How Weak Is The Boston College Hoops Non-Conference Schedule?
by Conrad Kaczmarek on Oct 5, 2011 4:02 PM EDT
in Boston College Basketball
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Boston College expects a down year for the basketball program, and for good reason. Nearly every important player from last year left and Steve Donahue will be working with a completely revamped roster. As a result, the Eagles will be facing very little resistance outside of their normal ACC schedule. Last year as BC posted a very respectable record of 20-12, the lack of quality wins ultimately kept them out of the Big Dance.
I do not think many people expect the Eagles to be making a run at the NCAA tournament this year, but the apparent weakness of their schedule could pose a problem if they turn out to be better than expected. Let's take a look.
| Date | Opponent / Event | Location | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11/14/2011 | vs. New Hampshire Wildcats | Chestnut Hill, Mass. | 7:00 p.m. ET |
| 11/18/2011 | at Holy Cross Crusaders | Worcester, Mass. | 7:30 p.m. ET |
| 11/21/2011 | vs. UMass Minutemen | Chestnut Hill, Mass. | 7:00 p.m. ET |
| 11/24/2011 | vs. Saint Louis Billikens | Anaheim, Calif. | 2:00 p.m. ET |
| 11/25/2011 | Villanova Wildcats / UC Riverside Highlanders | Anaheim, Calif. | TBA |
| 11/27/2011 | TBA | Anaheim, Calif. | TBA |
| 11/30/2011 | vs. Penn St. Nittany Lions | Chestnut Hill, Mass. | 7:15 p.m. ET |
| 12/3/2011 | vs. Boston University Terriers | Chestnut Hill, Mass. | 2:00 p.m. ET |
| 12/8/2011 | at Providence Friars | Providence, R.I. | 7:00 p.m. ET |
| 12/11/2011 | vs. Stony Brook Seawolves | Chestnut Hill, Mass. | 5:00 p.m. ET |
| 12/18/2011 | vs. Bryant Bulldogs | Chestnut Hill, Mass. | 1:00 p.m. ET |
| 12/21/2011 | vs. Sacred Heart Pioneers | Chestnut Hill, Mass. | 7:00 p.m. ET |
| 12/29/2011 | vs. Harvard Crimson | Chestnut Hill, Mass. | 7:00 p.m. ET |
| 1/2/2012 | vs. Rhode Island Rams | Chestnut Hill, Mass. | 1:00 p.m. ET |
The toughest games on the schedule would appear to be against Harvard (December 29), a team that has beaten BC roughly 742 times in the past 3 years, and the 76 Classic in Anaheim (November 24-27). Harvard is always a challenge for Boston College and usually finishes near the top of the Ivy League. The 76 Classic has BC opening against St. Louis with the potential of playing a team such as Villanova later on. Other than these encounters, BC has it pretty easy. The Eagles will host UMass, Boston University, and Rhode Island while traveling to Holy Cross and Providence. These games against local schools will probably have a positive affect on the attendance at Conte Forum, but will do little for our RPI.
Compare the toughest non-conference games this year to the ones that Donahue and Co. faced last year. Texas A&M, Wisconsin and California present a pretty steep drop off when you replace them with Penn St., Harvard, and St. Louis. Furthermore, how does BC's schedule compare to other teams in the ACC?
The perennial powerhouses, of course, have impressive non-ACC opponents lined up to boost their RPI and their chances at gaining an NCAA tournament berth. The only two schedules that appear as soft as BC's are those of Wake Forest and Georgia Tech. WF's campaign is highlighted by a home game against Richmond and the Old Spice Classic. The Demon Deacons will open with Dayton at the Old Spice Classic but could draw any number of teams for their other games. Georgia Tech will take part in the Charlestown Classic (where they start with St. Joseph's and either VCU or Seton Hall) as well as playing Northwestern and Alabama. These schedules should come as no surprise as both GT and WF were thoroughly miserable last season. Despite this, they still might edge out BC's list of cupcakes. Depending on how the tournament draws pan out, BC could very easily end up with the weakest non-conference schedule in the ACC. I can't say that I blame them due to all of the talent that Donahue lost in the offseason, but it still looks pretty bad.
Keep in mind that the Eagles still have their normal slate of ACC games which presents plenty of opportunities for quality wins if by some chance this team has March Madness aspirations. As it stands now though, does BC have the weakest non-conference schedule in the ACC?
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Andy Katz posted about this yesterday
Really good rundown on the entire ACC’s nonconference slate. He seems to think BC is tied with Wake for the easiest schedule
http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/36085/nonconference-schedule-analysis-acc
How Weak Is The Boston College Hoops Non-Conference Schedule?
Weak, but I think completely appropriate given the talent level and where this team’s at.
Editor, BC Interruption
completely agree. just try to ease these kids in this year, take stock of the program, and let’s build from there
Exactly
Not a bad move on their part. Actually pretty smart.
Writer at BC Interruption SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
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Seems like in football
Results are a huge factor in recruiting. Is it the same in basketball, or do they players actually consider who they’ll be playing with (because it’s a smaller team)?
Team chemistry is certainly taken into account more than in football
but in the end, program prestige is still a very very big part of it. Recruits aren’t going to want to come somewhere where a new coach hasn’t shown that he can establish a winning tradition, unless it’s a situation where they feel so confident in themselves and the rest of their recruting class that they think that they can be the ones to turn it around.
Players considering who they’re playing with comes into play more in the case of multiple people being recruited for the same position. Usually once a team takes a player for a certain position in a class, nobody else who plays the same position in that class will want to go there anymore. Guys playing with their friends is sometimes a minor factor, but in my experience players like to talk up that angle during recruitment but almost never follow through on it.
In the end, the most important thing for Donahue to do without results to point to is to try to lock up the local kids (that includes those prep school kids from NH). It’s pretty much a given that at this point BC is gonna lose any national recruting battle they’re in for a top 75 kid, maybe even top 100, so the only shot Donahue really has to land one of those guys is to pick a highly ranked local kid and try to sell him on the merits of the program.
Now, obviously this won’t work on 5 stars like Mitch McGary or Nerlens Noel, but it has an outside shot with guys in the 40-60 range. Jake Layman was really an ideal target for Donahue but he couldn’t close on him and lost him to Maryland. Layman is the kind of kid that needs to start going to BC to build up any type of local pipeline. The local pipeline is essential to establishing the national pipeline with the emergence of New England schools on the prep circuit the last couple years, and the dominance that BABC had most of this summer in AAU.
Al Skinner never had a fertile local recruting ground to work with during his time at BC, and all of a sudden that’s something that’s fallen into Donahue’s lap. So far he hasn’t been able to take advantage of that, at all, but it’s probably the only way he’s going to establish any sort of national prominence. Not saying he can’t get back to .500 ACC records and 1st round tournament exits with solid classes of overlooked 3 stars, but mid-major recruting will only get you so far in the ACC.
This post got really far off topic, apologies, but I had to lay out my thoughts on some of this
Don’t think the fertile recruiting ground has to be Massachusetts. Look at Donahue’s Southern California pipeline as an example. Donahue is more than well versed in how to sell this program on its benefits — great academics, play in the ACC — coming from Cornell and Penn.
Not sure striking out on Mass recruits that may not fit the school or the program Donahue is trying to build can be considered a failure just yet.
Editor, BC Interruption
certainly not calling it a failure
Obviously I’m not going to judge Donahue’s recruits before they play a game, but I was referring specifically to top 100 guys, of which, correct me if I’m wrong, Donahue has yet to recruit one. He’s done a good job with the 3 stars so far, but eventually he’s gonna need to show that he can get more heralded kids if he wants to compete in the ACC. Otherwise he’s just Al Skinner with more of an emphasis on shooting the 3.
Ryan Anderson
One of Donahue’s first recruits. ESPN Top 100. California Gatorade State Player of the Year
Yeah, Anderson is a 4 star recruit
Owner of http://www.fearthesword.com/
by Conrad Kaczmarek on Oct 6, 2011 8:06 AM EDT up reply actions
Just
Told a BC fundraiser to fire GDF. He said he’d try.
You forgot to ask for Spaz's head to.
by EagleAboveTheRim on Oct 5, 2011 6:56 PM EDT up reply actions
Tell Them
You will triple your donations if they hire Mike Leach.
Writer at BC Interruption SBN's Boston College Eagles blog
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I do like how a lot of the games are against local teams…that should help fill Conte Forum and whatnot
Owner of http://www.fearthesword.com/
by Conrad Kaczmarek on Oct 5, 2011 10:14 PM EDT reply actions
Probably better than being empty, right?
Owner of http://www.fearthesword.com/
by Conrad Kaczmarek on Oct 6, 2011 8:06 AM EDT up reply actions
no, it’s not. remember roy williams against college of charleston in 2009-10? obviously he was out of line, but the idea is the same. teams don’t want opposing fans in their arena, it kills any type of home court advantage. bringing in opposing fans isn’t gonna make any kind of significant dent in increasing athletic dept revenue, and it’ll have a clear negative effect on recruiting if recruits see that even their home arena can be a somewhat hostile environment. you don’t want a BC/BU game or a BC/Harvard where Conte looks like Camden Yards with the Red Sox in town
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