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Boston College Football Bowl Projections: Duke To Pinstripe Bowl "Almost A Sure Thing," According To Report

According to 247Sports, Boston College may be shut out of New York

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Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Tomorrow teams will be finding out their bowl destinations, and according to 247Sports, it would appear that Boston College will not be heading to New York:

Duke's most likely bowl destination will be the Pinstripe Bowl in Yankee Stadium on December 27th, according to multiple sources. The game will be played on ESPN at 4:30PM. There is still a slight possibility that Duke ends up in the Russell Athletic Bowl or Hyundai Sun Bowl, but it would be extremely surprising if they're playing somewhere else besides New York City.

As we have mentioned here before, Duke heading to New York has been a rumor that has been floating around for a while. The thought process behind team choices varies based on whom you talk to. The so-called "Tier I" bowls get a bit tricky as there seems to be a late push—from the Duke camp, I'm guessing—to avoid a trip to El Paso and a Sun Bowl date against Arizona State.

The conference, in concert with the bowl, will do whatever they want, so it's not going to come down to resume. But if it did, one could make the argument that BC has had the more impressive year. Duke (9-3) managed to avoid playing three of the top four teams in the conference (Florida State, Clemson and Louisville), while Boston College's (7-5) non-conference games against USC and Colorado State were better than any non-conference opponent Duke faced this season. Oh, and BC won one of those two games over a then-ranked top 10 team. If you ask at least one computer, BC finishes a spot ahead of Duke.

I think that the Pinstripe Bowl had ample opportunity to do its homework on BC and the Eagles will hold off a late Duke push and land in the Bronx. The only way I can see the conference rationalizing Duke over BC in the Bronx is if the Pinstripe Bowl feels that hosting Penn State—in its first bowl appearance since 2010—will be enough of a draw where it doesn't matter whether they take a second local-ish team.

As mentioned before, the SEC title game has big implications on BC and Duke's bowl destinations. If Alabama holds on, all signs point to the Sun or Pinstripe Bowl. If Mizzou comes back, BC could be heading to Detroit or Maryland as the Citrus Bowl will no longer be in play for the ACC.

Roll tide.