Last week, I took a look at BC's future football schedules in an attempt to find a spot for the BYU Cougars to return to the sched. Reader Roger, a BYU grad -- who made the trip out to Chestnut Hill in 2006 -- sent me this mail last week:
"In looking at the BC's future opponents as you have them outlined, I couldn't help but notice that you've got a four-game series set with another opponent (Army) that Tom Holmoe and Bronco are keen on playing down the road. I could foresee a scenario where BC and Army agreed to push their 2013 and 2015 games to 2016 and 2017 and BYU would slide into Army's 2013 and 2015 slots. BYU could play at BC in 2013 (we'll be looking for away games that year as our schedule is currently stacked up home-heavy for that year) and BC could visit Provo in 2015. That would leave BC with three home / one road game in 2013 and two home / one neutral / one road game in 2015."
Sounds like a decent enough proposal. Let's take a look at how the 2012-2015 schedules would look under this proposal:
| Year | OOC #1 | OOC #2 | OOC #3 | OOC #4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Notre Dame | @ Northwestern | Army | Maine |
| 2013 | @ USC | Syracuse | Brigham Young | Stony Brook |
| 2014 | USC | @ Syracuse | vs. Army | Rhode Island |
| 2015 | Notre Dame | Syracuse | @ Brigham Young | Buffalo (Location TBD) |
The great thing about this proposal is it bolsters BC's home schedule in 2013. The ACC home schedule is generally weaker in odd numbered years when BC draws Wake Forest and N.C. State at home instead of Clemson and Virginia Tech, as they do in even numbered years.
However, I don't know if Boston College would go for this for two reasons. For one thing, that gives the Eagles three major conference programs on the non-conference schedule in both 2013 (Syracuse, BYU and at USC) and in 2015 (Notre Dame, Syracuse and at BYU). As much as I want to see BC schedule three big-time programs in the same season, I don't think the AD has the stomach for this type of balls-out scheduling. Not only that, but teams aren't typically rewarded for scheduling tough in the era of 75 bowl games.
Second, the four-game Army series is one that builds towards the 2014 neutral site game at Yankee Stadium. I'm not sure if BC has any interest in interrupting this series to accommodate the Cougars as it seems to build nicely to the 2014 game (2012 at home, 2013 at Michie). Army and BC have a long history on the gridiron and I really can't see BC pushing out games with the Military Academy to schedule another independent.
Then again, who knows. Maybe this season's soft ticket sales flips a switch with the AD and a desire to schedule more interesting and tougher opponents in non-conference play.