Boston College at Syracuse Preview: We Are Not The 99%

Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

ESPN’s recent “BPI” rankings calculated a percentage score with regards to the likelihood of the Syracuse Orange winning out. By now, it’s somewhere around 50-50, but it generated some unfortunate findings for the Boston College Eagles.

The Worldwide Leader gave Syracuse a 99 percent chance of winning, which, for the mathematically stunted, means ESPN thinks the Eagles have a one-percent shot of winning at the Carrier Dome tonight. That’s probably about right.

The Eagles gave Syracuse their best shot at Conte Forum earlier in the season, actually taking an eight-point lead at one stage of the second half before predictably fading to a ten-point loss. When it comes to kicking things up to another level, the Orange have proven time and time again that they have that capability. Even when it looks like they have a big hill to climb, they keep coming at you until you break. Ask some of their recent opponents, such as Duke.

On the other hand, Boston College is a team that blew road games against Georgia Tech and Notre Dame that they led with three seconds to go, and, amongst other season highlights, choked away an eight-point lead against Toledo inside the final few minutes and lost. If Syracuse is the prime example of a team that can close, Boston College is a shining demonstration of one that absolutely can’t.

Now, Boston College takes themselves and their 6-19 (2-10) record back to Syracuse for the first time in about a decade. It is no surprise that the Orange are heavily favored by both the BPI and the Vegas bookies, and they should be. Save for a monumental reversal of fortune, the Eagles will leave the land of lake-effect snow with their 20th loss, and probably an embarrassing one at that. It is unfortunate for the Eagles: this season was supposed to represent a major step forward, but instead, there is no progress in sight.

So yes, Boston College basketball is the one percent. Chance of winning, that is.