Boston College And Temple To Play Home-And-Home Football Series

Former Big East opponents Boston College and Temple will play each other in a future two-game football series, per an announcement by the Boston College athletic department.

The two teams will play a game at Boston College on September 29, 2018 before shifting the series three seasons later to Philadelphia on September 18, 2021.

It’s a renewal of pleasantries for the two schools, which first met in 1936. They’ve played 37 times in the years since, including an annual game between 1982 and 2004.

Temple was a conference opponent of Boston College when both were members of the Big East between 1991 and 2004. But following the ‘04 season, the Big East forced Temple out of the league due to poor attendance, non-competitiveness, and a lack of commitment from the university. The Owls played the ‘05 and ‘06 seasons as an independent before joining the Mid-American Conference in 2007.

In 2012, the Owls rejoined the Big East for football, shifting all sports to the conference in time for the 2013 season. In that ‘13 campaign, the Big East split, with the Owls joining UConn, Cincinnati, and other football-sponsoring teams in the American Athletic Conference.

Though BC fans will conceivably know the stigma of the Temple stagnant years, the Owls have been a program on the rise more recently. Al Golden led the team to a 9-4 season in 2009, winning the MAC East Division. Steve Addazio also won nine games with Temple, winning the New Mexico Bowl over Wyoming in what was their fourth bowl game appearance in school history.

After a slight dip after rejoining the Big East, Temple enjoyed its best season ever last year, going 10-4 with a 7-1 record in the AAC East. After finishing the regular season ranked 20th, they lost to 17th ranked Houston in the AAC Championship Game before losing to Toledo in the Boca Raton Bowl.

Temple joins Purdue as the non-conference opponents for the Eagles in 2018, and they’re currently the only non-conference game scheduled for the 2021 season. In 2018, BC will play the Boilermakers on the road in addition to the home contest against the Owls.