November 27, 2004 was the last time Boston College and Syracuse got together on the gridiron. On that day, the Eagles were playing for a shot at their first outright Big East championship and a spot in their first BCS bowl game. Of course, we all know the ending to this story -- Syracuse laid the smack down on BC in a 43-17 drubbing in Chestnut Hill, behind 141 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns from backup running back / starting safety Diamond Ferri.
Syracuse seemingly had the last laugh on Boston College,denying the Eagles their first outright Big East title and a BCS bowl appearance in our final year in the conference.
Nearly six years later, if the stars align, BC can flip the script next week and deny Syracuse a spot in the BCS. Don't believe me? Check this out.
With only three weeks left in the regular season, the Big East standings are so tightly bunched this year that another three- or four-way tie seems like an inevitability. Here's a look at the current Big East standings, with games remaining:
As a hypothetical, let's say that Pittsburgh wins their remaining road games at USF and Cincinnati, but loses to West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl. Pitt would then finish with a Big East record of 5-2. Let's also say that Syracuse beats UConn in their Big East finale this weekend and West Virginia wins out -- at Louisville, at Pittsburgh and Rutgers. There would then be a three-way tie atop the Big East standings at 5-2.
Pittsburgh 5-2
Syracuse 5-2
West Virginia 5-2
The first Big East tiebreaker is record among the teams tied atop the conference standings. In this case, each team would have identical 1-1 records against each other. The next tiebreaker is so simple yet mind-boggling stupid that it's no wonder BC left the conference in the first place ... The Big East Champion -- and 2011 Fiesta Bowl participant -- would then be decided by the team that finishes highest in the final week 14 BCS standings.
While I'm not exactly sure what happens when none of the three teams actually makes the Top 25 of the final BCS standings, it should be fairly obvious that if BC can knock off Syracuse in the regular season finale, that loss would likely be enough to knock Syracuse from the top of the BCS standings, denying them a spot in the BCS (read: Fiesta Bowl).
A non-conference BC-Syracuse game that could potentially determine the Big East BCS bowl representative, six years to the day of the Diamond Ferri debacle? The ironing is delicious. It would be like we never even left the Big East.
Who says you can never go home again?