Brian: BC hoops has the week off to prepare for Saturday's road game down in Chapel Hill. When BC last met the Heels, the Eagles lost in spectacular fashion, 106-72. This time, the game will be played in the Dean Dome, a place where, unlike Littlejohn or Cameron Indoor, the Eagles have at least found some success (2-1 all-time in the Dome).
I think it's nearly impossible to lose by as big a margin as the Eagles did the first time around, but will the Eagles at least be a little more competitive the second go-around? Will the extra week off help or hurt the Eagles chances to beat UNC the second time around? Your thoughts?
Jeff: It is hard to imagine that the Eagles will lose by 34 again or give up 100 points again. It wasn't all bad defense by BC the first time around that led to such a dominant win by the Tar Heels. North Carolina caught fire after the first ten minutes of the game. Even though the second contest is at their place, it is hard to imagine that they would find the same shooting stroke again.
The great thing about BC is that they have a chance to win every game they play in this season. What is frustrating about the Eagles is that they lost to Yale and Rhode Island. I'll take it though and I expect them to get a little rest this week which is important for our team that has no depth and they should be able to come out Saturday and at least compete with UNC. Boston College might not win the game but I expect the final margin to be say less than 12 points with much of the game with a single digit deficit. That's not saying much for a team that is expected to make the NCAA tournament right now, but it is considering how lopsided the game was at Conte Forum.
Regardless of the outcome, this game on the road against UNC will boost our RPI once again. That is a good thing even though BC currently has the third best RPI in the ACC behind only Duke and UNC. The Eagles have a very soft schedule in their final four games and going 3-1 rather than 4-0 in those final four games will probably hurt our RPI rather than help it. Playing Wake Forest, regardless of outcome, is certainly detrimental to our RPI.