Boston College Basketball Alumni Form "Skinner's Frate Train" To Play The Basketball Tournament

There's something beautiful to some of the ghosts of Boston College basketball seasons past. Though those seasons appear further and further in our rearview mirror, the memories still remain. The heroes of those days - from Craig Smith to Jared Dudley to Tyrese Rice to Joe Trapani - still ring in our ears from what was a golden era at Conte Forum for the maroon and gold.

What if I told you there was a way to watch some of those players join forces once again?

Now what if I told you that you can help push them into a tournament where the winner takes home $2 million?

Now what if I told you that they were playing for Pete Frates?

You'd probably be pretty excited. The good news? It's really going to happen.

Boston College alumni are putting together a roster that are scheduled to play in The Basketball Tournament, a winner-take-all tournament for upwards of $2 million. The BC roster, called "Skinner's Frate Train," includes former Eagle heroes in addition to alums from around the country.

From Boston College, the roster, under general manager Tyler Neville (himself a former Eagle) includes Sean Marshall, Tyrese Rice, Craig Smith, Joe Trapani Steve Hailey, John Oates, Brady Heslip, Marquez Haynes, and Akida McClain. Matt Ryan is also attached to the team as a booster.

The Basketball Tournament is an open-application, 5-on-5, single-elimination tournament much in the way that the March Madness field is played. Rosters of up to 16 total with a maximum of 11 players are compiled and put to a fan vote in order to complete the selection process. Teams are broken up into regions, with the top 12 teams in each region earning automatic bids. The remaining four slots are filled by at-large bids of teams with seven or more players and at least 200 votes as of June 1st.

The 64 team field then plays off in single-elimination games on July 9th and 10th with the remaining 16 teams scheduled to play in the Super 16  in Philadelphia on July 21st, 22nd, and 23rd. The Final Four then head to New York to play on July 30th with the championship on August 2nd on ESPN.

The Eagles are playing in part for Pete Frates. A portion of money earned by Boston College will benefit the fight against ALS.

The Boston College team is currently slotted in the West Regional, which will play its games in Los Angeles. They're the leading vote getters in the West as of this writing, joined by an alumni squad from Utah State, Utah, and Gonzaga, among others. Not all teams are currently eligible and not all teams are comprised of a school's alumni.

Tickets are available to watch the games by clicking here, and you can vote to ensure Boston College has a spot in the tournament by clicking here. The link also links directly to the Boston College team.

Be sure to get involved with this so we can see our former Eagles put on the high tops and hit the blacktop together one more time!