A little more BC optimism?
By Joe Micik
I must still preach to everyone reading this blog that two consecutive BC basketball wins doesn’t make a turnaround, nor does it mean that Al Skinner can plan on cutting down the nets in Greensboro. I would like to share a few more facts about last night’s win, however:
-As I said in my previous post, it was the first time in two months that BC had won consecutive games.
-Last night’s win was their biggest margin of victory since NJIT on January 5th, and their biggest margin in an ACC game since they nuked Wake Forest on January 12, 2008.
-This was BC’s second win in the RPI Top 50.
None of this is good enough at this point. I’ve said it a thousand times already that BC has totally eliminated itself from at-large consideration, and they did so at roughly the time they lost to Florida State the first time. Their only way in is to win the ACC Tournament as we all know. The question is: can it be done?
Well, sure it can be done — I hope nobody is counting on it, but it can be done. BC is playing better than they have in a while right now and if they can get hot going into the ACC Tournament, who knows, maybe they can pick off some teams. Remember, BC has never lost their first game of the ACCT, so hopefully we can at least see our team playing on the second day.
Despite the 13 losses, BC has played Duke close, they’ve played Florida State close, they’ve shown they can beat Virginia Tech, and they’ve shown they can beat Clemson. They can be competitive with most top teams in this conference. It doesn’t mean they will win, but they are capable of being competitive when and if they face some of these teams again.
Two wins, however, is not a trend. A somewhat-improbable win at Georgia Tech on Saturday, however, would make a trend. In fact, if BC wins that game this weekend, based on the remaining schedule, I think BC has a good shot of winning out. I have been hard on this team all year, but I know they can beat Virginia and NC State (notice how I didn’t say they will beat UVA and NC State, but how they can). Riding into the ACCT on a 5-game win streak, or even 4 out of 5, would give them much-needed confidence. Perhaps BC is getting hot at the right time…or perhaps they’re setting themselves up for another big fail. I still don’t trust them, but at least now they’re winning some ballgames.