Analyzing Boston College Basketball’s Remaining Schedule

USA Today Sports-No name given

Baldwin and friends are still in good cheer about Boston College basketball, which is probably more than can be said for a sizable portion of the fanbase. A long, perhaps longer than anticipated, reconstruction of the program has brought some discouragement, but there is still more non-conference schedule to go before the Eagles enter ACC play once again.

The remaining 22 games in the regular season are as follows:

December 16: New Hampshire
December 22: Providence
December 29: Holy Cross
December 31: Dartmouth

January 5: North Carolina State
January 9: at Virginia Tech
January 12: at Wake Forest
January 16: Miami
January 22: at Maryland
January 26: at Virginia
January 29: North Carolina

February 2: Clemson
February 5: at Miami
February 10: Duke
February 13: Wake Forest
February 16: at Florida State
February 19: Maryland
February 24: at Duke
February 27: at North Carolina State

March 3: Virginia
March 5: at Clemson
March 9: Georgia Tech

First, the non-conference schedule: Boston College has not done well in what they’ve played so far. The remaining slate is light. In order to salvage this stretch, the goal has to be at least 3-1. Just as it was in other games BC should have won like Bryant and College of Charleston, there is no excuse for losing to New Hampshire, Holy Cross, and Dartmouth. Do not rationalize or make excuses if they don’t: these are teams an ACC school is supposed to beat, especially when you’ve already got several “WTF losses.” Ideally, they would take down Providence as well, but if BC went 3-1 to finish the non-conference schedule, that would put them at 7-6 heading into ACC play, which would at least be somewhat of a respectable save.

January is when conference play begins, and simply put, it’s absolutely brutal. There are four road games, and of the three home games, two are teams currently ranked. We are going to learn a great deal about the constitution of this basketball team in the first month of 2013. Either they’re going to show some fight and prove that they really are improving, or they’re going to get railroaded. There’s no way to know right now.

February hardly lightens up with two games against Duke and one each against Maryland and NC State. March features a good Virginia team, an improving Georgia Tech, and a game at Clemson where BC has never won.

Progress isn’t escaping the St. Francis game with a win: it’s beating a couple ACC teams early and showing that your team can contend inside its own conference. It’s also playing a solid, 40-minute game, which BC also has yet to do. Given the schedule to come, this can go one of two ways — if it goes well, then hope may yet return, but if it goes badly, then it’s going to go very badly. Who knows what the future holds for this team, but we’re about to find out.