Boston College Basketball Releases 2012-13 Schedule
By Joe Micik
The 2011-12 Boston College Eagles men’s basketball team had a season to forget with a roster that most fans couldn’t name when it began. In 2012-13, these new faces are a little less new, but they’re going to have a difficult road ahead with a challenging, expanded ACC schedule.
The schedule in full:
November 11: vs. FIU
November 15: vs. Baylor (Charleston Classic)
November 16: vs. Dayton or Colorado (Charleston Classic)
November 18: vs. St. John’s, Auburn, Murray State, or Charleston (Charleston Classic)
November 21: vs. Auburn
November 25: vs. Bryant
November 28: at Penn State (ACC-Big Ten Challenge)
December 4: vs. Harvard
December 8: vs. St. Francis (NY)
December 16: vs. New Hampshire
December 22: vs. Providence
December 29: vs. Holy Cross
December 31: vs. Dartmouth
January 5: vs. NC State
January 9: at Virginia Tech
January 12: at Wake Forest
January 16: vs. Miami
January 22: at Maryland
January 26: at Virginia
January 29: vs. North Carolina
February 2: vs. Clemson
February 5: at Miami
February 10: vs. Duke
February 13: vs. Wake Forest
February 16: at Florida State
February 19: vs. Maryland
February 24: at Duke
February 27: at NC State
March 3: vs. Virginia
March 5: at Clemson
March 9: vs. Georgia Tech
March 14-17: 2013 ACC Tournament
This is a pretty interesting collection of at least 32 games, if one counts the first round of the ACC Tournament at a minimum, which promises some challenges and potential for success. One thing that will definitely be repeated by me and others as we close in on the season is this: Boston College has to do well in the non-conference schedule to have a chance at improving upon their record significantly. Games that they lost last year because of stupid freshman mistakes and still trying to get a feel for the college game should not be lost this season.
Boston College can do themselves a big favor and open with a win over FIU. The Golden Panthers were even worse than BC last year.
The Charleston Classic is not going to be easy, especially because they open with Baylor. Expect a nauseating broadcast, replete with “Brady Heslip meets his old team” talking points, most of which will probably make BC look bad. After that, it’s Dayton or Colorado, then one of four teams. Boston College apparently has a chance at playing the SEC’s Auburn twice in less than a week.
After Thanksgiving, the Eagles will face Bryant and then play their first true road game at Penn State for the Challenge. December is all at home for the Eagles and BC can win most of them, and they must if they plan to win double-digit games this season.
BC gets thrown into the pit to start the 2013 part of the season, drawing Sweet 16 team NC State right off the bat. From there in this newly-expanded 18-game ACC schedule, a few highlights are home games against UNC (Jan. 29), Clemson (Feb. 2), and Duke (Feb. 10). With 18 games and one more season of just twelve ACC teams, BC will play seven double-dips, which are NC State, Duke, Virginia, Maryland, Miami, Wake Forest, and Clemson. Surprisingly, BC won’t be seeing Virginia Tech twice this year.
It’s way too early in the process to venture guesses as to how this team will do, but expectations will be a little higher this year. A good run in non-conference play is the absolute minimum that any recent BC team that’s even been sub-mediocre has achieved. Think of the bad Eagles teams in the last decade, aside from the 2011-12 season: even the ones that stunk up the joint in ACC play managed to win most of their out-of-conference schedule. If BC can’t at least take that leap, then this season will probably look a lot like the previous one. By Christmas, I think it’s quite likely we will know if this team has truly improved or not, regardless of what happens in conference play.