Boston College's AP Poll Dry Spell: Eight Seasons and Counting

It's been nine years since Boston College finished the season ranked in the AP Top 25, when Matt Ryan and the Eagles ended the year ranked #10. 2007 was the fourth straight year and the 5th time in 7 years that BC ended the season ranked in the top 25, but they've rarely been close since, and few expect them to be a top-25 caliber team this season, either.

How does this drought compare to other ACC teams? Our friends at Syracuse discussed it yesterday:

After @DavidHaleESPN looked @ most recent ACC AP Poll appearances, we looked @ most recent final polls. Same result. pic.twitter.com/TOcH60oVWM

— John Cassillo (@JohnCassillo) June 21, 2016

So... we're not last, yay? Wake forest, Virginia, NC State (!) and Syracuse have had longer Top 25 dry spells, with Syracuse's at 15 years.

On the flip side, six ACC teams have gotten themselves in to the AP Top 25 in the past three seasons, including oft-unheralded Duke. It's pretty easy to throw up your hands and say 'you can't compare BC to Florida State,' but Duke and Pitt are examples of similarly-situated schools that have had more recent success in the ACC than BC.

The dry spell is BC's second longest since the dawn of the AP Poll:

39 seasons (1943-1982)
8 seasons (2008-pres.)
6 seasons (1995-2000)
5 seasons (1987-1991)
3 seasons (1936-1938)
2 seasons (2002-2003)
1 season (1985)

There's a whole lot of conflicting information in this post, so feel free to attach it to your narrative of choice!