It's game week, and Boston College is a 7.5-point favorite over Rutgers for the teams' season opener, according to Action Network. The over/under total is set at 48, and the BC moneyline is -310.

BC leads the all-time series, 20-6-1, and has won its last 11 games against Rutgers, a streak that started in 1995. At the time, both programs were in the Big East. Rutgers moved to the Big Ten in 2014 after a transition year in the AAC. BC, meanwhile, switched to the ACC in 2005.

The matchups between the Northeast schools haven't been close recently. In fact, over their last eight games, BC has won by an average of 21.5 points. But, before BC and Rutgers squared off in 2019, they hadn't seen each other since 2004—the Eagles' final season in the Big East.

The Eagles emerged victorious in the 2019 showdown, 30-16. BC did most of its damage on the ground. Bell cow AJ Dillon led the way with 150 yards and two scores on 32 carries.

Rutgers is coming off a 5-8 season in the second year of Greg Schiano's second go-around as the program's head coach. He previously served as Rutgers' frontman from 2001-11.

Thanks to an Academic Progress Rate that was tops among FBS teams with five wins, the Scarlet Knights got to replace Texas A&M in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl last year. Even though they suffered a 38-10 blowout loss to Wake Forest, the game bookended Rutgers' first five-plus-win season since 2014.

Factor in back-to-back top-40 recruiting classes, and the arrow is pointing up for Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights aren't a pushover like they used to be.

BC, however, is 7-1 in season openers since the start of the College Football Playoff era (2014-present). The Eagles' lone loss in that span was a 17-14 defeat to Georgia Tech in Dublin, Ireland, back in 2016.