Does the regular season matter anymore?
By Joe Micik
For the BC basketball team, I’m going to say very little. With their uninspired, inferior play at Clemson yesterday, they’ve now pocketed their 6th loss of the year, with a lot more to come (if the first half of the season is any indication). Not that we should even be talking about the tournament with this team, but their chances of garnering an at-large bid are probably <1%. The only way they will get in would be to win the ACC Tournament in March, and I'm pretty sure a leprechaun will ride in on a unicorn and hand me a pot of gold and keys to a Dodge Viper before that happens.
As of now, there is a virtual certainty that we are not looking at an NCAA Tournament team, and a reasonable chance that we’re not even looking at an NIT team. After making a surprising run to the dance last year, this one has been very disappointing. Playing flat, players regressing, poor coaching decisions, the new scoreboards at Conte…blame it on whatever you want. At this point, you could take your pick.
The regular season doesn’t completely not matter, however. They are still playing for positioning in that tournament, and seeing how they stack up against those teams now for when they have to possibly play them later. It would be nice to see BC win some games, but for all intents and purposes, they have shot their regular season, and have already backed themselves into a position where winning the conference tournament will be their only salvation. Let’s be honest, though, do you see it happening?
I’ve been watching BC basketball for 6 years now, and this is the most disappointed I’ve been with the Eagles this early in the season. I can’t remember an extended stretch of conference play that potentially meant so little. I had reasonably high expectations for this team, but it’s starting to look like they won’t meet them. So long as they have the potential to qualify, and they do until they are eliminated from the conference tournament, I will continue to give my support, but if you think it’s a fruitless endeavor, you may just be right.