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Headlines: Hokies Drop Eagles

Brian: The Eagles dropped another one Saturday with a loss in Blacksburg - 79-71 - to the Virginia Tech Hokies. Herald and Globe writeups here. The Eagles got out to an early lead but then the Hokies came back and led the majority of the time from that point on. Boston College had chances in the final minutes and the game was closer than the final 8 point differential indicates, but a loss is still a loss. BC has now dropped 4 straight and is 1-3 in the ACC. I thought the Eagles would beat the Hokies on Saturday. What happened?

Jeff: Well the first thing you are going to look at when the Eagles drop a game is, how did Rice play? The answer is not particularly well, going 6-19 from the floor. But, the bigger story, and what will continue to be a big story throughout conference play, is Josh Southern's productivity. Josh is our only big man and if you'll recall he stayed out on the floor and played well in the victory over UNC, but on Saturday, he played only 15 minutes due to foul trouble. When Southern gets in foul trouble, which he does fairly frequently, the Eagles are in trouble. BC, nor any team is not going to win many conference games without a presence inside and after #52, we do not have the ability to replace him with anyone off of the bench. Last year it was as Rice goes, the team goes. But now, since Trapani and Sanders are picking up some of the scoring duties, we may be able to say, as Josh Southern goes, this team goes.

Brian: How much of that responsibility is on Skinner though? Skinner doesn't have many options on the bench for big men, and as you said, if Southern gets in foul trouble, the Eagles have to go with a small lineup or with Dunn, who isn't very polished.


Brian: The "f" word is being floated around now to describe the Eagles win over No. 1 North Carolina.

Now the "F" word is getting tossed around to describe the Eagles.

"Boston College looks like a fluke," Seth Davis wrote in last week's issue of Sports Illustrated.

He called BC's first week after the big win, which included losses to the Crimson and Miami, "disastrous."

It's actually pretty sad. Just when the Eagles' are getting people a teensy bit excited.

Jeff, are you starting to agree with this?

Jeff: I can understand people saying the North Carolina win was a fluke, but anyone closely following the Eagles sees their potential and a weakening upcoming schedule. I still predict the Eagles making the tournament. This needs to start with an ACC road win tomorrow though.