College Football At Fenway? And The Big Finish

Brian: On Wednesday, the AP released a story about the Red Sox management's interest in staging college football games at Fenway Park. This certainly wouldn't be the first time in recent years that college football has been staged in a baseball-only ballpark. Just this past year, the Cubs' Wrigley Field welcomed college football back to the park for the first time in over 70 years when Northwestern faced Illinois. Notre Dame and Army played later that night at New Yankee Stadium. And of course, there are annual bowl games played at the Giants' AT&T Park and the Rays' Tropicana Stadium.

If the Sox want college football, they'll get college football. And I would argue one of those two teams would have to be Boston College. You certainly don't want to be upstaged on the national stage in your own backyard. My question is who would you like to see the Eagles' face at Fenway?

Assuming this season is out, here is the list of BC home opponents for the 2012, 2013 and 2014 seasons:

2012: Army, Maine, Notre Dame, Maryland, Clemson, Virginia Tech, Miami
2013: Stony Brook, Syracuse, Wake Forest, N.C. State, Florida State, Georgia Tech
2014: Rhode Island, USC, Maryland, Clemson, North Carolina, Virginia Tech

Which program is your pick for the team that you'd like to see the Eagles face at Fenway?

Jeff: I would prefer to stay away from playing a conference game at Fenway. There might be quirks to the game like playing in one direction as they did in Wrigley last season that I wouldn't want to affect a conference game. When Northwestern played at Wrigley last season, the decision to play in one direction was not made until the week of the game. So I am looking at Syracuse in 2013. Hopefully Syracuse will have a few more decent years between now and then and I think the Notre Dame game might as well be played at Foxboro rather than at Fenway. Fenway will provide fewer good seats to watch the game than Alumni would so I don't see the point in moving a game that will certainly sell out and already get a good television spot. The Syracuse game might sell out but would not be in a good television spot most likely. Moving the game to Fenway would probably get ABC coverage.

Brian: I would hope they get the field dimensions for Fenway Park right more than a week in advance. I like your Syracuse suggestion. That could be a good game and the general timing of these BC-Syracuse games -- towards the end of the season around Thanksgiving -- would help avoid any conflicts with the Red Sox. I also think a BC-Army game would be great, considering the two teams will play at New Yankee Stadium two years later. I actually wouldn't be opposed to hosting a cross-divisional ACC matchup at Fenway like BC-Virginia Tech or BC-Miami. Like I said, hopefully they would figure out the field layout and dimensions in plenty of time where there wasn't anything crazy like going in one direction.

Games like BC-Notre Dame and BC-USC are definitely out due to the sellout factor, as are Maine, Stony Brook and Rhode Island, for the opposite reason. 

Finally, I'd throw out the possibility of getting ESPN involved, dropping one of these games against a I-AA opponent and scheduling a big name Eastern power like Penn State, Ohio State or Michigan / Michigan State. The only problem here would timing as the Big Ten already has a sched through 2014 with very few open dates towards the end of the season.

Big Finish

Brian: Boston College could become the final bowl victory for the Nevada Wolf Pack, as a budget shortfall threatens the school's Division I status. Considering Nevada is set to move to the Mountain West in a couple years, this is bad news for college football, no?

Jeff: Yes, not good but I'm sure the move will help considerably.

Jeff: The Sabres' Nathan Gerbe made SportsCenter's Top 10 today. Impressed?

Brian: Gerbe has played great down the stretch but the Sabres' success has come at the expense of my New York Rangers.

Brian: The New York Times recently profiled BC Dining's signature sandwich The Screaming Eagle. They mean Lower Campus Dining's steak and cheese, right?

Jeff: I believe so. Good stuff.

Jeff: Believe it or not, there's college football on today. LSU's spring game is on ESPN plus some game on ESPN3. Football or Masters -- what are you watching today?

Brian: Neither. I might catch the hockey National Championship tonight, but that's about it.

Brian: North Carolina's Tyler Zeller and John Henson will not enter this year's NBA Draft, while Duke's Kyrie Irving is leaving school early. Are the Heels the team to beat in the ACC next season?

Jeff: A lot of people have UNC #1 in the country, not just the ACC.

Jeff: It's Michigan vs. Minnesota-Duluth for this year's men's ice hockey National Championship. Who ya got? What's the final score?

Brian: I think this year's title game could go either way but I'm rooting for Minnesota-Duluth. 4-2 Bulldogs. 

Brian: Last one. BC baseball dropped the first game of its three game set against Duke. Do they rebound this weekend and get the series win?

Jeff: Nope. I'm picking against the Eagles here.