Maine Black Bears (6-5, 0-0 America East) at Boston College Eagles (9-4, 1-0 ACC)
Time: 12:00 EST
Date: Saturday, Jan. 2, 2010
Place: Silvio O. Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, Ma.
TV: Nope
The Line: No line
Last Time Out: Boston College defeated South Carolina 85-76 to move to 9-4 on the season.
Series: Boston College leads the all-time series 14-3.
Last Meeting at BC: Boston College 99, Maine 61 (Dec. 23, 2008)
Maine's 2008-2009 Record: 9-21, 4-12 America East (8th place)
Probable Starters:
- G - Gerald McLemore (So.) - 6'3", 186 lbs., San Diego, Ca. - 15.6 PPG, 2.7 RPG
- G - Junior Bernal (Sr.) - 6'5", 200 lbs., Manhattan, N.Y. - 8.4 PPG, 5.1 RPG
- F - Murphy Burnatowski (Fr.) - 6'7", 230 lbs., Waterloo, Ont. - 5.0 PPG, 2.7 RPG
- F - Sean McNally (Jr.) - 6'7", 250 lbs., Gardiner, Me. - 11.5 PPG, 8.0 RPG
- F - Troy Barnies (Jr.) - 6'7", 205 lbs., Auburn, Me. - 6.9 PPG, 6.1 RPG
If you thought Boston College was having a strange up and down season, you haven't been following the Maine Black Bears men's basketball program. Not that I blame you for not following them ... but still. The Black Bears enter this game with a record of 6-5. They have only played two major conference programs - Syracuse and UConn - and got beat soundly in both games. The game against Syracuse was particularly ugly - a 56 point drubbing in the Carrier Dome. Maine followed up this game with a 133 point outburst and a 75 point victory over Maine-Presque Isle, which I didn't even know fielded a basketball program. The 133 points shattered a school record. The Black Bears haven't beaten a team with an RPI higher than 236 and lost to 1-10 Norfolk State (no, not the prison). Finally, Maine has had home games against Presque Isle and Princeton postponed already this season (snow?).
Forget Harvard beating BC two years in a row. If Maine knocks off Boston College today, it may go down as one of the biggest upset in college basketball history. There. I said it. That's about all the analysis you need for this one.
Leave your pre-, in- or post-game thoughts below.
Go Eagles!