07	18	124,486	6,916	81	80.36%	28-8
2005-06	16	115,409	7,213	72	83.81%	25-5
2004-05	17	109,495	6,440	82	74.84%	24-10
2003-04	16	83,894	5,243	NR	60.93%	19-12
2002-03	14	85,855	6,133	91	71.26%	20-12
2001-02	16	105,631	6,602	79	76.71%	27-5
2000-01	17	90,798	5,341	96	62.06%	11-19
1999-00	15	65,966	4,398	NR	51.10%	6-21
1998-99	14	54,012	3,858	NR	44.83%	15-16
1997-98	15	75,136	5,009	NR	58.20%	22-9
1996-97	13	89,021	6,848	75	79.57%	19-11
1995-96	15	98,144	6,543	83	76.03%	9-19
1994-95	12	88,910	7,409	68	86.09%	23-11
1993-94	15	110,818	7,388	65	85.85%	18-13
1992-93	17	104,072	6,122	85	71.14%	17-14

Or in colorful graph format:


First, know that Jeff and my perspective is from 2000 on, ever since we were Newton Campus freshmen. When we were freshmen, anyone who wanted student season tickets got season tickets. Men's hoops was basically off the radar in the consciousness of Superfans, as the Eagles were coming off 6-21 and 11-19 seasons.

So the million dollar question is why the drop off in attendance, particular from the 2005-2006 season to the present.

A good friend's dad - who put two kids through BC - wrote us today to say that he was convinced that the primary reason for the low turnout is that students can no longer get access to student tickets. We are told for the past three seasons, some students that want a full student ticket package aren't able to get the full season and instead half to settle for 1/2 season packages, or in some cases, no tickets at all. Now I have no doubt that students can find creative ways of getting tickets to games that they don't have tickets for, but don't discount the effect that these new, more exclusionary ticketing policies have on students in terms of losing interesting in support a team.

While I agree that the changes in student ticketing policies may be a factor, I don't think this tells the whole story. I think there are several factors at play in the declining per-game attendance numbers since 2005-2006.

Jeff might have been onto something when he suggested attendance lags behind the team's success by 1-2 years. While not 100% correlated, take a look at the previous year's records in the years where we had the highest % filled.

This seems to tell part of the story, but I'm still baffled by the 13% drop off between the 06-07 and 07-08 seasons. Perhaps the current season's team record has much, if not more, influence on attendance than the previous season's record. That year, the Eagles stumbled to a 14-17 finish, good for last place in the ACC. And at times, it felt like they were losing every ACC game they played (two 6 game losing streaks).

Some other considerations for the drop off in attendance:

• The honeymoon is over. The allure of playing the Florida States, Virginias and Georgia Techs of the college basketball universe has worn off on Eagles fans. Since these teams have to travel greater distances to get to Chestnut Hill, you can count on less opposing team fans in the stand. In the Big East, I think you could have expected more of the opposing teams fans to show up to BC home games, especially local teams like Providence, UConn, Syracuse, St. John's and Seton Hall.
• Ridiculous ACC start times. A Tuesday night 9pm start for a game against Florida State is a fairly tough sell for locals and even students. Checking the box score for that game, BC only reported 4,968 in attendance for that game. And FSU came into that game ranked in the Top 25. For 1 of 8 ACC games that we host every season, having less than 5,000 is pretty awful. Someone from the AD should be in the ACC's ear about putting an end to 9pm starts.
  
• Too many varsity sports? Is the ratio of varsity sports to undergrads now out of whack? Consider we have the highest number of varsity sports in the ACC (31) and the third smallest undergraduate enrollment.
  
• BC globalization. With the ever increasing national distribution of the BC alumni population, it seems like more and more grads are moving away from the greater Boston area after graduation. (Note that this is just my perception. I haven't looked at any alumni demographic trends. Most everyone I know from BC has left Boston and Jeff & I are only five years out from graduation.) Recent grads that stay local are a captive population of potential season ticket holders whose numbers that may be shrinking.
  

All valid reasons for the decline in per-game attendance. If hard-pressed to pick one, however, I would point to one that has previously gone unmentioned.

Take a look at the number of home games played over the past 17 years. In the last 3 seasons, we have played 18, 19 and 19 home games - the most number of home games over that span (and likely the highest number of home games in one year in program history). As the number of ACC home games is fixed every year, that means that those additional games are against the Bryants and SC-Upstates of Division I. Those aren't particularly interesting draws. Add to this the fact that we refuse to schedule some of our former Big East rivals like UConn, Georgetown and Syracuse in basketball. We certainly have a justifiable reason for not scheduling these teams, but this cuts down on the number of local, high-profile out of conference matchups the Eagles can schedule.

My fear is that with an increasing number of home games per season, is the Athletics Department even focused on the issue of average per-game attendance? More home games means more revenue potential, and at the end of the day, does it really matter how many fans we draw for a December 31 game against Sacred Heart?

After all, the AD and the department are judged on dollars and cents, not butts in seats.

Your turn. Having seen the historical data, what's the reason that the Eagles men's basketball per-game attendance has steadily decreased over the last 4 seasons?

Headlines: Men's Basketball Attendance Ranked 99th Nationally

Brian: I just read this TimesUnion.com blog post about how Siena men's basketball team placed 72nd nationally in men's basketball average attendance last season, according to an annual report produced by the NCAA office. The article goes on to state how Siena topped the average attendance of many major power conference schools, including Georgia Tech, Seton Hall, Stanford, Georgia, Mississippi, USC and Boston College. But just how bad was it last season for the Eagles?

The Eagles ...

• Ranked 99th nationally in men's basketball average attendance with 19 home games, total attendance of 105,418 and average attendance of 5,548
• Filled Conte Forum to 64% capacity on average over those 19 home games
• Finished 11th out of 12 ACC teams, only topping Miami (FL)'s average attendance of 4,537 a game
• Were outdrew by such basketball powerhouses as the aforementioned Siena (7,497), Missouri State (7,147), Illinois St. (7,118), Charlotte (6,184), VCU (6,106), Hawaii (5,889), Evansville (5,863), and Oral Roberts (5,625), among others

As a conference, the ACC ...

• Finished 3rd in average attendance with 10,943 per game, behind the Big Ten (12,519) and the SEC (11,625)
• Attendance was down an average of 329 per game year over year, the second lowest decrease of the major power conferences (behind only the Big East)
• Drew the most attendees of any of the major conference tournaments, with an average of 26,352 attendance over the 6 sessions, and a total of 158,112

Jeff, I know we play in the second smallest arena in the ACC (ahead of only Miami's BankUnited Center with a capacity of 7,900), but are you a bit surprised in these numbers given that the men's team got back to the NCAA tournament and hosted a #3 ranked Wake Forest team, a #11 ranked Clemson team and a #5 ranked Duke team at home this season?

Jeff: Brian, I am not surprised even a little bit. We talked at length about how poor attendance was this year and when you watched other ACC games on TV you rarely saw the same number of empty seats compared to Conte. There often seems to be a one year lag in attendance relative to what the team accomplished so hopefully next year will be better and I would bet money that Maryland's attendance, for example, will drop.

Brian: What, if anything, can be done to get attendance back up over the next couple of years?

Jeff: Well, first, where do you think BC should be on this list? I mean, seven schools averaged higher per-game attendance than Conte's capacity. BC should maybe be able to push 7,000 per game but that is about as good as it will ever get because they might pack the house for all ACC games, but some of those out of conference games will always be played in front of 3,000 or so. Last season was bad, but it was probably mostly due to the previous year's sub .500 season. I would love to see fewer season ticket packages sold and half season packages offered instead because I think if you have tickets to fewer games you would be more inclined to attend each one. However, I don't anticipate that happening.

Brian: I realize that BC is certainly constrained by having one of the smallest arenas in the Conference, and it's basically a glorified hockey rink at that. But to control for differences in the size of the conference's various arenas, I thought it would be interesting to look at the attendance % filled. I wasn't as disappointed with the turnout in terms of raw numbers, but was pretty disappointed when you look at BC's average attendance % filled.

Team	Games	Avg Att.	Capacity	% Filled
Duke	17	9,314	9,314	100.00%
North Carolina	15	21,035	21,750	96.71%
Maryland	18	17,048	17,950	94.97%
Virginia Tech	16	9,414	10,052	93.65%
Clemson	16	8,476	10,000	84.76%
Wake Forest	15	12,122	14,407	84.14%
Georgia Tech	17	7,477	9,191	81.35%
NC State	18	13,456	19,086*	70.50%
Virginia	17	10,219	14,593	70.03%
Florida State	16	7,897	12,100	65.26%
Boston College	19	5,548	8,606	64.47%
Miami (Fla)	16	4,537	7,900	57.43%

The 64% was better than only Miami, an ACC program without much basketball history to speak of. Teams that had mediocre to downright bad years this year, like Virginia (4-12) or Georgia Tech (2-14), outdrew BC by quite a bit in terms of filling their home arenas. This might have something to do with the proximity to other schools or capacity rates may lag behind by a few years as you suggested.

Not sure if its a ticket pricing issue, a reworking of the student ticket policies, or a strengthening of our out of conference schedule, but I only hope that over the next few years we can get the capacity of Conte up to be more competitive with the rest of the conference.

Jeff: Let me reiterate that I strongly believe that Georgia Tech and Virginia will feel the effects of this year's season in next year's attendance just as we paid this year for last season. Next year will be better for Boston College regardless of any changes to prices or policies.

Brian: Not so sure that Georgia Tech or Virginia will see drop offs in attendance if this guy or this guy have anything to say about it.


*NC State played two games at Reynolds Coliseum (14,000) and 16 games at the RBC Center (19,722). A weighted average was used for capacity in this case. It's an art, not a science, people.

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.

Here's To Wishing Mark A Speedy Recovery

It's hard to put into words how Eagles fans are feeling given the news today about Mark Herzlich.  One of the great things about blogs is that they can add some humanity to the otherwise plain vanilla stories that come over the newswire.

Here is a sampling of the well-wishes from around the blogosphere attempting to do just that.  


Dr. Saturday:

"Even for relatively diehard fans, it might have been possible to get through the last couple seasons knowing Mark Herzlich only as "the guy with the crazy facepaint," but that would be missing the lead: The 6'4", 240-pound Boston College linebacker was the defensive player of the year in a conference that had six defenders picked in the first two rounds of this year's draft, and might have joined teammate B.J. Raji in the top-1o if he hadn't decided to come back for his senior season at B.C.

Pray today, then, that the football chapter of Herzlich's story isn't closed after the sure-fire All-American disclosed that he's been diagnosed with cancer."


Eagle in Atlanta:

"Not knowing Mark, but knowing his father a little, I feel confident that the whole family will have the passion, humor, perspective and faith to deal with what they are facing."


ESPN.com's Heather Dinich:

"This is heartbreaking news.  One of the best things about my job is talking to the players, and I can tell you that Herzlich is one of the best.  He's very well-spoken, intelligent, a natural leader, and an amazing football player.  If anyone is strong enough to fight this fight, it's Herzlich."


Every Day Should Be Saturday:

"With early detection, his prognosis is very, very good, but all happy thoughts ot Herzlich, who after all is nasty enough to kick something like cancer's ass, but also nice enough to help nuns shovel snow (even if they have goatees)."


Gobbler Country:

"Pardon my humor, but I just feel really bad right now ... for the cancer.  I have no doubt Herzlich will destroy the disease just like he destroyed ACC offenses last year.  Here's wishing him a quick recovery."


TechSuperFans!:

"Mark Herzlich, we at TSF offer our best wishes to you and your family as you battle through this and, as fans of football the way it is meant to be played, we hope that you beat this cancer into a bloody pulp and mash it into the ground so that we can see you on the gridiron again this fall."


We can only add to this to keep Mark and the Herzlich family in your thoughts and prayers as he beats the C. We certainly will honor Mark's request for privacy in this matter, but do want you to know that Eagles (and non-Eagles) nationwide are rooting for you.

We'll look forward to seeing #94 clad in face paint back on the field soon.

Mark Herzlich Is Battling Cancer

Via BCEagles.com:

Boston College senior linebacker Mark Herzlich disclosed today that he has been diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma, a malignant tumor most often found in bone or soft tissue.

The following is a statement from Herzlich:

"This past week, I got some news nobody wants to hear. After undergoing some tests to determine the cause of some pain I had been experiencing in my leg, I learned that I have Ewing's Sarcoma.

"Obviously, I was shocked. I had been extremely focused on preparing for my senior season at Boston College and for life beyond that. Now, I must channel all that energy into facing my toughest opponent yet, and that is exactly what I will do.

"I have returned to Pennsylvania to be near my family and to undergo a series of tests that will help my doctors determine the best course of treatment. I will keep you informed about my progress, but for now, I would like to ask for privacy as my family and I make some tough decisions.

"At this point, I do not know what this means for my football future, but I am determined to rid my body of this disease so that I can put that uniform back on. Thank you in advance for your prayers and concern. Together, we will fight this and win."

The following is a statement from Coach Frank Spaziani:

"We all were stunned when we heard this news. Mark is a member of the BC football family and one of the most recognizable faces on our campus. From the day he stepped foot on our campus, he has been a leader on the field, in the classroom, and in the community.

"When people think of Mark Herzlich, they think of a fearless individual who is always ready to take on a tough opponent. His integrity, determination and focus are unmatched. I know he will face this challenge with that same attitude.

"Our thoughts today are not on football, they are on Mark Herzlich. His health is our only concern, and we will stand beside him every step of the way."

Our thoughts and prayers are certainly with Mark and his family today.

If you get the chance, please leave Herzlich a message at BCEagles.com.

Good Cop/Bad Cop: The Best Days of BC Football Ahead?

Welcome back to the precinct. Today Jeff and I discuss several BC football offseason storylines in a game of Good Cop / Bad Cop.  Let's get our first suspect.


Suspect #1 - The best days of BC football ahead of us

Brian as Good Cop:  Interesting read on the Virginia Tech blog Blogsburg wondering whether the glory days of Virginia Tech football are in the past.  Sidenote: in my opinion, the answer to that question is yes.  The glory years for Virginia Tech football were clearly the 1999-2000 era.  Undefeated regular season, BCSNCG appearance, 22-2 record.  While everything in college football is certainly cyclical and I'd expect Virginia Tech to again compete for a National Championship in my lifetime, I don't think they'll ever get back to the Michael Vick era dominance of 1999-2000.  They are in a much tougher conference now, both in terms of number and quality of opponents, have an extra game to win with the ACCCG, and programs like Florida State and Miami aren't going to be terrible forever, right?  Simply too much parity these days in college football.  But I digress.

Are the best days ahead for BC football?  The answer to that question is a resounding yes.  I fully expect BC to win an ACC championship in football in my lifetime. (Heck, every team except BC, Miami, North Carolina and NC State has won an ACC championship in football in my lifetime. Yes, even Duke!)  The 2000s have arguably been the best stretch of BC football since the 1940s, with the Eagles going 80-35 (.696) since 2000.  But I'm guessing a 12-2 or 13-1 season will happen one of these years.  We've been so close the last two years, but I would argue an ACC championship would top this recent stretch, and possibly even the Flutie and Frank Leahy era of the 1940s.  It is easy to say that Doug Flutie and/or Matt Ryan isn't walking through that door, and equally easy to predict a drop off the next few years.  But our football program is only getting better with the move to the ACC.  The conference switch has only provided the football program with increased revenues and more and more national exposure.  The next Flutie/Ryan will come, and BC will top the 11-3-0 2007 season in the next 10 years.

Jeff as Bad Cop:  The best days of BC football being ahead of us would mean that we would have a stretch of seasons better than the past several.  That is not going to happen.  Back to back ACC Championship Game appearances and ten straight bowl appearances are going to be tough to beat.  Also, the question implies the relatively near future and I think it is impossible to predict that BC will be any better than the last 2-3 years in a 2-3 year span over the next five years.  I think the potential is there to be just as good and an ACCCG trip might turn into an Orange Bowl trip but one season with an ACC Championship would not mean that a couple year span is better than the last few have been.  We are in the middle of the best years of BC football.  They are not ahead of us.


Suspect #2 - Virginia Tech AD Jim Weaver asking ACC coaches to try to schedule non-conference competition no farther than one state removed (and no farther west than the Mississippi River)

Jeff as Bad Cop: I do not understand this at all. Not to mention Virginia Tech has hardly abided by their own "rule" either as last time I checked, Nebraska is west of the Mississippi where they played last year.  Not every ACC school needs to play Big XII and Pac 10 teams every year but there need to be a few matchups each year so that poll voters can have something to judge relative conference strength on which plays a key role in who plays in BCS games.

Brian as Good Cop: This statement is nearly impossible to play the good cop on but I'll give it a shot anyway. All Jim Weaver meant by this statement is to suggest a creative way to keep football travel costs down in this economic downturn.  The truth of the matter is most of the ACC programs are doing this already starting in 2009.  North Carolina State has 0 out of conference road games next season and most programs that do play out of conference road games are staying close to home.  Clemson's only out of conference road game is intra-state (at South Carolina) as are both of Miami's out of conference road games (at Central Florida, at South Florida).  Teams will have to use their discretion, however, as this rule can't possibly be a hard and fast rule for every ACC school.  If it did, you are basically giving BC the opportunity to schedule only the following D-IA teams out of conference: Connecticut (which should never happen), Army, Syracuse and Buffalo.   


Suspect #3 - This Florida State booster's idea for ACC divisional realignment - swap Georgia Tech for Maryland

Jeff as Bad Cop:  If the ACC is going to realign, they can do a lot better than simply swapping Georgia Tech for Maryland.  The best solution would probably be a North/South alignment but it's all a waste of time talking about it since the conference schedule is set through 2015.

Brian as Good Cop: The conference schedule may be set through 2015, but that wouldn't preclude the conference from making a move before then if push came to shove. As Gobbler Country points out, the conference has already made a scheduling change in baseball with the move of the 2010 ACC baseball championship from Boston to Greensboro next season. The reasoning/excuse? Decrease travel costs ... in this economy.

The conference has seemed to pick and choose which cost cutting measures they want to pursue, but this certainly could be another one of those. Swapping Georgia Tech for Maryland moves the conference closer to having a pure North/South alignment, with the only exception being BC would still be in the Atlantic (a.k.a. the ACC South) and Miami still in the Coastal (a.k.a. the ACC North). But really, those two teams will have to travel pretty far anyway for most road ACC games and this move would decrease travel costs to some extent for 10 of the 12 teams.

This alignment ensures that Florida State and Georgia Tech, the Seminole's closest geographic ACC opponent, would play every season in football, and also moves the Georgia Tech vs. Clemson and Maryland vs. Virginia permanent rival games intra-division. With the new alignment, you backfill the permanent rival setup with Clemson vs. Maryland and Georgia Tech vs. Virginia, and this Florida State booster is happy.


Suspect #4 - ACC rule change where road teams no longer have to wear white jerseys

Brian as Bad Cop:  I don't have really strong feelings about this but I will play the bad cop on this one.  What's the point of this?  I mean, I thought it was kinda cool when Pete Carroll made a point of having USC wear their red jerseys at the Rose Bowl when they played UCLA for the sake of tradition.  But I don't see the point of this ruling.  For BC, we're not going to stop wearing our maroon jerseys at home.  And it would only cause mass confusion if a Florida State or a Virginia Tech wore their home jerseys in Chestnut Hill ... it would be a maroon fest of epic proportions.  The only teams that might be able to capitalize on this ruling are North Carolina or Georgia Tech, who have light-colored home jerseys.  I wouldn't have a problem if UNC came to Chestnut Hill wearing their Carolina blue uniforms or Georgia Tech showed up in their Vegas gold.  Otherwise, this rule change is dumb.  The rest of the ACC's home uniforms colors are too distinctive that you would never want to watch a game with two teams wearing their home colored uniforms.  Imagine watching a game with Clemson or Miami in orange vs. Florida State or Wake Forest black unis.  Or how about Maryland or NC State in red vs. Miami in green.  These color combinations would surely cause an epileptic seisuze.  No thank you. 

Back in 2003, the NHL changed their rule to be that home teams had to wear dark colors, which flew in the face of 30+ years of tradition where the home team would wear white.  That was a dumb rule change and so is this.

Jeff as Good Cop:  I think it would be great to be able to wear a gold jersey on the road just like the basketball team wears at home sometimes.  Jerseys would have to be approved by someone who would have to avoid the red and green combo and any other confusions.  ACC officials are a little smarter than you give them credit.

Brian as Bad Cop: The officials won't be signing off on this, the teams will before the game. I would be the good cop on this if the Eagles did have a gold jersey they could wear on the road, but gold jersey and gold helmet? Not sure that would look so hot.


Last one, Suspect #5 - BC football attendance is recession proof

Jeff as Good Cop: Two years ago, the Eagles played essentially the same home schedule where Florida State was the only marquee opponent to come to the Heights. Attendance was great throughout that season despite the weather being bad for multiple games that year. BC fans will be back out in force this season for ACC games since the Eagles will not lose their first home game as they did last year to Georgia Tech. If the team can win at Clemson in September, Alumni will be full the rest of the season and I fully expect Spaz to get the season started on the right foot.

Brian as Bad Cop: There will be multiple factors that contribute to lower attendance at BC football games in 2009, and the economy will certainly be one of those.  But the economy won't be the only factor in lower attendance.  It certainly doesn't help the Eagles that the schedule isn't doing them any favors this year.  No Virginia Tech, Clemson, Notre Dame or Miami at home this season.  In addition, a bunch of relatively obscured out of conference opponents come to the Heights this fall in Central Michigan, Northeastern and Kent State.  As you mentioned Jeff, the only headliner is Florida State, but two years ago we didn't even come close to selling out the FSU home game.  Granted the weather was terrible but the Eagles went into that game 8-0!  There isn't the buzz surrounding the team that there was for Matt Ryan's senior year - new head coach and coaching staff and possibly new starting quarterback certainly contribute to this.  And lastly, the economy will certainly be a factor in attendance in 2009.  People everywhere are cutting back on discretionary expenses and this could very well be the difference between going to all 7 home games and instead going to 2-3.

For those number-oriented nerds reading this, here are the raw attendance figures over the last two seasons.  Attendance was actually down by 6,669 in 2008 from the 2007 season, but that can solely be attributed to the fact that we swapped a decent I-AA UMass team for a terrible Rhode Island cupcake last season (a difference of over 11,000 fans).  Read into these numbers what you will, but with Florida State being the only marquee team coming to Alumni Stadium this fall, it wouldn't surprise me if we didn't sell out Alumni once this season.

2008		2007
Ga Tech	40,106	Wake Forest	42,292
UCF	41,267	NC State	42,513
Rhode Island	32,628	Army	40,329
Va Tech	44,127	UMass	44,111
Clemson	41,863	Bowling Green	40,117
Notre Dame	44,500	Florida State	40,065
Maryland	42,767	Miami	44,500
TOTAL	287,258	TOTAL	293,927
AVG	41,037	AVG	41,989
CAPACITY	92.2%	CAPACITY	94.4%

Headlines: ACC Hoops to Expand to 18? (Again)

Brian: For the second year in a row, ACC coaches will consider moving the men's hoops schedule from 16 ACC games to 18 during their meetings this week in Amelia Island, Florida. Andy Katz breaks down the different scheduling proposals:

• Leave the hoops schedule alone - 16 games, 11 games against every team, 2 primary partners to play home-and-home yearly, 3 teams to play a second game against on a rotating basis
  
• The Seth Greenberg proposal - 16 games, 11 games against every team and 5 teams to play a second game against on a rotating basis
  
• The conference's proposal - A move to an 18 game schedule (like the Pac 10 and the Big East), 11 games against every team, 3 primary partners to play home-and-home yearly and 4 teams to play a second game against on a rotating basis
  

Also being considered is applying the Atlantic / Coastal divisional split to basketball.

None of these changes would be made until the current television contract expires after the 2010-2011 season.

Brian: My personal opinion is while the Seth Greenberg proposal certainly is more fair to the rest of the league, this will never, ever fly. There's really no shot that this will ever be considered solely because ESPN and the ACC's TV partners could possibly lose out on two regular season games between Duke and UNC in any given year. I really don't know what Greenberg is complaining about anyway. Virginia Tech gets Virginia and Boston College as their permanent scheduling partners. It's not like that is a murderer's row of ACC basketball powerhouses. Virginia Tech has been competitive with both teams since they joined the league in 2004 - 4-4 vs. Boston College and 5-6 vs. Virginia.

The real losers in the permanent scheduling partners setup are NC State (North Carolina and Wake Forest), Duke (North Carolina and Maryland), and recently - with Oliver Purnell raising Clemson basketball to respectability - Georgia Tech (Clemson and Wake Forest).

Jeff: Agree with you there. Seth Greenberg's proposal will never ever happen because they won't leave the posibility of Duke-UNC not playing twice a year.

Brian: I sincerely hope the ACC just says no to the divisional format. I've made it clear on the blog that I think the current ACC divisional alignment make no sense. I thought the two-division format stunk when the Big East adopted that format and had the Big East East and the Big East West. My thought pattern was confirmed when the Eagles won the Big East East with a record of 18-11 (10-6) in 2002-2003 and failed to make the NCAA Tournament.

Jeff: I would have no problem with going to divisional alignment. Duke and North Carolina would be on the same side so they would play twice but that would also be considered a problem because then they wouldn't be the #1 and #2 seeds in the conference tournament.

Brian: My guess is that an 18 game schedule - whether it gets approved this year or not - is an economic inevitability.

Jeff: I agree that the 18 game schedule will happen eventually but I see no downside to it as a fan because I'd rather see more ACC games. It also means more often that BC plays North Carolina or Duke twice a year which is a good thing for our program.

Brian: While I think that the conference will move to 18 games, I don't particularly like the move for the ACC's NCAA tournament hopefuls. I don't think the 18 game Pac 10 format has really helped get Pac 10 bubble teams into the Big Dance the past couple of years.

I think the 18 game format works for the Big East because there are so many damn teams. Play everyone once and you are already at 15 games, leaving 3 games to play an opponent twice in one season. To me, it seems like there are enough crappy teams towards the bottom half of the Big East standings - DePaul, Rutgers, South Florida, St. John's, Seton Hall - that the two extra league games probably aren't going to put a dent in Big East bubble teams' resumes. Still, the Big East and Big Ten have only had the 18 game format for one season so I think it's too soon to tell whether the two extra league games end up hurting or helping teams on the bubble come tournament selection time.

Jeff: The Big East is forced into the 18 game schedule because of the number of teams in the league, correct. But how can you argue against the 18 game Pac-10 schedule when Arizona making the field was the big surprise of the NCAA field last year. The ACC will see no major impact from going to an 18 game schedule. BC got snubbed a few years back when they were part of the Big East but there were non-conference losses and a poor Big East tournament showing that sealed our fate.

Headlines: A Bowl Team With No Home?

Brian:  ATL gives us this link from the Mobile Press-Register about how the GMAC Bowl - the newest edition to the ACC bowl lineup - would prefer a southern team like Florida State, Georgia Tech or Miami over Boston College.  That didn't take long, now did it?

"So it would stand to reason that if a Florida State, Georgia Tech or Miami were in the mix for one of the ACC's later slots, those teams might be more likely to visit Mobile. It makes sense that more fans would make the trip to Mobile from Tallahassee as opposed to supporters from Boston College. Particularly in these tough economic times, that kind of consideration is going to become increasingly important."

Cue Stewie: 

Say what? I guess beggers can be choosers. Tell the GMAC Bowl to get in line as the bias of ACC bowl games not selecting BC is certainly well documented:

• Chick-Fil-A nee Peach Bowl - Passed over Matt Ryan and the ACCCG runner-up Eagles in 2007 (10-3, 6-2 ACC) for a Clemson team (9-3, 5-3) that BC beat in Death Valley
  
• Gator Bowl - Jacksonville will never select BC after getting burned with the 2007 ACC Championship game attendance
  
• Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl - Last year's bowl between BC and Vanderbilt generated only $9.97 million for the local economy, down nearly $20 mil year over year.  Even though the bowl went with the local team, this shortfall can obviously be attributed to the fact that BC doesn't travel
  

If I remember correctly, the H-Bowl didn't like us very much either.  Add to this the natural geographic biases of the Champs Sports Bowl (a Florida ACC team), the Meineke Car Care Bowl (a North Carolina team) and the EagleBank Bowl (Maryland / Virginia), and BC is certainly not feeling the love.  

Jeff, short of Robert Kraft and the Gillette Company getting together and creating the Gillette Shaving Cream Bowl at Foxboro, will BC ever be embraced by any of these ACC bowls?  Or is this simply a losing battle?

Jeff:  Worrying about this is pointless because it is a losing battle.  Unless a bowl game is played in Foxboro or the Meadowlands, BC is going to be the furthest ACC team from the site and still have one of the smallest student bodies / alumni base.  Bowls don't get excited about Wake Forest either but at least the Deacons are more centrally located and more students could pile into a van to catch a bowl game in places like Jacksonville, Atlanta or Orlando.

This is not a problem specific to the ACC.  In the SEC, a bowl could be thinking it might get Georgia or Tennessee and end up being forced to select Vanderbilt.  In the Big Ten you can have a shot at Penn State, Ohio State or Michigan and end up with Northwestern.

I was happy with the turnout in Orlando two years ago but that was partially because of people like you and me who went to that game but did not go to Charlotte the year before or to Nashville last year.  If the right matchup presents itself BC will travel well but never as well as a school located within a few hundred miles of the site or as well as Clemson or Virginia Tech.

Brian:  You couldn't miss the Champs Sports Bowl in 2007 because BC fans simply didn't want that season to end.  Quite frankly, I don't blame BC fans for not wanting to travel to Nashville last season for the bowl against a 6-6 Vanderbilt team.  Unfortunately for BC, it's a perpetual downward spiral when it comes to bowl selection ...

1. Get pitted against a crappy opponent in an inconvenient location between Christmas and New Year's.  
   
2. BC fans don't show up because they feel the team got slighted.  
   
3. This perpetuates the "BC doesn't travel well myth" and the cycle continues.
   

The good news is that the ACC contract with the GMAC Bowl is only for one year.  Maybe the ACC can strike a deal with a bowl game in ACC territory going forward.  Humble suggestions: the new Orlando Bowl for the Cure, Outback Bowl, Capital One Bowl.  Even the Pizza (Papa John's) Bowl in Birmingham is relatively closer to the rest of the ACC than Mobile, Alabama.

Also, I realize that Florida State and Miami aren't the programs that they were in the late 1990s, but the GMAC Bowl is dreaming if they think teams like Florida State and Miami will still be available this season after the Gator Bowl, the Champs Sports Bowl and the Chick-Fil-A Bowl pick their teams. The only way those teams will fall to this bowl is if the eight bowls above them in the ACC pecking order are forced to pick a program like BC, Wake Forest or Virginia.

Weekend Out, Disrespect Edition

Brian: I'm sensing a theme here ...

Yesterday, it was State fans drinking the JPG Kool-Aid, today it is ESPN's HD's early ACC bowl projections:

Orange Bowl: Virginia Tech
Chick-fil-A Bowl: Florida State
Gator Bowl: NC State
Champs Sports Bowl: Miami
Music City Bowl: Georgia Tech
Meineke Car Care Bowl: Clemson
Emerald Bowl: North Carolina
EagleBank Bowl: Maryland
GMAC Bowl: Wake Forest

At-large: Boston College

Out: Virginia, Duke

If Boston College is going to be the 10th ACC bowl-eligible team next season, HD must think we are going 6-6 and finishing last in the Atlantic Division. My guess as to what she's thinking? 3-1 out of conference and 3-5 in the ACC.

(Note to HD: ACC is NOT getting 10 teams bowl eligible again, especially since NC State, North Carolina and Duke all have to get to 7 wins since they are playing not 1, but 2 I-AA cupcakes this season.)

Look, I have just as many reservations about BC's 2009 season as the next Eagles fan. However, it simply amazes me how sports writers can make the same mistake about BC year-in and year-out and offer only mild platitudes of apology about how they were wrong about the Eagles when it is all said and done.

Keep doubling down on shorting BC football, naysayers. One of these seasons you'll finally be right.

As always, thanks to BC Mike for the Kool Aid. Have a good weekend. Back Monday.

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.

Your Atlantic Division Preseason Favorite?

Brian: Yes, it is only May. That didn't stop JPG from handicapping next season's ACC Atlantic Division race. Your 2009 Atlantic Division preseason favorite? These guys:


Here's what he had to say about Boston College's chances:

The Eagles defied the odds in '08. And I'll be the first to admit I was wrong about that.

But another coaching transition? This one without Matt Ryan at quarterback or two NFL defensive linemen? Or without an innovative assistant like Steve Logan?

BC won't fall completely off the map (yet), the schedule won't let them, but the post-O'Brien Era will truly hit the Heights this season.

Jeff: This is a great article here. Another apology about being wrong about the 2008 Eagles but he says if they don't fall apart this year they will eventually. Great analysis. We could win the ACC the next four years and finish dead last the 5th and this guy will say "I told you so." Can you stand reading stuff from this clown?

Brian: Yeah, no. Sorry. NC State is not the ACC Atlantic Division favorite. Funny to read the army of NC State sports bloggers reactions to this Giglio post here, here and here. Maybe NC State is the Atlantic Division favorite for a Raleigh-based sports writer/blogger, but elsewhere, if you took the temperature of other papers and other sports writers, a different team will be the favorite to win the division.

Ask a Tallahassee Democrat or an Orlando Sentinel writer who the Atlantic Division favorite is, and they'll tell you Florida State is finally going to rebound behind their capable QB Christian Ponder.

Ask a sports writer from The State, and they'll tell you Clemson won't miss a beat and has too many offensive weapons not to be the Atlantic Division favorite. For that matter, ask anyone in the state of South Carolina and they'll tell you Clemson is the definitive ACC Atlantic Division favorite.

Ask a Boston Globe or a Herald beat writer and they'll ask you which teams make up the Atlantic and the Coastal divisions so that they can make a prediction.

Ask the Washington Times or Baltimore Sun Terrapin beat writer who is the ACC Atlantic favorite, and ... no, just kidding.

Back to reality for a moment. I don't think there is really one clear cut favorite in the Atlantic Division next season. Last preseason, the consensus was that the Atlantic Division was much stronger than the Coastal. That didn't really come to pass. This season, the early projections are that the Coastal Division will be much stronger, as the winner of the Coastal - Virginia Tech / Georgia Tech / North Carolina - will again stream roll which ever team represents the Atlantic in the ACCCG.

I know that the newspaper industry is struggling and writers have to generate buzz and interest in their columns, but c'mon man. The clear cut Atlantic Division favorite? NC State?! No thank you. The Wolfpack could possibly have to deal with another injury-plagued season, not to mention they have the consummate over-underachieving TOB at the helm. 8 wins next season? Sure, but we are talking middle of the 'Pack finish, J.P.

Pun intended.

Role Play: A Spaz Guarantee?, Soring to Glory, and So Long Fenway?

Brian: Time for a little role play.


Brian: Jeff, you are head football coach Frank Spaziani. Who you got at starting quarterback? Show your hand.


Jeff as Coach Spaz: To no one's surprise, Dominique Davis will be our starting quarterback when we start play in the fall. He will not see every snap but he will start. Regardless of who is at quarterback, our defense will be awesome and we will win lots of games.

Brian: Follow up question: BC Guy Kevin Armstrong gave you the SI royal treatment yesterday. Any truth to the rumor that you are going to power BC to four wins next season on the power of your magical stache alone?

Jeff as Coach Spaz: We'll find out, but BC is good for 8 or 9 wins without the stache so if it is true, which I hope it is, we're in for something really special next season.


Jeff: Brian, you are BJ Raji. C'mon man, you can really spell "soar" right? You're just playing with us, right ... right??


Brian as BJ Raji: Thats for me to know and for you to find out. Maybe I was trying to be funny Jeff. Did that thought ever occur to you? Perhaps I have a budding career as the new funneyman of the NFL like my boy Shaq. I know I've had my fare share of troubles in the past - smoking weed in college, academic ineligibility, almost smoking weed at the Combine - but this one I could care less about. So what that a bunch of bloggers are poking fun at me about this. I'm a soon to be multi-millionaire.

I'll tell you one person who is happy about my spelling mistake - the seller. The item is up to $180 now! That's me giving back to the communeity.


Brian: Jeff, you are Al Skinner. The Eagles are set to play in the 2009 USVI Paradise Jam. (You can't seem to avoid Purdue in these early season tournaments.) How your Eagles going to fare this year in the tournament?


Jeff as Al Skinner: Yes, we might get to face Purdue again next season. It will be a tough game for us if we do but I really hope that we get a game against Tennessee so that I can beat Bruce Pearl before he succeeds me as BC's head coach as you guys like to talk about.


Jeff: Brian, you are BC athletic director Gene DeFilippo. You at all upset over the fact that the conference passed over historic Fenway Park in favor of the slightly less prestigious NewBridge Bank Park in Greensboro, NC?


Brian as GDF: Upset? Yea I'm upset. First the ACC Championship is moved from Boston to Durham this year because of a Fenway Sports Group scheduling conflict. What am I paying these guys for? To conveniently forget about my college athletics program and have them instead worry about the Red Sox?

Then the commissioner yanks the 2010 tournament away from the city citing the economy? What an excuse. Cut down on travel costs? Greensboro, NC may be central to 5 ACC schools, but if you look at this year's standings, 3 of those 5 schools aren't even going to qualify for the Championship (Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, NC State) and a fourth (Duke) is barely hanging onto one of the last spots. BC is going to have to travel to the championship. What about our travel expenses? So are Florida State, Miami, Georgia Tech and Maryland. Not to mention it costs just as much, if not more, to fly to small North Carolina airports as it does to fly into a major city like Boston.

I thought the conference brought us in to expand their reach and enter the Boston sports market?

You may be wondering why I'm so upset about this in a sport as insignificant to BC as college baseball, but I think this is sending the larger message to Boston College that the city of Boston will never host an ACC championship in any of these sports. The commissioner and the balance of power in the conference is in North Carolina, and the commish and the league brass would rather do what's convenient for them than reward some of these college ballplayers with a once-in-a-lifetime experience of playing in Fenway Park. BC will just stick to hosting Hockey East, Frozen Four and national sailing competitions - sports we actually have a chance of winning a national championship in and conferences that actually care about us. Also, I hear that old man Paterno is ruffling some feathers about Big Ten expansion. Maybe I should give him a call and see if they are interested in BC?


Brian: Last one. Jeff, you are ACC commissioner and BCS coordinator John Swofford. Congress wants to know, Why was the attendance down in the ACC championship last year?


Jeff as John Swofford: So are you going to give me some time to answer the question this time? With the game being held in Tampa, Florida State, Miami, Georgia Tech and Clemson are the teams whose fan bases would be most likely to fill the stands because of georgraphic location. None of thos teams made it last year and instead two of our four northernmost schools represented the league in the Championship Game. To make matters worse, the game was a rematch of not only a regular season game, but also the previous season's game. Add in the economy and you have a perfect storm for bad attendance. Can you get off my back about ACCCG attendance, Brian? It moves to Charlotte in 2010, happy!!??

Hulu: An Evil Plot to Destroy Any Memory of Eagle Victories Over the Irish?

Brian: The latest in conspiracy theories? Why is Hulu / NBC Universal not adding more Boston College vs. Notre Dame football games? Eagle in Atlanta is the straw that stirs the drink.


ESPN's HD tells us a lot of stuff we already knew.


Chris Crane is the new Brian St. Pierre, Super Bowl clipboard holder? Crane signed as an unrestricted free agent with the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts have Peyton Manning, Curtis Painter (Purdue) and Jim Sorgi (Wisconsin) at the QB position. Odds Crane makes the 53 man roster?


Despite being the ninth overall pick in the draft, BJ Raji is not guaranteed a starting position at nose tackle.


In light of this past Saturday's Dallas Cowboys practice bubble collapse, Scott Bordow asks are practice bubbles safe? Certainly, Alumni Stadium's bubble is much more sheltered and less prone to this, but including the Arizona State practice facility collapse last August, this makes two practice facility collapses in less than a year.


And finally, following up on last week's discussion about recruiting, err, vehicles, blog favorite BCMike gives us this artist's rendition of Spaz's new wheels. Your move, Penn State.

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.