Last week, I jotted down five humble suggestions on how to fix Boston College football. Today, we present rule #21 on how NOT to fix Boston College football.
"Next, the school simply needs to schedule more local teams. And no, Maine does not count as a "local" team. For the BC football team, this means playing UMass (which moves to FBS next year) every single season, as well as playing schools with football teams in the states immediately surrounding Massachusetts. If the school schedule schools like UConn, UNH, UVM, Harvard, URI and so on, they would have a better chance of getting people locally to see their product, as many people have ties to these schools.
Of course, with the fact that the school has to play its allotted ACC games, you can't schedule local opponents every time. But really, what good does playing Weber State, Kent State or other teams of that caliber do for you? The Eagles should open their seasons with at least two or three games with local flavor, while still managing to keep a competitive schedule."
While I have a ton of respect for the SB Nation Boston crew and the yeoman's work they do covering Boston sports, this is a guaranteed way of how NOT to fix Boston College football.
Maine may not be "local," but the Black Bears will soon become one of only two Division I-AA opponents left in New England after Northeastern's decision to drop football in 2010 (New Hampshire is the other). With UMass' jump to I-A and Rhode Island's jump down to the NEC, BC is literally left with only two I-AA New England opponents to schedule. BC won't be able to count a win over Rhode Island towards bowl eligibility after URI completes the move to the NEC and we aren't getting credit for beating up on the Harvard or Holy Cross programs, either. Vermont has only a club football program and some less than stringent recruiting requirements. I'm not sure BC could count a win over UVM towards Military Bowl eligibility.
Which leaves us with UMass and UConn. Now I can't speak for everyone, but I personally have no ties to either of these schools. As an out-of-town season ticket holder, scheduling these programs is a sure fire way to get me to stay home on Saturdays. And more than a lot of other Division I-A programs, Boston College is heavily reliant on the out-of-town season ticket holders for filling Alumni Stadium on Saturdays.
If you want a better chance of getting people to see the BC football product, then you need to schedule nationally, not locally. USC (2013, 2014), Notre Dame (2012, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019) and Army (2012-2015) should do the trick. Not UMass, UConn, Harvard, Dartmouth, Boston University and Saint Anselm College.
Granted, this program has a lot of problems, but the Eagles' future non-conference schedule is not one of them.