Quick Hitters: What to Know About BC’s New ACC Slate
For the first time in ACC football history, teams will play a 10-game conference schedule. There are no divisions, Notre Dame is in the mix for a league championship, and crossover matchups are more common than ever before. It’s both ambitious and intriguing.
Boston College’s original fall schedule was essentially gutted to fit the bill. Now, the Eagles have five new ACC opponents, including four additional Coastal Division foes. Below is the list of the Eagles’ conference opponents and their 2019 records (Note: BC is hosting the teams in bold).
● Georgia Tech (3-9, 2-6)
● Pittsburgh (8-5, 4-4)
● North Carolina (7-6, 4-4)
● Notre Dame (11-2, 5-0 vs. ACC)
● Louisville (8-5, 5-3)
● Clemson (14-1, 8-0)
● Syracuse (5-7, 2-6)
● Virginia Tech (8-5, 5-3)
● Duke (5-7, 3-5)
● Virginia (9-5, 6-2)
Here are some interesting tidbits about BC’s revised 2020 campaign.
No FSU, N.C. State, or Wake Forest: Ever since BC joined the ACC in 2005, it has faced Florida State, North Carolina State, and Wake Forest each season. That won’t happen in 2020. Instead, the Eagles—who lead the all-time series against N.C. State and Wake Forest—are only playing three Atlantic Division teams. The only other ACC program that head coach Jeff Hafley’s team won’t see this fall is Miami.
Travel Distance: Even though the Eagles won’t have to fly to Florida to play FSU or Miami, BC still has to make the trek to the Carolinas to play Duke and Clemson. Because BC and Syracuse are the northernmost ACC programs, they naturally have a ways to go on the road. Factor in the Eagles’ trip to the Carrier Dome and two games in Virginia, and BC has to travel 3,224 total miles during the 10-game schedule—the sixth-most of any ACC team, according to The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman.
Another Round of the Holy War: After suffering an embarrassing 40-7 defeat in South Bend last season, the Eagles will get a chance to redeem themselves at home versus the Irish. This marks the first time BC and Notre Dame have squared off against one another in back-to-back seasons since 2011-12. The storyline every Eagles fan is following is whether transfer quarterback Phil Jurkovec will get his immediate eligibility waiver and play against his old team.
Bring on the Coastal: During BC’s 15-year stay in the ACC, the Eagles have never played more than three different Coastal Division teams in the same season. Since the conference expanded to 14 teams in 2013, BC has had six opponents from the Atlantic and two from the Coastal, year in and year out. In 2020, the Eagles will play six teams from the Coastal: Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh, North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Duke, and Virginia. BC is 5-3 in its last eight games versus Coastal programs. Virginia Tech is the Eagles’ permanent crossover opponent.
First-Ever UNC-Duke Pairing for BC: Unlike ACC basketball, the league’s football schedule rarely matches BC up with North Carolina blue bloods Duke and UNC. BC has only had a combined 12 meetings with the Blue Devils’ and Tar Heels’ football programs. What’s more, the Eagles have never played both in the same season. COVID-19 permitting, that’ll change this year. BC will host UNC for the first time since 2009 and will travel to Durham, like it did in 2015.
Shades of the Big East: The Eagles will hope to put on an encore performance against Pittsburgh after beating the Panthers to clinch bowl eligibility in last year’s regular season finale. The teams haven’t met two seasons in a row since 2003-04, dating back to their Big East days. From 1987 to 2004, BC played Pittsburgh every season but one (1992). Hafley is quite familiar with the Panthers’ program, as he served on its defensive staff from 2006 to 2010.
Home Games vs. Clemson, Syracuse Disappear: Every season, BC alternates its home and away games with its Atlantic Division foes. The Eagles were supposed to host both Clemson and Syracuse in 2020 but instead will be heading back to Death Valley and the Carrier Dome for the second straight year. Those matchups are two of the eight ACC rivalry games that will be played at the same venue this fall as in 2019. All in all, BC will only play one team from the Atlantic—Louisville—at home this season.
An Uphill Battle Toward .500: BC has finished six of the past seven regular seasons .500 or better. That’ll be a tall order in 2020, as the Eagles have five opponents on their new schedule who were projected by ESPN’s Football Power Index to win at least 6.2 games this year (prior to the schedule change). Gone are non-conference games against the likes of Kansas and Holy Cross, as are winnable ACC matchups against Wake Forest and N.C. State.