Boston College has consistently been a better program than NC State

Three things right off the bat:

1. Obviously, BC beating anyone after 700 days of ACC futility was going to be surprising.
2. I understand that arguing over which program has been better, BC or NC State, is a bit like arguing over who has dominion over the little kids’ swingset in the playground.
3. I don’t have anything against NC State.

That said, I had to chuckle a bit at the perception gap between the two programs, and some of the reactions that seem to emanate from Tobacco Road whenever BC beats NC State. Not just this year, but every time it happens.

Twitter lit up with “can you believe NC State lost to *BC*?” posts. Our good friends at Backing the Pack - who do great work - tossed up a simple postgame headline: “NC State loses to Boston College in football,” as though that were an unthinkable proposition.

But here are some pertinent facts:

-BC is 8-4 against NC State since joining the ACC.
-Steve Addazio is 3-1 against Dave Doeren in this matchup.
-BC's all-time winning percentage is 42nd in the nation at .575, vs. NC State's .506, which is 84th.
-BC has two ACC title game appearances since the division format was implemented in 2005; NC State has zero.
-Tom O’Brien coached both programs, and had more success at BC than he did at NC State (75-45 vs. 40-35).

If you want to argue that NC State should be better than BC, given their location in more fertile recruiting ground and considerably larger fan following - I’m fine with that.

But it seems like every year when people look at this divisional matchup, NC State is the “sleeper to watch in the ACC” while BC is a huge afterthought and not a team that should be on NC State’s level. And yet by most metrics, BC has been the better program - even in the last six years when things have sort of unraveled for the Eagles. Keep that in mind if BC beats NC State again next year and there’s another reaction of shock that this could possibly happen.