Breaking Down The 2009-2010 Eagles Basketball Schedule

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

Non-Conference


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


ACC Schedule


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Key to the season: we go as Biko goes.

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


Burning The Midnight Oil

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

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

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

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


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

Let the Games Begin! and the Big Finish

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


Big Finish

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

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


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

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


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

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


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

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


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

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


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

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


Pick 5

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

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

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

Let the beatdown begin!

Jeff:

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

Brian:

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

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

Headlines: 2009-10 Basketball Schedule Released

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

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

Big East Expansion Talk and the (Extra) Big Finish

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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


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

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


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

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


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

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


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

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


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

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


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

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


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

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


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

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


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

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


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

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


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

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


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

Brian: Maybe he is finding extra range with age?


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

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


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

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

HD's Preseason Predictions and the Big Finish

Brian: ESPN’s ACC blogger HD has her three predictions for the Eagles in 2009. Namely,

1. Dave Shinskie will be a better quarterback than people think.
2. The Eagles’ running game will flourish behind one of the best offensive lines in the conference.
3. The losses up front and in the linebacking corps will be too much to overcome.

Care to pick apart any of these statements?

Jeff: As usual HD's statements are vague so that we can never truly say "I told you so!" at the end of the season.

First, I agree with her that Shinskie will be the guy and will be a decent ACC quarterback. Tuggle and Boek had their chances to be "the man" but in all likelihood that time has passed.

Secondly, we know our backs are young and pretty good and our O-line is almost becoming overrated now after being very good for over a decade.

But to her third point, will the losses on defense be too much for the team to overcome and win ANY conference games? Will it be too much to overcome and win the Atlantic Division again? Will it be too much to overcome and be the 5th best defense in the country? What does she mean?

If she means that we won't be the 5th best defense in the nation again, well, duh!!! ...

If she means we won't win the division again, then she is just joining the crowd of Boston College football naysayers ...

But if she thinks that's the reason we won't go to a bowl game or won't win a bunch of games, she is very, very far from being right. BC went without B.J. Raji in 2007 and did fine. We've dealt with Toal's extensive injury problems over the last several years and have been fine. Good players graduate and move onto the NFL. BC has had good players leave before and we have rebounded, and they will again this year. It's just as simple as that.

The quarterback position is somewhat questionable but the running backs should be the best we've had in a since Derrick Knight and William Green. The linebacking corps has injury issues but the secondary will be the best it has been in years. The defensive tackles won't be as good but the defensive ends will be much improved. The only thing that might be too much to overcome in 2009 is HD's terrible predictions when she hopes to keep her job.

Brian: Whoa. Settle down there. Well I don't think HD has to worry about job security by making a uninformed season preview of Boston College, because it seems every college football prognosticator (with the exception of Phil Steele, who thinks we'll finish 3rd in the Atlantic) has made a similar assessment. Safety in numbers I guess.

The only thing you said that I will slightly disagree with is your assessment of the secondary. Our defense led the country in interceptions last season. I think this was largely due to the strength of our line (particularly Raji and Brace in the middle) and our linebacking corps of McLaughlin, Herzlich and Akins putting pressure on the opposing QB. While I have great faith in the secondary this season, I wouldn't expect a better performance than last season's performance given that we've lost a lot of talent in front of them.

Also, the running game will be strong, but this is predicated on having a capable quarterback under center than can move the ball through the air. As you mentioned, this remains to be seen whether we have such a capable signal caller.


Big Finish

Brian: The ACC announced game times and networks for the 2009 Big Ten/ACC Challenge. BC will travel to Crisler Arena and play Michigan on Wednesday night, December 2 at 7:30pm on ESPN2. Do you like the time slot and network selection, or are you disappointed because you’ll be attending the Illinois at Clemson game that night starting at 7:15?

Jeff: That sounds like a perfect two TV setup night. BC can't complain about being on the Deuce when playing Michigan in basketball.


Jeff: BC and the ACC also announced that Matt Tennant and Jim Ramella will represent the Eagles at this year’s ACC Football Kickoff weekend. That cool with you?

Brian: You bet. It’s a great honor for the seniors and is a testament to the offensive and defensive line talent our school consistently produces.


Brian: Pittsburgh Penguin Brooks Orpik is bringing the Stanley Cup to Boston College. If you had one day with the most famous trophy in sports, where would you take it?

Jeff: If I were a well-known alumni, I'd take it to the Heights, but since I'm not, I don't know. I might have to go to South Beach and drink out of it all night.


Jeff: The Carolina Hurricanes agreed to terms with ex-Eagle Andrew Alberts. With all the recent player movement of various Eagles in the NHL, who has the best chances to hoist the Stanley Cup this season?

Brian: You have to still like Orpik's chances with Pittsburgh, but Patrick Eaves and Andrew Alberts have a good shot in Carolina.


Brian: Last season, the Eagles finished dead last in offensive turnover rates, turning the ball over 26 times on 637 offensive plays. Will we see any improvement in that category this season?

Jeff: Yes, even if for no other reason than that we go to more conservative play calling with Logan gone.


Jeff: HD thinks we have the 5th best running back corps in the league. Objections?

Brian: Considering that Montel Harris had nearly as many rushing yards and TDs last season as Miami's Graig Cooper and Javarris James combined, I am surprised to see Miami (Fla.) ranked ahead of BC. Georgia Tech shouldn't even be ranked (their entire offense is rushing!) and Clemson at #8? I thought C.J. Spiller was a darkhorse Heisman candidate?


Brian: Last one, Matt Ryan indeed won the ESPY for Breakthrough Athlete (the ESPY’s will be aired on Sunday). I believe you had this one right. Time to gloat. Have at it.

Jeff: No need. That one was too easy.

Headlines: Basketball Recruit Decommits

Brian: The big news over the weekend was that BC men’s basketball recruit Danny Lawhorn (Class of 2010) decommitted from BC via nearly every major social networking website known to man – Facebook and (your favorite) Twitter.

dlawhorn3: "chillin just decommiited from boston college now the list went up"

Lawhorn’s list of schools has been narrowed (?) to "Fordham, Arizona State, Texes A&M, UCLA, USC, Arizona, Organ State, Sout Carolina, Kentucky, Flordia, LSU, Mississippi State, Arkansas, UMass and UConn." No official announcement has been made by the school. Has this kid even talked to the coaching staff?

Sounds like it is time to update that MySpace graphic.


With PG recruit Lawhorn gone, that leaves only one recruit for the Class of 2010: Minnesota power forward Kevin Noreen. At the end of next season, we will lose senior Tyler Roche and go into the 2010-2011 season with 7 seniors on the roster (Paris, Raji, Trapani, Mosakowski, Sanders, Southern, Dunn). We currently have 11 on scholarship (with a max of 13 scholarship spots) and with Roche graduating and Noreen coming on, we will maintain 11 scholarship roster spots.

In your opinion, is Lawhorn a major loss to the recruiting class of 2010? Also, are you getting concerned that BC 1) doesn't have any recruits coming on board for this coming season and 2) the Eagles currently only have one recruit for the class of 2010?

Jeff: Lawhorn is not a major loss to our BC basketball's recruiting efforts. Recruits come and go and, like you said, we only lose Roche after this season. While it would be nice to have a couple good recruits included in the Class of 2010, it is not imperative until 2011. Unfortunately, this potential major problem we have for the 2011-12 season was created in the past by transfers and us having an extremely large class of 2011. The good news is that BC basketball fans get to be very optimistic about their basketball program as this class grows together. But the year after they leave will be a tough year for BC regardless of if we get one or two more recruits this year or not.

Brian: You have to be concerned about the class of 2011. I know Skinner likes to bank scholarships for future seasons, but Eagles fans only have to look back to recent history to see what happens when you are forced to sign a large number of incoming freshmen to fill the slots left by graduating seniors and transfers. See the drop off from 2006-2007 to 2007-2008 (-7 wins) when we had to replace ACC Player of the Year Jared Dudley, Sean Marshall, and Marquez Haynes (transfer to UT-Arlington). Sure, we should be excited about this coming season and next, but replacing 7+ seniors in the recruiting class of 2011 will be a tall, tall order for Skinner. My hope is the team picks up 1-2 more recruits for the class of 2010 so that we aren't scrambling to bring in so many players the following year.

Jeff: I'm not getting too worked up about this just yet. I don't get too worked up when recruits such as Joe Boisture or Danny Lawhorn decommit. Unfortunately, that is the reality of competing with the big boys. If you're a young football player that can go to nearly any program in the country, Boston College might not be your first choice. I would rather try to get those kids even though a smaller percentage might end up at BC than recruiting kids whose other option might be going to some MAC school. BC attracts kids that appreciate New England and want to be student-athletes, not just athletes. I'm fine with that and am willing to deal with the emotional speed bumps we hit as fans along the way.

The bright side for the basketball program is that at least freshman are more like to come in and produce right away in basketball compared to football. One or two stud recruits in 2011-2012 can quickly fill the large void that will be left in our program after so many players graduate after the 2010-11 season.

Can Florida State Win the Atlantic? and the Big Finish

Brian: The AJC’s Mr. College Football compares each of the preseason magazines predictions for the 2009 ACC Atlantic Division race and offers up his own set of predictions. Here is the breakdown:

Writer	1	2	3	4	5	6
Athlon	FSU	NCSU	CU	WFU	BC	UMD
Lindy's	FSU	WFU	CU	NCSU	BC	UMD
Phil Steele	CU	FSU	BC*	NCSU*	WFU	UMD
Sporting News	FSU	NCSU	WFU	CU	UMD	BC
The Kickoff	NCSU	WFU	CU	FSU	UMD	BC
Mr. CFB	FSU	CU	NCSU	WFU	BC	UMD

* tied

The general consensus appears to be that Florida State will win the Atlantic Division this year, with 4 of the 6 writers/magazines picking the Seminoles. This leads Barnhardt to ask the question, can Florida State win the ACC Atlantic? Well, can they? Is this the year that the Seminoles gets back on track, or do you expect someone else to emerge from the ACC Atlantic?

Jeff: To be perfectly honest (and I know I'm a homer) I say it's going to be Virginia Tech and Boston College again until someone proves they can beat them. The Eagles might fall off a little this year because of all the changes in coaching staff and some personnel on the field but who is going to step up and beat them?

FSU certainly has issues and they have to travel to Chestnut Hill ...

NC State has been - straight up - the worst team in the Atlantic Division since full conference expansion, so even though hopes are high in Raleigh for this season, there is really no reason to get too excited ...

Wake Forest and Maryland I'm picking to finish 5th and 6th in the division in no particular order ...

And finally, Clemson has C.J. Spiller which is great and all but they still have offensive line issues, questions at the quarterback position and as much uncertainty as anyone else in the league.

Virginia Tech and BC went to Tampa last year despite probably having worse teams than the year before so since they could get it done last year with less talent, there is no reason they can't do it again this year as their talent matures.

Brian: Can Florida State win the Atlantic this year? Sure. But much like the last few seasons, they certainly aren't going to run away with the division. The Seminoles defensive unit is fairly inexperienced, and they similarly have to fill the hole left on the defensive line with the graduation of Everette Brown. Christian Ponder has his moments, but was wildly inconsistent in his first full season as a starter under center. See 2 TDs and 0 INTs and 199 yards passing in the Champs Sports Bowl win over Wisconsin, and a combined 0 TDs, 6 INTs in losses to both Wake Forest and Boston College at home. The Noles also lose playmakers Greg Carr and Preston Parker, so the supporting cast is a bit inexperienced as well.

Finally, the ACC schedule - at least the Atlantic Division slate - certainly doesn't break in their favor this season, as they have to travel to Clemson, Chestnut Hill and Winston-Salem. In particular, Wake Forest has been a thorn in Florida State's side, having won each of their last 3 meetings, including two in Tallahassee. On the other side, the Seminoles get the benefit of not facing Virginia Tech this season, but they do get three of the tougher draws in Georgia Tech, Miami to open the season and at North Carolina.

Going back to the Atlantic predictions, I think its interesting to see how high some of the sportswriters are Wake Forest and N.C. State. As an Eagles fan, I know not to undervalue the job guys like Jim Grobe and Tom O'Brien can do with mediocre talent, but I just don't see it happening this season. If you average the above predictions, this gives you a rough idea of what the Atlantic preseason predictions will look like come ACC Media Day:

1. Florida State
2. N.C. State
3. Clemson
4. Wake Forest
5. Boston College
6. Maryland

Not sure whether I agree or disagree with these preseason rankings at this point. I think one thing is clear though. Unlike a year ago, the majority of the high expectations for the conference are in the Coastal Division. This is probably why you see such a wide range of preseason predictions for the Atlantic. With no clear cut favorite in the Division, the tried-and-true preseason prediction fallback is - of course - Florida State.


Big Finish

Brian: The Legacy x4 guys take a look at ACC Media Day preseason predictions and compare the past 4 season's predictions to postseason results. What they found is that Wake Forest edges BC as the least predictable team in terms of order of finish in their respective division. You surprised?

Jeff: Not surprised at all. This is really the most underrated team award not the hardest to predict team.


Jeff: Which will happen first? BC winning an ACC Football Championship or being predicted preseason to win the title?

Brian: No brainer. BC wins an ACC Football Championship before they are ever tabbed the preseason conference favorite.


Brian: Matt Ryan has been nominated for the 2009 ESPY Award for "Best Breakthrough Athlete." Ryan is up against Shawn Johnson, Evan Longoria and Derrick Rose. Will he take home the award? Who will?

Jeff: The NFL is king so Matty better win.


Jeff: The Globe's Bruins Blog reports that the Bruins aren’t likely to sign Brock Bradford, making him an unrestricted free agent. Your thoughts?

Brian: I hope a franchise takes a chance on Bradford but it looks like due to his size – 5'10", 175 pounds – he’ll have to grind it out in the AHL for a few years.


Brian: This blog takes a crack at ranking the ACC coaches. David Cutcliffe at #7 with 1 ACC win under his belt? Do you agree with any of this blogger’s ACC coaching rankings?

Jeff: I don't strongly disagree with any of his rankings right now considering Spaziani hasn't held the head coach title before. One win at Duke is worth like 8 at Florida State.


Jeff: JPG takes a second look at 2009-2010 ACC basketball and has BC predicted to finish 3rd in the ACC behind only Duke and UNC. Surprised at the News & Observer’s high expectations for BC hoops next season?

Brian: I am somewhat surprised about this. I think we are still a year away from contending for the conference title. Georgia Tech at four is surprising too. I know they get Derrick Favors and return some talent, but worse to fourth is asking a lot of Paul Hewitt.

Jeff: Will the basketball team finish higher than the football team in the conference this year?

Brian: No. Basketball will be good and will make another NCAA tournament appearance, but I don't think they will finish in the top four. Despite what the above football preseason predictions say, I don't expect BC to fall lower than 4th in the ACC Atlantic Division standings.


Brian: Last one, the NY Times’ Quad Countdown previewed BC at #60 in their countdown, down 14 slots from a season ago. Out of conference, only Kent State (109) and Northeastern (NR, since they are I-AA) came in lower ranked than the Eagles. You surprised the NYT thinks more highly of our other two out of conference opponents than they do of BC?

Jeff: Yes, I am shocked Central Michigan is getting ranked above us in the Quad Countdown. I guess we'll prove everyone wrong again this year starting September 19 at Clemson.

Headlines: What Does the NBA Draft Have In Store for the ACC's Best?

Brian: The 2009 NBA Draft is this Thursday. This Times-Picayune article talks about how the National Player of the Year Tyler Hansbrough may get passed over by the 14 NBA teams holding lottery picks. This got me thinking about how Tyrese Rice and the rest of the ACC will fare this Thursday. Now Jeff, you have said multiple times on the blog that you don't think Rice will get drafted (I, however, think he will be drafted), but take a look at this year's draft class from the ACC. Tell me whether you think the ACC will have a good NBA draft or a bad one.

Jeff: Will the ACC have a good draft? Probably not really by their standards with the possibility of no players going in the top 10. Wake Forest and North Carolina will likely have good drafts though. The Demon Deacons might have two lottery picks in Jeff Teague and James Johnson and North Carolina should have four players drafted overall. This draft projection has Tyler Hansbrough and Tyrese Rice headed to Utah. You know I like the Spurs, the Jazz and other boring-to-watch-but-fundamentally-sound NBA teams so I would like that to come true, but I will stick to my original prediction that Rice does not get drafted.

Brian: It would be a shame for Hansbrough to fall down the draft board given that he was such a dominant college player (dance moves notwithstanding). However, even if Hansbrough is not a lottery pick, this year's ACC draft class will be much improved from a year ago.

Last season, the ACC didn't have a kid taken until J.J. Hickson (NC State) went with the 19th overall pick to the Cavaliers. In all, only four ACC players were drafted a year ago - Hickson (19), Sean Singletary (42), James Gist (57) and Deron Washington (59).

This season, the conference could double the number of total draftees and put as many as 6 players in the first round. As you mentioned, Wake Forest's Jeff Teague and James Johnson are both possible lottery picks. UNC will see Hansbrough, Lawson, Danny Green, and Wayne Ellington all get drafted. Duke's Gerald Henderson is another possible lottery pick.

In the second round, FSU's Toney Douglas, BC's Tyrese Rice, NC State's Courtney Fells and Miami's Jack McClinton are all possible picks. Even with the return of Maryland's Vasquez and Georgia Tech's Lawal to campus, the ACC draft class is much deeper than it has been the past few years. Even if Hansbrough slips past the lottery picks, the ACC will still have a good draft.

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.

This Just In From Lexington: Some Perspective

Brian: Not a very memorable 24 hours for you Kentucky Wildcats hoops fan out there.

First, there’s this business about major violations in the Memphis basketball program under (then Memphis and now Kentucky) coach John Calipari:

The University of Memphis is responding to an NCAA notice of allegations charging the men's basketball program with major violations during the 2007-08 season under John Calipari.

The allegations include "knowing fraudulence or misconduct" on an SAT exam by a player on the 2007-08 team, widely reported to be Derrick Rose. The player's name is redacted in the NCAA's notice of allegations, but the description of the player in the notice also pointed to Rose.

To make matters worse, this whole thing appears to be only an University of Memphis issue:

First and foremost, there are no NCAA allegations against UK Head Men's Basketball Coach John Calipari. Coach Calipari was forthcoming with the University of Kentucky during the hiring process about any issues under investigation at the University of Memphis at that time. It is normal procedure for the NCAA to ask a former coach to participate in a hearing. Therefore, Coach Calipari will participate as requested.

Coach John Calipari has received a letter from the NCAA stating that he is not at risk of being charged with any NCAA violations in this case.

This is a University of Memphis issue and the University of Kentucky will not comment any further.

Sounds like Calipari will (again) pull an Andy Dufrense - crawl through a river of shit and come out clean on the other side. "Again" as in, haven’t we heard this story before? To wit, that little business about Marcus Camby and an agent that went down some 85 miles down the Mass Pike? Coincidence? You decide.

But wait, there's more from Lexington!

Former University of Kentucky basketball coach Billy Gillispie is seeking more than $6 million from the UK Athletics Association in a federal lawsuit alleging breach of contract and fraud. The 24-page lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in Dallas, argues that the athletics department should pay the coach an untold amount in damages and attorney fees in addition to the $6 million Gillispie says he’s owed for being fired two years into a seven-year term.

But did you think the Wildcats were just going to roll over and pay the man? Of course not. This just in:

The University of Kentucky has sued former basketball coach Billy Gillispie the day after Gillispie filed suit against the school claiming breach of contract.

Kentucky contends Gillispie never signed a formal contract but was working under a memorandum of understanding when he was fired after last season. The two sides are clashing over whether a buyout clause in that memorandum is binding. That would require the school to pay him $1.5 million for four of five years left on his contract.

And just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse for UK, the three ring traveling circus rolls on ...

John Wall, who will be attending Calipari University, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge related to the breaking and entering of an abandoned house in Raleigh. Wall’s record won’t take a hit since he entered a first time offenders program.

Is it over yet? No, wait. One more. Not only did Derrick Rose allegedly cheat on his SATs, but today the Chicago Sun-Times reports that Rose's high school grades were boosted.

Indeed. When it rains, it pours.

Special shout out to the consensus #1 2009 recruit in the country, last year's #1 overall NBA draft pick, John Calipari, Billy Gillispie and the University of Kentucky for making headlines left and right in an otherwise slow sports news week. Seriously - the only thing else we got is the Scripps National Spelling Bee!

At this point, you may be asking yourself, why am I telling you all this? Well, I think Eagles fans can look at Kentucky and gain a healthy bit of perspective on the state of the Eagles men's basketball program.

Sometimes it is easy to cast stones at Al Skinner. I am as guilty of this as the next avid fan. You can bemoan Skinner for not teaching his team how to beat a full-court press, a lack of in-game adjustments, banking scholarships and not signing 1 recruit for the class of 2009?! (Not 1??), or not showing the slightest bit of emotion while sitting the bench.

And it is equally easy to pick on BC given that we lead college basketball in the most infamous of team statistics – most NCAA tournament wins without reaching the Final Four (22 and counting, holding off those pesky Crimson Tide by a game!).

But baring a few run-ins with the law the last few years, mostly drug-related, Skinner has run a fairly clean program. We seem to have done it the right way. The men's program has come a long way since Henry Hill and Rick Kuhn, and I sincerely hope it stays that way.

In college basketball, success sometimes can come at a cost.

Would it be nice to see the Eagles eventually make a Final Four one of these years? Absolutely, but you have to ask yourself at what cost?

For example, if the NCAA forces Memphis to vacate last year's Final Four appearance over these major violations, that will make 2 Final Four appearances (of 3 total) vacated by the program. And [Calipari's high-profile, one-and-done, #1 NBA draft pick NAME REDACTED] can join the names Kiki Vandeweghe, Rod Foster, Chris Webber, Robert Traylor, Maurice Taylor, Louis Bullock, Marcus Camby and Boban Savovic on the NCAA Final Four wall of shame.

So if given the choice of never seeing the Eagles make a Final Four in my lifetime, or seeing them reach the Final Four only to have those wins vacated by the NCAA, I'll take what's behind Door #1. I'll be perfectly content with the Eagles having the same number of Final Four appearances as UMass* and one less than Memphis**.

I'll be the first to admit that Skinner is not and should not be beyond reproach, but in light of the storm swirling over Lexington the past 24 hours, today it doesn't seem all that bad.

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.

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.

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!!??