When the BC men’s basketball team on New Year’s Eve Day for a tough road matchup against Syracuse in The Dome, it’ll be the start of a brutal gauntlet that will tell us all whether or not this young team has what it takes to make a run towards the tournament in March.
The Eagles hit the holiday break feeling good about themselves after a legitimately stunning 70-56 overtime win over No. 21 Virginia Tech last Wednesday. That win put BC at 7-6 on the year and got them their first league win (1-1) on the young season.
Syracuse will enter the matchup with BC at 8-5 and 1-1 as well, which means the Eagles have a chance to make an immediate statement right out of the break. The Eagles will then open up 2023 with a home game against rival Notre Dame (7 P.M.). The Fighting Irish are currently 8-5, but behind BC in the standings with an 0-2 start to its ACC schedule. Things get a lot tougher when No. 17 Duke visits Conte Forum for a 2 P.M. game on Saturday January 7. The Blue Devils are 10-3 and also have a 1-1 ACC record early.
That Duke game will ultimately be the biggest test since the VT game, but if BC can get by Syracuse and Notre Dame, a lot more eyes may start turning towards the program as the schedule ramps up. Road trips to No. 14 Miami and No. 25 North Carolina are sandwiched around a home matchup with Wake Forest on the 14th of January. Miami sits atop the ACC while Wake and UNC are both in the middle of the pack at 1-1 in the conference, but have 9-4 records.
It’s pretty clear that this Eagles team still has a ton of room to grow, but it’s also clear that they believe they can compete with anyone. One guy in particular - Makai Ashton-Langford - has been in some big games while playing for Providence and knows what it’s like to play in pressure-packed environments. That experience could be huge to impart on his younger teammates, so it’s not like BC will be completely in the dark when it comes to big game knowledge.
We’re going to know in just a few short weeks whether or not this BC team has what it takes to truly make a run towards March. Whether they do or not remains to be seen, but as we hit the last week of 2022, the most important thing is they believe they can, and isn’t that hall the battle?
