Boston College March Madness: What If Semifinals and Championship
by Brian @ BCI on Mar 16, 2010 1:00 PM EDT
in Basketball
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How do the last ten years' worth of BC basketball teams stack up against one another? We'll soon find out and crown a champion of the decade for the Eagles.
Here are the results from our BC What If Tournament semifinals and championship game.
Semifinals
(1) 2004-05 Eagles vs. (5) 2002-03 Eagles
(2) 2000-01 Eagles vs. (6) 2008-09 Eagles
The 2004-05 squad that was picked by some to win that year's NCAA Tournament dispatched the 2002-03 team 75-66 in the What If semifinals. Jared Dudley went off for the 04-05ers, scoring 30 points on 11-21 shooting. Craig Smith added 12 points along with 11 from Sean Marshall.
The surprising 2002-03 squad was paced by Troy Bell (17 points). Craig Smith added 13 and Uka Agbai came off the bench to score 11. Ryan Sidney had 11 assists in the losing effort.
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Boston College March Madness: What If Tournament Opening Round, Quarterfinals
by Brian @ BCI on Mar 16, 2010 8:00 AM EDT
in Basketball
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How do the last ten years' worth of BC basketball teams stack up against one another? We'll soon find out and crown a champion of the decade for the Eagles.
Here are the results from our BC What If Tournament opening round and quarterfinals.
Opening Round
(7) 2006-07 Eagles vs. (10) 2007-08 Eagles
(8) 2001-02 Eagles vs. (9) 2009-10 Eagles
We kick the tournament off with an ESPN Instant Classic, a 76-72 overtime victory for the 06-07 squad over the slightly more mature 07-08 squad. 07-08 Tyrese Rice missed a three pointer that would have won it for the #10 seeded Eagles in regulation. But in overtime, Sean Williams, Sean Marshall, and Tyrese Rice scored the first 7 points of the OT session, and the 2006-07 squad held on for the four point victory.
The 7th seeded Eagles were led by Jared Dudley, who finished the game with 21 points, 8 rebounds in 36 minutes of work. Sean Marshall scored 15, while the younger Rice scored 14. Rakim Sanders led the 07-08 squad with 16 points, 5 rebounds, and (proving that this is indeed a simulation), Tyrelle Blair added the rare double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
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Maize n Brew bring us the 2010 Bitter Bowl Bracket!
"On the other side of the equation is Boston College, a team that's football coaching carousel defies explanation but whose current mustache makes Magnum PI jealous. Like Georgia, the Eagles found their way into a bowl game this season. Unlike the Dawgs, the Eagles ran up against a vastly more talented but inept USC team which beat them in the fourth quarter. Rubbing salt in the wound BC fumbled away a loss to Notre Dame, a team they've owned over the last few years allowing Notre Dame to claim Jesus is on their side, if just for a year. On the Hardwood, the Eagles sputtered after a promising start to a sub-.500 finish. No matter what happens, unless the eagles bring home the NCAA ice hockey trophy they're going to have to listen to another year of gloating from BU fans. Now THAT will make you bitter."
Boston College March Madness: What If Tournament 2000-2010
by Brian @ BCI on Mar 15, 2010 5:51 PM EDT
in Basketball
4 comments
Sure, there will be no postseason for Boston College basketball. Doesn't mean we can't have our own fun with brackets this week ...
Brought to you by a website called whatifsports.com, I wanted to see how BC basketball's last ten years' worth of teams stacked up against one another. The site has college hoops data going back to 2000-2001, and uses statistics, records and personnel to simulate the results and statistics of hypothetical matchups like the 2003-04 Boston College squad that went 24-10 vs. the 2000-01 squad that finished the season 27-5.
We know this year's team was bad, but just how bad were they in comparison to the past ten years' teams?
Here are the seedings for our BC basketball cage match of the decade, based largely on season performance:
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Does Greensboro Provide Too Much Of A Home Court Advantage for N.C. Schools?
by Brian @ BCI on Mar 15, 2010 12:24 PM EDT
in Basketball
2 comments
Brian: With Duke’s win over Georgia Tech in the ACC Tournament Championship, Duke has now won a conference-best 18 ACC titles. Seven of those titles have been won in Greensboro. Of the 22 conference tournaments played in Greensboro, 14 of them have been won by either Duke or North Carolina. All but three of those Greensboro conference tournaments have been won by a team from North Carolina – North Carolina (8), Duke (7), N.C. State (2) and Wake Forest (2). The only teams to win the tournament in Greensboro not from North Carolina are Maryland (twice) and South Carolina, when they were still members of the ACC.
Here’s the list of non-North Carolina schools that have won the ACC Tournament Championship:
- Georgia Tech (3) - Charlotte x2, Atlanta
- Maryland (3) - Greensboro x2, Charlotte
- Virginia (1) - Washington D.C.
- South Carolina (1) - Greensboro
With 5 of the next 6 ACC Tournaments being played at Greensboro Coliseum, can we expect anything other than a conference champion from the state of North Carolina? In other words, does the fact that the tournament is based in Greensboro provide N.C. schools with a homecourt advantage?
Jeff: Sure it helps to have the crowd on your side when you are trying to win the ACC Tournament but we can forget who exactly those North Carolina based teams are. Clearly, Duke and North Carolina are the best teams in the league and you would expect them to have the most championships regardless of where the event is being played. Then, if you think about how the second tier of ACC schools might be you would certainly think N.C. State and Maryland, along with Georgia Tech and Wake Forest. All of the bottom tier schools - Clemson, Virginia and Florida State (being either bottom or middle tier) - are from outside North Carolina. Finally, add in Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College. BC has been the only team to come close to winning the tournament when they lost to Duke in 2006 in Greensboro, their first season in the league.
The ACC is dominated by the North Carolina schools in both the regular season and the post season and that will not change anytime soon. If the tournament is held in Boston or Miami or anywhere else on the east coast, Duke and North Carolina are still going to get their fair share of titles.
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6 ACC Teams In 2010 NCAA Tournament Field
From the ACC, Duke (1), Maryland (4), Clemson (7), Florida State (9), Wake Forest (9), and Georgia Tech (10) all got invites to the Big Dance. Virginia Tech was one of the first teams left out of the NCAA field of 65, although it sounds like they only have themselves to blame.
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Hockey Sweeps UMass Out Of Hockey East Playoffs, Onto Semifinals
by Brian @ BCI on Mar 14, 2010 1:23 PM EDT
in Hockey
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The Eagles made quick work of UMass, winning 5-2 last night to advance to the Hockey East semifinals. BC completed the rare 5 game season sweep of the 7th seeded Minutemen. BC broke a 2-2 tie by scoring three unanswered goals in the third period. Assistant captain Matt Lombardi netted the game-winner just 2:11 into the third period.
Barry Almeida led the way for the Eagles, registering two goals and an assist. Carl Sneep, Paul Carey and Matt Lombardi added goals in the victory.
John Muse got the start in net, stopping 16 shots in the win. Muse improves to 13-8-2 on the year.
I'm not sure how I feel about York's decision to put Muse in net. I understand wanting to give Parker Milner the night off, but I thought that the benefits of playing Milner in back-to-back games would have outweighed giving him some well-earned rest. Milner hasn't played in back-to-back games all season. If York is going to go with Milner throughout the playoffs, this seemed like the last good opportunity to get him some experience in back-to-back games before the team is playing single elimination hockey in the Hockey East semifinals and the NCAAs.
Then again, we learned not to question York in March or April. In hindsight, York's decision to play for the tie last weekend in Durham doesn't seem so foolish now. Hopefully, it all works out and we get quality goaltending from both Milner and Muse.
York's squad will be making their 6th consecutive trip to the Hockey East semifinals at the Garden, and their 8th appearance in their last 10 seasons.
The good news is that BC gets a night off while the rest of Hockey East plays in decisive game threes tonight. Vermont evened their quarterfinal series with No. 1 seeded New Hampshire, winning 1-0. Sixth seeded Merrimack shocked BU in overtime, 3-2, pushing their series to game 3. Finally, Maine beat UMass Lowell 2-0 behind a shutout from backup goalie Dave Wilson.
Hockey East Semifinal Opponent TBD.
BC's semifinals opponent won't be decided until the results come in from the rest of the Hockey East quarterfinal game threes. The Eagles can play any one of four Hockey East teams in the semis - Vermont, Boston University, Maine or UMass Lowell.
Here are the scenarios and BC's possible opponents in the Hockey East semifinal:
| UNH vs. UVM | BU vs. MC | ME vs. UML | BC Opponent |
| #1 New Hampshire | #3 Boston University | #4 Maine | Boston University |
| #1 New Hampshire | #3 Boston University | #5 UMass Lowell | Boston University |
| #1 New Hampshire | #6 Merrimack | #4 Maine | Maine |
| #1 New Hampshire | #6 Merrimack | #5 UMass Lowell | UMass Lowell |
| #8 Vermont | #3 Boston University | #4 Maine | Vermont |
| #8 Vermont | #3 Boston University | #5 UMass Lowell | Vermont |
| #8 Vermont | #6 Merrimack | #4 Maine | Vermont |
| #8 Vermont | #6 Merrimack | #5 UMass Lowell | Vermont |
Ticket Punched.
The Alabama-Huntsville Chargers became the first team to punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament, defeating Niagara 3-2 in overtime. The Chargers went just 12-17-3 this season.
NCAA Tournament Field Update.
With UAH's surprising CHA Championship, the current NCAA Tournament field looks something like this:
1 seeds - Denver, Miami, Wisconsin, Boston College
2 seeds - North Dakota, St. Cloud State, Bemidji State, Yale
3 seeds - Ferris State, Cornell, New Hampshire, Northern Michigan
4 seeds - Alaska, Vermont, RIT (projected Atlantic Hockey champ), Alabama-Huntsville (CHA champ)
If the 1 seeds hold serve, I see no reason why BC wouldn't be placed in either the Northeast (Worcester) or the East Regional (Albany) and get to play close to home. I still disagree with Vermont getting in as the third Hockey East team, especially since they entered the Hockey East tournament as the 8 seed. However, last night's win over UNH keeps them at #14 in the PWR rankings, which right now is the final at-large spot in the field (barring any other surprises in the other conference tournaments).
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Hockey Wins Wild One Over UMass, NCAA Tournament Bubble Shrinks
by Brian @ BCI on Mar 13, 2010 9:58 AM EST
in Hockey
3 comments
Cam Atkinson wasted no time, scoring just 36 seconds into the game and finishing with a hat-trick at the No. 2 seeded Eagles won game 1 of their Hockey East quarterfinals series 6-5. The Eagles built up a 6-3 lead after two periods before UMass came roaring back to cut the lead to 1. The Minutemen scored twice in the third period's opening minute, but that would be all the scoring in this one as BC held on to take game 1.
BC continues to get outstanding play from their special teams unit. The Eagles went 3-for-4 on the man-advantage, including two of Atkinson's three goals and a goal from Joe Whitney. UMass finished the game 2-of-5 on the power play.
Atkinson finished the game with 4 points, while Joe Whitney added 3 helpers and younger brother Stephen Whitney registered a goal and an assist.
Parker Milner got the start in net, stopping 33 shots in the full 60 minutes to preserve the victory. Milner improves to 10-2-1. The Eagles were uncharacteristically outshot 38-32.
In other Hockey East action, top-seeded New Hampshire scored the game's final five goals to defeat Vermont 7-4. Boston University rallied past Merrimack 3-2, while Lowell got the victory over Maine 2-1.
Shrinking Bubble.
College Hockey America's Bemidji State - remember them? - were bounced from the CHA Tournament semifinals last night, losing to No. 4 seeded Niagara 5-4. The loss assures that in the league's last year of existence, the CHA will field two teams in the NCAA Tournament field of 16. BSU already has a at-large berth secured, so the winner of the CHA championship game between Niagara and Alabama-Huntsville will receive an auto-berth into the NCAAs. Niagara has a record of 12-19-4, while UAH has a record of 11-17-3.
That's bad news for the rest of college hockey's bubble teams. For Hockey East programs like UMass Lowell, Vermont, Massachusetts and Boston University, that's one less spot available in the field of 16. As it stands right now, Hockey East looks like they will only be sending two teams to the NCAAs - BC and New Hampshire - unless one of these teams can sneak in and capture the Hockey East tournament title. Lowell is in the best position to grab one of the final at-large spots in the tournament.
5 Overtime Hockey = Awesome.
Quinnipiac and Union College needed 5 overtimes and almost 6 hours to settle game one of their best-of-three ECAC Quarterfinals matchup. Quinnipiac won 3-2 on Greg Holt's goal at 10:22 of the fifth overtime. The game was the longest game in NCAA history. (What's up with longest game in NCAA history records falling in consecutive years? First BC-Texas in baseball and now Quinnipiac-Union in hockey.)
This really has no bearing on BC or the NCAA Tournament Field. It's just awesome.
Up Next.
The Eagles look to finish off the Minutemen tonight at Conte Forum, starting at 7 PM. With a win, BC advances to the next weekend's Hockey East semifinals at the TD Garden.
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Atlantic Coast Conference Standings
(updated 3.15.2010 at 1:34 AM EDT)
| Conf | Overall | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | W | L | |
| Duke Blue Devils | 13 | 3 | 29 | 5 |
Maryland Terrapins
|
13 | 3 | 23 | 8 |
|
Virginia Tech Hokies
|
10 | 6 | 23 | 8 |
|
Florida St. Seminoles
|
10 | 6 | 22 | 9 |
|
Clemson Tigers
|
9 | 7 | 21 | 10 |
|
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
|
9 | 7 | 19 | 10 |
|
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
|
7 | 9 | 22 | 12 |
|
Boston College Eagles
|
6 | 10 | 15 | 16 |
|
N.C. State Wolfpack
|
5 | 11 | 19 | 15 |
|
North Carolina Tar Heels
|
5 | 11 | 16 | 16 |
| Virginia Cavaliers | 5 | 11 | 15 | 16 |
|
Miami Hurricanes
|
4 | 12 | 20 | 13 |
Eagles Basketball Schedule
Last 5 Games
| Virginia | Thu 03/11 | L 62 - 68 |
| Virginia | Thu 03/11 | L 62 - 68 |
|
@
N.C. State
|
Sun 03/07 | L 54 - 66 |
| Virginia | Wed 03/03 | W 68 - 55 |
|
@
Georgia Tech
|
Sat 02/27 | L 68 - 73 |
Certain photos copyright © 2010 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
