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Boston College sent out season ticket renewal information to ticket holders yesterday (more on this later), and contained within was a tidbit of interesting information: Central Michigan is listed as an opponent for BC's 2017 home slate. In addition, Richmond, expected to be BC's FCS foe in 2017, is off the listed schedule entirely.
While FBSchedules has not independently confirmed the schedule changes, BC's student newspaper The Heights is reporting that it's a done deal to bring Central Michigan back to the Heights in '17.
While hosting a MAC team isn't necessarily something to throw a parade over, there are two elements of this news that should make BC fans happy:
- It appears that this means there will be NO FCS game on the schedule in 2017.
- According to The Heights, this game is a one-and-done arrangement, requiring no return trip to Central Michigan.
The 2017 home slate is setting up to be a pretty good one, with Notre Dame, Florida State and Virginia Tech coming to town, along with NC State, Wake Forest and now Central Michigan. BC will have two nonconference road games in 2017 as of now: one at UConn in Hartford, and one at Northern Illinois.
While there's plenty to complain about with regard to the football program right now, given BC's recruiting class was ranked at the bottom of the ACC, recent moves should honestly put the scheduling complaints temporarily to bed. While 2016's slate will be woeful, 2017 seems to deliver on what fans would generally ask for. There's a high end power coming to town in Notre Dame, along with a very good MAC program in Central Michigan, plus there's no FCS game. That sounds good all around.
BC's recently announced deal with Purdue means the Eagles are locked in to a Power 5 opponent every year between now and 2020, with Notre Dame on in 2022 and Ohio State in 2023/24 (though there's reasonable doubt as to whether the Ohio State games will happen). The only hole without a P5 opponent between now and 2025 is the 2021 season.
The general format of future schedules seems to be a power 5 team, a MAC level team, and UMass/UConn. What remains to be seen is if BC continues to drop FCS games from future slates. BC has Holy Cross booked in 2018 and 2020, but if the Richmond series is canceled, there are no other FCS dates booked in the future.