Heights and Lows

TROPHY SEASON OPENS WITH A TROPHY

2012-02-14T08:49:00.001-05:00

Congrats to the BC Men's Hockey team on their third straight Beanpot - and hopefully the first of many trophies this spring.

RYAN DAY FINALLY OC...SOMEWHERE ELSE

2012-02-10T13:56:00.000-05:00

Well, this ought to be received well by the faithful. Ryan Day is being reported as on his way out and off to Temple to become OC.

I obnoxiously quote ATL from January 10, 2011, because that seems so long ago and it feels like we had hope back then:

UPDATE: Ryan Day will be the new offensive coordinator. I applaud the move and will post more on the topic when BC announces it.

If this keeps happening, the whole giving up swearing for Lent is going to be challenging.

RECKLESS SCHEDULING (v 3.0): SO, SO, SO WRONG

2012-02-09T10:49:00.002-05:00

We already knew that version one of Reckless Scheduling was horribly wrong after the Army game switched out on us. Well, Reckless Schedule 2.0 got torched by the Maine game being moved into early September and Maryland adding a D-1A game. With the news that Miami is now going to be the Labor Day kick-off game at home, we're even more wrong.

So, back to the drawing board as we wait the whole thing. Watch, as soon as I post this, Syracuse will get out of the Big East and that'll be the Thanksgiving game in Boston.

Here's the result of schedule guess 2.0, with the wrongs crossed out and the rights added in.

9/1 - ~~vs. Maryland~~ vs. Miami
9/8 - ~~vs. Clemson~~ vs. Maine (FCS)
9/15 - @ Northwestern
9/22 - @Georgia Tech
9/29 - ~~vs. Maine (FCS)~~
10/6 - @ Army
10/13 - vs. Virginia Tech
10/20 - BYE
10/27 - @ Wake Forest
11/3 - @ Florida State
11/10 - vs. Notre Dame
11/17 - @ NC State
~~11/24 - vs. Miami~~

Well, that looks like crap. Here's what we now need to reconsider:

Games without a home: vs. Maryland, vs. Clemson
Open dates: 9/29, 10/20, 11/24

Problem: we can drop Maryland into Parent's Weekend (9/29), but Clemson is booked over Thanksgiving against the Gamecocks. We need to do some shuffling - and we've played late in Winston Salem before. Sure, this gives BC home fans two Thanksgivings off with home games, but knowing that sometime in the near future home-and-home with Syracuse is inevitable, I'm ok with it.

Reckless Schedule 3.0 (locks in bold), new changes in italics.

9/1 - vs. Miami
9/8 - vs. Maine (FCS)
9/15 - @ Northwestern
9/22 - @Georgia Tech
9/29 - vs. Maryland
10/6 - @ Army
10/13 - vs. Virginia Tech
10/20 - BYE
10/27 - vs. Clemson
11/3 - @ Florida State
11/10 - vs. Notre Dame
11/17 - @ NC State
11/24 - @ Wake Forest

UPDATE: Our friends at BCI point out that Wake is locked into playing Vanderbilt over Thanksgiving, so we're already wrong and they have an interesting theory about ending the season a week early (track through these three tweets). So, we're wrong again already. We're really good at getting this thing wrong.

THE MOST INTERESTING MAN IN THE WORLD LIKES THE GREATEST CHANT EVER

2012-02-08T09:44:00.002-05:00

Oh, BC memes, what did we do without you?

BIG EAST CONTINUES CRAZY ASS RISK GAME OF SURVIVAL

2012-02-07T19:38:00.002-05:00

Big East Football Timeline, for funsies and because I want my damn schedule already and I still blame them. One little asterisk (*) means it was the first season for a team. Two (**) means it was that school's last.

2003

Miami** to ACC

VT** to ACC

West Virginia

Pitt

Syracuse

Rutgers

Temple

2004

BC** to ACC

West Virginia

Pitt

Syracuse

Rutgers

UConn* from Division IAA

Temple** booted into non-existence

2005-2011

West Virginia** to Big XII, in either 2012 or 2014, but probably 2012, but maybe NEVER

Pitt

Syracuse

Rutgers

UConn

USF

Louisville

Cincinnati

2012 (most likely scenario, at least today)

Pitt** to ACC, maybe for 2013, but maybe not until 2013

Syracuse** to ACC, maybe for 2013, but maybe not until 2013

Rutgers

UConn

USF

Louisville

Cincinnati

Boise State* from MWC

Memphis* from C-USA

2013 (if Pitt and Cuse get out)

Rutgers

UConn

USF

Louisville

Cincinnati

Boise State

Memphis

San Diego State* from MWC in 2013
Central Florida* from C-USA in 2013
Houston* from C-USA in 2013
SMU* from C-USA in 2013

WHAT TIME IS THE BEANPOT AND OTHER BEANPOTS WE'D WATCH

2012-02-06T14:39:00.000-05:00

It's funny and quite heartwarming to think how well the Men's team has done in recent years in the Beanpot. Three of the last four 'pots have found their way back to Chestnut Hill, a rather pleasant change from the decade it took for BC to win Beanpots 4-6 since 1993. The Eagles face Northeastern in the first round of the 60th Beanpot tonight as the late game, which will get going about 30-45 minutes from when BU and Harvard finish their 5 p.m. tilt.

Now that practicalities are out of the way, let's have some fun. While the original Beanpot is of course the 59-year-old tournament of local men's hockey teams, there has been a surge in recent years of other Beanpot sanctioned tournaments. Women's hockey, baseball, women's rowing (which includes MIT), a club lacrosse one for men and apparently something from Qdoba called the Rice & Bean Pot that lasted about six years.

That said, here are other Beanpot competitions we'd watch:

Football - BU would be offered the opportunity to send its intramural flag football champion; BC would have been the underdog to Harvard had this one happened last year and it would have sucked.
Sixth Grade Style Field Day - I'm talking dunk tanks, potato sack races, tug o' war, the works. Events to be held on consecutive Mondays in April until a champion is crowned.
Animal House Food Fight - Different school hosts in their cafeteria every year; after the first four, we start trashing other schools' dining halls. Those nerds at Tufts won't know what hit them.
Jeopardy - We're sending this guy. I don't care if Harvard's involved, if we make a category about the melodic inspiration of ringtones, the rest of the schools don't stand a chance.
Blogging - There are easily three dozen BC bloggers at this point, and if the contest was be the first to get your school to trend, we'd have an easy advantage.
Battle of Fictional Athletes in a Charity Softball Game - BU has obviously a good leg-up thanks to the Miracle on Ice guys, but given that I can't think of a single Northeastern pop culture reference and Will Hunting only seemed to get in fights and bet on little league baseball, Freddie Prinze, Jr. from Summer Catch at least gives us a shot if he can pitch still.

What other ones should we try and get out there?

The headline is for pure SEO whoring a la this and to see if we can prove a point.

WAITING FOR THE SCHEDULE: THE BIG EAST HOLDS US IN SUSPENSE

2012-02-03T17:11:00.000-05:00

Hoping for an ACC schedule sometime soon? Just chill, bro. It's going to be a bit, and part of that is because of the Big East holding West Virginia's divorce papers in limbo. Oh, sure, the Big 12 wants to release WVU's schedule for its inaugural season as early as next year. The Big East will fight the 'neers tooth and nail, though, about their plans to not fulfill the required 27-month limbo required.

As long as that is happening, clarity on the 2012 schedule landscape is far off. It affects more than the Big XII. With Florida State set for a non-conference match with West Virginia, the ACC is kind of one puzzle piece behind.

As we joked about the ACC press release announcing new divisions, the time table for Pitt and 'Cuse is so unknown that even the conference can't make any moves about it. The Big East is so determined to not let anyone else jump early and break their deadlines - even as it pressures its new recruits to join faster - that it is throwing the planning for the upcoming season into these delightful stalls and holds.

While we sit idly for the 2012 schedule, let's assume the Big East wins and gets to keep its lame duck schools through the waiting period (which would include the 2013*** football season). You want a scheduling nightmare? How about figuring out a conference slate for the following 13 team alignment:

Cincinnati
Connecticut
Louisville
Rutgers
South Florida
Syracuse* (ACC in 2014)
Pitt* (ACC in 2014)
West Virginia** (Big XII in 2014)
Boise State (from MWC in 2013)
San Diego State (from MWC in 2013)
Central Florida (from C-USA in 2013)
Houston (from C-USA in 2013)
SMU (from C-USA in 2013)

*Trying to leave for 2013
**Wants to leave yesterday
***Navy joins in 2015, Air Force likely to follow suit

So, that's that. West Virginia very well may be given two schedules for the 2012 season. I think it should get to pick which one looks better on a weekly basis, determined six days in advance. "Kansas in week three followed by UConn in week four? Yes please!"

DESTINATION SYRACUSE: EVERY OTHER YEAR

2012-02-03T12:21:00.001-05:00

Either BC lobbied hard or they drew the divisions for Pitt and Syracuse out of a hat and we lucked out, but looks like the Orange will be joining the Atlantic when they finally get released from the Big East in 2036.

Three other notes:

That dream of getting rid of VT as our yearly crossover? Not going to happen.
The ACC will be moving to nine conference games to make sure that it doesn't take a twelve year cycle to have home-and-homes with schools in the opposite division.
Suspiciously absent from the official release: the year in which this schedule will begin.

Until then, see you in Sunny Syracuse in 2014...or 2015...or 2016. At least it'll be every other year after that.

NEW ENGLAND, COLLEGE FOOTBALL GEOGRAPHY: DOES NOT COMPUTE

2012-02-02T12:27:00.001-05:00

The above map showed up on Reddit and then Sports Grid today. It's pretty.

It's also crap, for oh so many reasons, but that's not what I'm here to talk about said map (primarily, every single state). The important thing to note: New England does not cheer for Boston College. It cheers for the Red Sox and Patriots. We wish they did root for us - but even half the city of Newton wishes that Alumni Stadium was sucked into an abyss.

SPAZ STOLE A RECRUIT. CHECKS CALENDAR. YEP, IT'S 2012.

2012-01-31T11:56:00.000-05:00

That whole Schiano going to Miami thing meant that Rutgers was likely to lose recruits, and by golly, we actually got one of them to switch their commitment to BC. Giancoe takes the slot that was likely Sam Grant, the Ohio TE who flipped to Oklahoma earlier this month.

RECKLESS SCHEDULING (v 2.0): ARMY SWAPS IN AWAY GAME

2012-01-24T13:06:00.000-05:00

Remember that big sweeping sudoku puzzle of 2012 scheduling we did at the end of the season? Well, with news that BC and Army have swapped home field for the 2012 and 2013 dates, it's already wrong, but only on the basis of a technicality.

Just so we have it all copacetic, we want to keep our pencil schedule up to date until the real thing drops in a few weeks (the ACC has been pretty consistent with its mid-February delivery).

So, here's what we know are guaranteed dates. The only change from last month is the site of the Army game:

9/1 -
9/8 -
9/15 - @ Northwestern
9/22 -
9/29 -
10/6 - @ Army
10/13 -
10/20 -
10/27 -
11/3 -
11/10 - vs. Notre Dame
11/17 -
11/24 -

Now, here's the schedule I ended up posting, based on my back-of-the-napkin math:

9/1 - vs. Maryland
9/8 - vs. Clemson
9/15 - @ Northwestern
9/22 - @Georgia Tech
9/29 - vs. Maine (FCS)
10/6 - vs. Army
10/13 - @ Wake Forest
10/20 - BYE
10/27 - vs. Virginia Tech
11/3 - @ Florida State
11/10 - vs. Notre Dame
11/17 - @ NC State
11/24 - vs. Miami

When you flip that Army game to become an away game, that gives BC four road games and a bye in six weeks. I just don't see that happening. The easiest - and a move consistent with past seasons - would be to flip Wake and Virginia Tech.

Our new prediction:

9/1 - vs. Maryland
9/8 - vs. Clemson
9/15 - @ Northwestern
9/22 - @Georgia Tech
9/29 - vs. Maine (FCS)
10/6 - @ Army
10/13 - vs. Virginia Tech
10/20 - BYE
10/27 - @ Wake Forest
11/3 - @ Florida State
11/10 - vs. Notre Dame
11/17 - @ NC State
11/24 - vs. Miami

KICK IN THE PANTS: THE TRANSITIVE PROPERTY OF CLEMSON'S CLEMSONING

2012-01-05T13:21:00.000-05:00

Stay calm, Sad Clemson Bros. We're about to make this hurt even more for the teams that not only lost to Clemson, but specifically BC, who lost by way of a dismal offense against your defense that gave up 70 points last night.

In the early part of the season, we spent a bit of time dissecting BC's 10-play drive that lasted just under six minutes of clock time in Clemson. Let me show you the image, it may be helpful to see again. We called this the anti-drive:

Here's the kick in the pants from last night's Orange Bowl. There was one span of eight minutes of clock time against Clemson last night (starting with 2:29 left in the second, through the 9:18 mark of the third), West Virginia scored 35 points. Not yards. Points.

This was the ultimate Clemsoning. And now I feel even worse about what happened with our offense last season.

WHEEL OF OFFENSIVE COORDINATORS

2011-12-22T16:05:00.001-05:00

According to Heights Sports, the wheel of offensive coordinators has finally landed:

"The new offensive coordinator has been named: Doug Martin, former HC at Kent State and OC at New Mexico St. last year. More coming soon."

How fast are we on the news? Wikipedia for Martin hasn't even been updated yet! How bad can it be? He went 29-53 as a head coach at Kent St. - including a trio of losses to BC in '08, '09 and '10 - and someone on HustleBelt made this quick little number after his departure:

At least we know what Spaz's excuse is going to be!

AW THREE PRESENTS FROM STG

2011-12-21T10:29:00.001-05:00

Soaring to Glory is celebrating Christmas, and we made the nice list along with the rest of the crew of BC bloggers. Where would we be without Soaring to Glory, ATL, BCI and the BC Draft guys?

THERE'S SOMETHING HYSTERICAL ABOUT THIS

2011-12-14T11:18:00.000-05:00

Via Dr Saturday.

Obviously, yes, leaving the Big East was the right call.

BLAUD LIBS: CREATE YOUR OWN BC APPROVED BOSTON GLOBE COLUMN

2011-12-12T08:52:00.001-05:00

So, perhaps you heard that Mark Blaudschun is at it again. As an "anonymous" "grenade thrower" from "an internet chat room", I feel it is my duty to help Blauds write his next column on BC football. You, too, can help! Just fill in the following Blaud Libs, we will get to work.

Choose one of these Pictures: Spaz Arms Folded, Spaz With Sunglasses, Spaz in Snow
Euphemistic Adjective for Mediocrity: ___________
Head Coach or Athletic Director's Name: ___________
[Respect Privacy]: ________________
Player Sidelined by Injury This Year: _____________
Conference that BC Used to Play In: ____________
BC's Hypothetical Record If They Played Those Teams: __________
BC's Hypothetical Record If That Darn Squirrel Didn't Get in the Way: ____________
Previous Coach: __________________
Synonym of Disaster: ______________
Nursery Rhyme About Bare Cupboard: ____________
Player Recruited By Previous Coach Who Is No Longer On Team: _______________
Player Responsible for Missing Field Goal or Dropping Pass/Interception: ____________
Ivy League School: ____________
Day of Week: ________________
SEC School: _________________
Day of Week: ________________
Number Between 7 and 10: ______________
Type of Ceiling: _____________________
Excuse: _______________________
Positive Characteristic You Were Told To Associate with AD: _______________________

ALBERT PUJOLS TO BE NEW BC OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR FOR NEXT TEN YEARS

2011-12-08T10:54:00.000-05:00

We may be deliriously confused from all the headlines like this one that keep showing up in our feed along with this one from ATL.

SEEING DOCTOR JAMES ANDREWS AND EUPHEMISM OF THE DAY

2011-12-06T17:59:00.001-05:00

In our side lives away from BC sports, we have a bit of a fantasy baseball obsession. This may or may not cause certain participants to set up Google Alerts for the name of every single closer in the league and "Seeing Doctor James Andrews". It's a phrase we use to describe the famed doctor who does the Tommy John surgery, shelving pitchers for a good 10-12 months and usually ending their season.

According to reports from ATL: Luke Kuechly is Seeing Doctor James Andrews:

Also all the message boards are buzzing that Luke Kuechly needs Tommy John surgery on his elbow. He sustained the injury in the NC State game. The severity of the injury is not keeping him from making the rounds on the awards circuit. Surgery is always serious, but this is not a huge deal for a football player (as opposed to a pitcher). I don't think it will impact Luke's decision either way.

I actually disagree with Bill's assessment about this not affecting Luke's decision (as does at least one other commenter). If Keeks is shelved through the spring workouts - as good as his resume may be - there will be teams less willing to take a chance on potential changes to guaranteed money until they can see how he has healed. Don't forget: there's a new pay scale for rookies after the NFL ended its summer-long lockout - and the magic draft positions are number 11 and number 26. If you are in the top 10 or top 25, the back end of the five-year rookie contract is impacted. If you haven't seen a guy full strength, would you really lock into a guy slotted into a fifth year option that may make him cost significantly more in guaranteed money?

And if you have a chance, when healthy, to be in that top ten guaranteed cash in a year - and perhaps fix the record books, fix the injustices of the coaches All-American list, pick up some more hardware - but most importantly, be in that top ten guaranteed cash, you wait.

NAMING THE ICE, THE COURT AND THE FIELD

2011-12-06T10:47:00.000-05:00

Dan Levy over at B/R just posted some great thoughts on the pinnacle of honors in the sports world: namely, getting a playing surface to bear your name. With Dicky V getting the nod for the University of Detroit basketball floor, Levy shows that he's much better at Photoshop than we are, but it also got us thinking about the honors for the different venues at BC's campus.

Don't forget that the hockey and basketball team, while they play in the same building, do technically have different venues. The building is named for Silvio O. Conte, BC Double Eagle and US Senator, but the hockey rink itself is named for the legendary coach John "Snooks" Kelley, who led the Eagles to a 1949 Ice Hockey championship, five of the first 10 Beanpots and hundreds of wins over his 35 year career on the Heights. Perhaps the only argument with the honor: where do you put BC's other legendary hockey coach's name when he finally hangs up the clipboard*. Jerry York Ice at Kelley Rink?

*Jerry: please don't go anywhere. Jerry Wan Kenobi, Help Us, You Are Our Only Hope

To this date, I see no case, whatsoever, for a court-naming at BC. If I talk about Skinner, I'll punch myself for even thinking it (that national coach of the year award is a long, distant and fading memory of luck that completely was undone in the last few years when he gave up). We're not touching Jim O'Brien with a 15-foot pole. Bob Cousy wasn't around long enough (117-38 in six years) and no one would primarily associate him with the Eagles. Steve Donahue: you have an open window here. Just hang around for a decade or two more, maybe get into a few Final Fours and win the ACC half a dozen times. Then we'll talk. Not a moment before.

Which brings us to the most obvious argument ever.

If GDF needs one more Hail Mary to distract everything he's bungled over the last few years, I would in no way, shape or form be surprised if he chose to take a specific route.

Flutie Field at Alumni Stadium. It's going to happen.

Flutie hasn't seen the field since last playing with the Patriots in 2005, and while he did some time with ESPN, it's much more likely to see him in the Plex playing pick-up these days. We are now a little less than three years away from the 30th anniversary of November 23, 1984 and the anniversary of Flutie's Heisman winning season. Flutie will be 52. It'll be the right time.

RENAME IT THE KUECHLY

2011-12-05T09:32:00.000-05:00

Butkus goes to Kuechly. Kuechly tackles the statue, Dick Butkus and Frank Spaziani, for good measure.

COMM AVE RIVALRY WEEKEND: PLAYS VIDEO ON REPEAT

2011-12-01T14:01:00.002-05:00

And we'll see you tomorrow night for some hockey. Time to right this ship and take it to the Puppies in Conte.

RECKLESS SCHEDULING: PREDICTING THE 2012 FOOTBALL SLATE

2011-11-29T08:13:00.002-05:00

There are enough autopsy and post-mortem posts going around the BC blogosphere, so no need to pile on in that department. Plus, ATL is firing off on Spaz/GDF as is required, BCI is covering most of the sarcasm and criticism of party line journalists and Soaring to Glory has the stat-based critiqued covered just fine. Why ruin their fun? We need something to call our own, so we're going to start looking ahead to the next time the team plays football - fall 2012 </pours one out for the bowl streak>.

Now, we don't know the schedule, but we think there is enough evidence floating around for us to make some educated guesses at how the slate could flesh out.

First, let's talk about what we know. BC will play 12 games in the 13 weeks between September 1 and November 24, 2012. There will be seven home games next season - four in conference plus three visiting schools - plus four more ACC games and an away OOC with Northwestern. Dates are set for the game in Evanston against Northwestern (9/15) as well as the home matches with Army (10/6) and Notre Dame (11/10). Filling out our grid, let's start with these absolutes.

9/1 -
9/8 -
9/15 - @ Northwestern
9/22 -
9/29 -
10/6 - vs. Army
10/13 -
10/20 -
10/27 -
11/3 -
11/10 - vs. Notre Dame
11/17 -
11/24 -

Now we need to start making some assumptions based on history. There is one trend over the last few years that I expect to change based on the fact that BC will be doing every trick in the book it can to sell tickets (attendance numbers were one sticking point this year when it comes to talking dollars and cents). One way to guarantee tickets and gameday revenue the year after a disappointing season? Make the Parents Weekend game one that won't push tickets normally - like the FCS matchup with Maine*. Light pencil on that one, but that covers all of the out of conference games.

*Please note, there is some dispute over the FCS opponent. BCEaglesFootball.com and a few other sources list Maine, while BCEagles.com lists URI. I doubt the latter since it also lists Northeastern for 2013, years after its football program ceased to exist.

9/1 -
9/8 -
9/15 - @ Northwestern
9/22 -
9/29 - vs. Maine (FCS)
10/6 - vs. Army
10/13 -
10/20 -
10/27 -
11/3 -
11/10 - vs. Notre Dame
11/17 -
11/24 -

Now we need to start cracking the shell of the ACC schedule makers in order to fill the rest of this bad boy out. At least one thing that we can probably predict: the three times that BC has played Miami when both have been members of the ACC, it has always been the weekend of Thanksgiving. BC likely won't resist: the traditional match-up will play well over the holiday in terms of selling tickets.

Let's put that in as well, and then take a look at the rest of November games. This scheduling will give BC four of seven home games scheduled, but two of them in the last month of the season. While this November has certainly been unseasonably warm, it isn't likely that the ACC will bank on that as it thinks on when to schedule times for Clemson, Maryland and Virginia Tech to come north. After all, since joining the ACC, BC has only had more than two home games in November once, and that was 2008 when Clemson showed up on November 1 and there were five Saturdays in the month. That means that those other two November dates would be road ACC contests against one of Florida State, Georgia Tech, NC State or Wake Forest.

9/1 -
9/8 -
9/15 - @ Northwestern
9/22 -
9/29 - vs. Maine (FCS)
10/6 - vs. Army
10/13 -
10/20 -
10/27 -
11/3 - @ Florida State, Georgia Tech, NC State or Wake Forest
11/10 - vs. Notre Dame
11/17 - @ Florida State, Georgia Tech, NC State or Wake Forest
11/24 - vs. Miami

We'll hold the "Or"s there for a bit. We need to take care of a few other things.

First things first, if this goes as predicted, it means that BC will start with a conference game for the first time since 2007 when it faced Wake Forest during Matt Ryan's senior year. BC has rarely started on the road - Labor Day in Boston is usually quite nice weather wise and a safe gamble - so, we look at the set schedules for Maryland, Clemson and Virginia Tech. Clemson is locked into the Chick-Fil-A kickoff in Atlanta on 9/1, playing Auburn, so they're out and will be coming to Boston later in the fall. Virginia Tech has a really full September as it is, but no FCS game set (is James Madison available) and two established away games in the month. With those factors, it'd be unlikely for the Hokies to come north to start the season, leaving us an opening weekend tilt with the Terps to throw in.

9/1 - vs. Maryland
9/8 -
9/15 - @ Northwestern
9/22 -
9/29 - vs. Maine (FCS)
10/6 - vs. Army
10/13 -
10/20 -
10/27 -
11/3 - @ Florida State, Georgia Tech, NC State or Wake Forest11/10 - vs. Notre Dame
11/17 - @ Florida State, Georgia Tech, NC State or Wake Forest11/24 - vs. Miami

The next scheduling problem I see is the potential run in of three straight home games, so let's get the bye week, Clemson and Virginia Tech in there to take care of that issue. One data point: in three of the last four seasons, BC has taken the week off right before facing VT. If that trend holds, only 10/20 and 10/27 work as dates to schedule the Hokies. That also helps us fill in the rest of our dates based on consecutive home games in September to look as follows.

9/1 - vs. Maryland
9/8 - vs. Clemson
9/15 - @ Northwestern
9/22 - @ Florida State, Georgia Tech, NC State or Wake Forest
9/29 - vs. Maine (FCS)
10/6 - vs. Army
10/13 - @ Florida State, Georgia Tech, NC State or Wake Forest
10/20 - BYE
10/27 - vs. Virginia Tech
11/3 - @ Florida State, Georgia Tech, NC State or Wake Forest
11/10 - vs. Notre Dame
11/17 - @ Florida State, Georgia Tech, NC State or Wake Forest
11/24 - vs. Miami

How do we predict the shakedown of the away games? Let's first look at the trip to Atlanta, which will potentially be the last away game with the Yellow Jackets for the next six years with new teams coming into the ACC. Considering GT will end their season with SEC rival Georgia, it would be surprising for them to play a non-Coastal (and likely less competitive) opponent in the month of November, and since the only two times BC has played GT as members of the ACC it has been in the first weeks of the season, we award that September game to GT.

9/1 - vs. Maryland
9/8 - vs. Clemson
9/15 - @ Northwestern
9/22 - @Georgia Tech
9/29 - vs. Maine (FCS)
10/6 - vs. Army
10/13 - @ Florida State, NC State or Wake Forest
10/20 - BYE
10/27 - vs. Virginia Tech
11/3 - @ Florida State, NC State or Wake Forest
11/10 - vs. Notre Dame
11/17 - @ Florida State, NC State or Wake Forest
11/24 - vs. Miami

What other trends can we play off of? Well, BC has played in Tallahassee four times now as members of the ACC, and the earliest game in the calendar was mid-October. Florida State, like GT, ends its season with an in-state SEC rival, so let's not make their game with a divisional rival immediately beforehand. We can finalize the schedule by keeping BC-NC State in November as it was this year, and then things look like this:

9/1 - vs. Maryland
9/8 - vs. Clemson
9/15 - @ Northwestern
9/22 - @Georgia Tech
9/29 - vs. Maine (FCS)
10/6 - vs. Army
10/13 - @ Wake Forest
10/20 - BYE
10/27 - vs. Virginia Tech
11/3 - @ Florida State
11/10 - vs. Notre Dame
11/17 - @ NC State
11/24 - vs. Miami

Useless exercise? Sure. We won't know until the last week of February or so how horrifically wrong I am with this prediction. At least it was fun to play out, and that late schedule coming out of the bye looks like a beast.

INSTANT REACTION: GDF CHANNELS VINCE MCMAHON

2011-11-25T21:35:00.001-05:00

We should be talking about BC's season ending victory over Miami - it's the first win to end a football season since 2007 and first win in Miami since 1984. It was the last game for a group of seniors who had seen the promised land of the ACC Championship Game in 2008 and potentially could be the last time Luke Kuechly suits up in Maroon and Gold. They played their hearts out today. Instead, we get to focus on these following comments, as relayed by the Herald's Dan Duggan:

Gene DeFilippo on Frank Spaziani: "Spaz is coming back next year and our future here is really, really bright.” (link)

DeFilippo also called called Spaz "The best coach that we’ve had in the 15 years that I’ve been here." (link)

The post-game (and post-season) posturing by GDF here is a spectacle, but completely prognosticated. Spaz is on GDF's clock, and he has to double and triple down on him. He would never back down. Even if his subjective use of "best" happens to involve a coach who has taken a double-digit win team slowly down the crapper into its first season without a bowl this millennium.

HAPPY DOUG FLUTIE DAY!

2011-11-23T08:34:00.000-05:00

I always love when the High Holy Day of Boston College coincides directly with a Miami game. The last time it happened was 2007, when Matt Ryan's ACC-Championship bound Eagles dispatched of the Hurricanes for the first time since that fateful day in the Orange Bowl. 27 years later we recognize this holiday with a ritual "playing of the Musburger"

Today we recognize the feats of one Douglas Richard Flutie and that fateful day.

Happy Doug Flutie Day, friends and Eagles.

MORAL VICTORY: PUNTING AWARDS!

2011-11-21T13:59:00.000-05:00

From BC Athletics on Facebook:

Congratulations to Football's Ryan Quigley who has been named ACC Specialist of the Week!
The Senior punter downed six (of nine punts in total) inside Notre Dame’s 12-yard line, including five punts inside the 9, in Boston College’s 16-14 loss Saturday in South Bend. Of his six punts inside the 12, three were downed (at the 5, 3 and 12-yard lines) and three were fair caught (at the 6, 8 and 9-yard lines). Quigley finished the game with a season-high nine punts for 369 yards, an average of 41.0 yards per punt, and matched a season-long with a 52-yard punt in the first quarter.

You have to admit, those were some damn good punts all game. At one point, it felt like drive after drive ended with a punt that pinned ND back deep. This game could have gotten out of hand if not for Quigley's great day.