boston college

[smazza]

must have buyers remorse

they are in boise

[SCMountaineer]

And it isn't just BC smazza.  There's other shenanigans going on in the ACC.  I posted this on another board under the title "ACC - Christmas With The Cranks"   ;D

ALL IS NOT:   in the ACC.

It seems that the ACC can become quite a bit fractured when they have to compete with each other for bowl slots.    BC is the most screwed.  Before Bowl selections, BC AD (hey, that's kinda biblical) DeFilippo said:

''One thing's for sure, we're going to go to a bowl and it'll be a good bowl, because we've got an 8-3 record and we tied Florida State for first place in our division and we had an outstanding year. But where we'll end up? I really don't know."

To me, that sounds like he already had a sense that he was going to get screwed and he was trying to send Greensboro a message.  Anyway, after Bowl selections....

"I've been promised," said BC Athletic Director Gene DeFilippo, "that this situation will be discussed at our conference ADs meeting in January."

This from a Bowl analysis by John Markon of the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

Winner: Virginia, although the Cavaliers (6-5) are more of a lucky loser. When the six bowls with official Atlantic Coast Conference tie-ins opted for teams other than U.Va., that left the Cavs free to accept their preferred slot vs. Minnesota in Nashville's Music City Bowl.

Bowl director Scott Ramsey told the Nashville Tennessean he was happy to select the Cavaliers over Georgia Tech, the other ACC team lobbying for a spot in his game. According to Ramsey, Virginia Athletic Director Craig Littlepage had a Music City marketing campaign ready for presentation well in advance of being selected.

Losers: Virginia fans who had their eyes on Georgia Tech's slot in San Francisco's Emerald Bowl, perhaps the ultimate bowl assignment for the true "wine and cheese" crowd. If you're turning cartwheels over going to Nashville rather than San Francisco, it might be time for some serious introspection.

Bigger losers: Minnesota fans who don't like country music. The Gophers also played in the 2002 and 2004 Music City games.

Biggest losers: ACC newcomer Boston College. Freshman hazing must be alive and well in the conference. The 8-3 Eagles were snubbed by bowls in Charlotte and Orlando in favor of other conference teams with inferior records. Instead, BC is off to Boise, otherwise known as Bowl Siberia. Charlotte nixed the Eagles in favor of North Carolina State (6-5) with director Will Webb quoted as saying his game will always prefer an ACC representative from Virginia or the Carolinas.

"I've been promised," said BC Athletic Director Gene DeFilippo, "that this situation will be discussed at our conference ADs meeting in January."

During the course of said discussion, he'll no doubt learn knifing each other for bowl bids is what they do in the ACC.

I included the Virginia notes because of this article from the Roanoke Times:

Jackets miffed at Music City snub

Doug Doughty

Georgia Tech AD Dave Braine feels the Yellow Jackets, not UVa, should be playing in Nashville.

There is no question in Dave Braine's mind that Georgia Tech -- not Virginia -- should be filling the ACC's slot in the Music City Bowl.

"When you have a 7-4 record, which is better than Virginia's, and when you have a 5-3 conference record, which is better than Virginia's, you shouldn't have to buy a game," Braine, the Georgia Tech athletic director, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

So, was Braine saying that Virginia bought its way into the Music City Bowl? Virginia athletic director Craig Littlepage said the suggestion that UVa had promised to buy 25,000 tickets was "absolutely untrue."

"That's what I had heard," Braine said, "but if Craig said it's untrue, then it's untrue."

Braine might have assumed that Virginia had offered to buy 25,000 tickets to the Music City Bowl because Georgia Tech had offered to buy 20,000. He said Music City Bowl executive director Scott Ramsey had not returned his call.

The ACC makes ticket guarantees but doesn't like its schools to do so individually.

"So what!" Braine said. "They're supposed to protect everybody, too."

The problem occurred when eight ACC teams became bowl eligible. The ACC had tie-ins with six games, then added the Music City Bowl and Emerald Bowl when other conferences could not fill available slots.

"People can cry," Braine said. "BC and us are probably the two people who feel we should be someplace else."

Boston College tied for first in the ACC's Atlantic Division and finished 8-3, but the Eagles fell to the MPC Computers Bowl in Boise, Idaho. Five other ACC teams were picked ahead of the Eagles, including a 6-5 North Carolina State team.

"If I'm complaining about us, how do you think [bC athletic director] Gene DeFilippo feels right now?" Braine said. "If he were still in the Big East, where would he be? He'd be in the Gator Bowl."

A major reason that Virginia got the Music City Bowl was a pattern of ticket sales established when the Cavaliers sold 22,000 seats to the Continental Tire Bowl in Charlotte, N.C., in 2002, then took even more fans to Charlotte the next year.

Georgia Tech took 6,500 fans to the Champs One Bowl last year in Orlando, Fla., but the Yellow Jackets haven't had the opportunity to play in Charlotte -- a car ride for most of the ACC fan followings.

"And we probably never will," Braine said. "Charlotte told us. They were honest. They said they were either going to take Clemson or N.C. State. They had to sell tickets."

Braine concedes that while Virginia was concentrating on the Music City Bowl, Georgia Tech had its attention divided.

"Up till [Virginia] Tech lost Saturday night, we were locked into the Peach Bowl," Braine said.

"The Peach Bowl and Gator Bowl both like Georgia Tech because we draw very well in both those places, obviously."

If Virginia Tech had beaten 14-point underdog Florida State in the ACC championship game, Miami would have gone to the Gator Bowl and Georgia Tech to the Peach.

Georgia Tech had put Virginia Tech in position to play for the ACC championship by beating Miami in the season's 10th week.

Braine, who is in his ninth year as Georgia Tech athletic director, was the Hokies' athletic director for 10 years before that. He knows how the system works.

"This is my 14th straight bowl," he said. "Believe me, I do."

One thing I disagree with....BC wouldn't have been in the Gator Bowl if they were in the Big East because they DON'T TRAVEL!  They never would bump a Louisville or WVU.  Finally, why wouldn't the conference AD's reflect the culture of their conference masters?  This kind of backdoor wheeling and dealing and stabbing each other in the back is elementary "John Swofford 101!"    Apparently, DeFilippo hasn't met the prerequisites for this course yet.  BC will get screwed every year unless they land the BCS bid.  When the backroom conversations between the ACC and BC began, I'm sure Swofford said "sure, we'll have plenty of bowl tie-ins to go around."  Nothing wrong with that right.  It's true.  However, what I'm sure he didn't tell BC that none of the bowls wanted them.    Oh, those wacky ACC Cranks.

[smazza]

i have a feeling BC might come back to big east

[smazza]

Maryland Spoils Boston College's ACC Debut By DAVID GINSBURG, AP Sports Writer

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The crowd stormed the court, a drill usually reserved for a surprise victory over a higher-ranked foe. Funny thing is, the Maryland basketball team didn't consider its win over No. 6 Boston College to be an upset.

Ekene Ibekwe scored 21 points, Chris McCray had 16, and the 21st-ranked Terrapins introduced the Eagles to Atlantic Coast Conference play with a 73-71 victory Sunday night.

"It's a confidence boost, but we're supposed to win this game," McCray said. "We're on our home court and this is the first time for them in the ACC."

Boston College coach Al Skinner said the Eagles have to "get adjusted to the personnel and the coaching styles." He should have also mentioned that it might take a while before BC gets used to the officiating.

The Eagles (6-2) took only 15 foul shots  11 fewer than their average  making only five.

Maryland (7-2, 1-0) went 19-for-29 at the line, numbers that did not go unnoticed by an irate Skinner.

"We could have made more," he said, "but you're not going to win many games when the other team makes more free throws than you take  especially a team like ours, which is pretty aggressive going to the basket. I just find that hard to believe."

The Terrapins, however, contended that the imbalance was by design.

"That was the first thing the coach told us when we were going over BC: They shoot 26 free throws a game and their opponents average 11 free throws," McCray said. "That's basically how they've been winning games. We just wanted to contain them and stay between them and the basket."

The game was physical from the opening tip, which ended up working in Maryland's favor.

"We know how good they are in the low post," Terrapins center Travis Garrison said. "We had to be smart instead of us having people fouling out and them getting to the line every time. We used our bodies instead of our hands."

Craig Smith had 23 points and 12 rebounds, and Sean Marshall scored 15 points for the Eagles, who lost to a Top 25 team for the second time in six days. The defeat came on the heels of a loss to No. 14 Michigan State on Tuesday night.

"This will help us, because these are teams that are going to be there in     March Madness, competing for the national championship," Smith said. "It's good preparation to play them now."

The Eagles trailed 73-68 before Tyrese Rice hit a 3-pointer with 2.2 seconds left. After Maryland threw the inbounds pass away, Boston College did the same thing.

An instant after the buzzer sounded, hundreds of Terps fans stormed the floor.

"It was important for us to get a quality win," Maryland coach Gary Williams said. "Hopefully, this is a building block."

A 5-0 spurt put Maryland up 65-62 with 3:56 left. After Rice made a layup, Ibekwe missed two free throws with 2:21 to go.

D.J. Strawberry stole the ball on the other end, and McCray made a three-point play for a 68-64 lead. Then, after Smith made one of two foul shots, a Maryland basket was wiped out by an offensive goaltending call.

Smith then fouled out when called for a charge, and a reverse layup by Nik Caner-Medley put Maryland up 70-65 with 43 seconds left.

The Terrapins held on  but barely.

"I'm very proud of our team," Williams said. "We did a great job in just about every situation."