Maryland at Boston College: Presented By Admiral Ackbar

Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports

It’s a trap! Or is it?

By definition, sure it is. The Maryland Terrapins just made their season with a huge win over the #2 Duke Blue Devils at home on Saturday. Now they get to fly north to frosty Boston to face the Boston College Eagles, a team that plays competitive games at home but is nevertheless near the bottom of the ACC.

This is because in spite of these competitive games, the Eagles have lost nearly all of them. Only the Wake Forest game of recent times could be considered a bright spot, as BC came back to win a game in the closing moments instead of blowing it. None of that changes the fact that a number of teams, including some of the best in the conference, have had to work hard to escape Chestnut Hill with a win. Middle-of-the-pack Maryland may be no different, or they might not leave with a win at all.

These two teams faced one another about a month ago in College Park; Maryland won, 64-59. Boston College was offensively comatose for about the first twelve minutes of the game, but then scored 20 points in the following six minutes to create a tie at the half. The game was quite winnable for the visitors at the end, if not for some key mistakes by the Eagles, particularly early. A team cannot win a game in the first ten minutes, but you can lose one, and BC did that day. Maryland did not play well early in that contest, either, and the Eagles missed an opportunity.

Speaking of missed opportunities, this year has been full of them for Boston College. The Eagles have been left with what-ifs such as North Carolina State, Duke, and Miami, to name a few. All three of those games were eminently winnable and could have changed the tenor of the 2012-13 season for BC, but all three went in the loss column. The Terps wouldn’t be nearly the kind of win that any of those games might have been, but it would say conclusively once again that the Eagles haven’t given up. That’s probably the nicest thing anyone can say about the team as a whole this season: that they’re not quitters.

When Maryland comes to Conte Forum tonight at 9pm, they might be hung over from the Duke game, or they might not. If you’re Boston College, expect that they won’t be, and keep fighting.