Boston College Basketball: The New Normal, Same As The Old Normal

Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Even when Boston College Eagles basketball flies high, it knows how to “right” the ship.

A little over a week ago, they had blown a game at Georgia Tech in the closing seconds to fall to 6-19.

They followed up that effort by stunning the entire college basketball world, defeating the #1 Syracuse Orange at the Carrier Dome in overtime, 62-59.

So, what would the Eagles do for an encore? Build off of their biggest victory in years? Finally begin to sustain their efforts and be the team they are supposed to be?

All they did was go to Coral Gables, face the Miami Hurricanes, and lose an embarrassing 69-42 decision to fall to 7-20 (3-11) on the year.

Some would argue that the Eagles we all saw on Wednesday night in Syracuse are the team Boston College “should have been all along.” One could argue equally as forcefully, and accurately, that the Eagles we saw on Saturday in Miami are the team Boston College actually is and has been. Following one shining moment of making NCAA hoops remember we exist, the Eagles went back to their sloppy standard in a big way, managing their lowest point output all year against a thoroughly mediocre team.

In fact, the Eagles have only won consecutive games once all season, when they beat Washington and Sacred Heart in November. Otherwise, Boston College has stayed on its pattern of following up most of its few victories with losses.

It is difficult for the fans to take, and it may appear to be unusual, but for this team, it is normal. The Syracuse game was not an epiphany, the sum total of three years of hard work coming together for one magical, program-changing victory: it was a fluke. Granted, it was a very nice fluke and not one Eagles fan would give it back, but a fluke nonetheless. That game on Wednesday was the aberration, while Saturday’s game in Miami was much more typical an effort for this group who have just had their second 20-loss season in three years.

Unfortunately, the Eagles could use a few more flukes like they had on Wednesday, but then they wouldn’t be flukes: they’d be normal. What Boston College currently refers to as “normal” does not equal “good,” and the Miami game was a stark reminder.