Boston College’s Updated Road Map to a Bowl Game
By Joe Micik
How does a team have as wild of a month as the Boston College Eagles did in September? From one week to the next, our collective view on whether or not the maroon and gold would make a bowl game shifted.
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Before the season started, more Eagles fans were optimistic but the media were not. Following the Pittsburgh game, neither media nor fans were planning their Decembers around an Eagles bowl game. Then, after USC, not only were the Eagles looking like a shoo-in for a bowl game, but they were on the cusp of being ranked.
Now, as we enter October, Boston College is back to being in a struggle for six wins; at least, that’s what is generally believed.
Drawing Boston College’s road map to another bowl game this season is not easy, as the team has already elected to go the scenic route. Look flat against Pittsburgh, dominate a top ten team, then look flat again versus an okay team. That’s like getting stuck in three hours of traffic at the Lincoln Tunnel, sailing clear for about five hours with no stops, and then navigating hairpin mountain turns with no brakes.
What are the Eagles’ realistic paths to six wins and a bowl game with seven games to go?
Updated Road Map to a Bowl Game:
Remaining 2014 Schedule
- at NC State: October 11
- vs. Clemson: October 18
- at Wake Forest: October 25
- at Virginia Tech: November 1
- vs. Louisville: November 8
- at Florida State: November 22
- vs. Syracuse: November 29
One gets the sense when watching this Boston College football team that they can beat anybody — or lose to anybody. It’s sort of hard to offer predictions when the team is all over the place. For all we know, they could beat Clemson and Virginia Tech and lose to Wake Forest and Syracuse.
If, however, we are looking for a realistic path to three more victories, the remaining games can probably be arranged thus, from most winnable to least winnable: Wake Forest, Syracuse, NC State, Louisville, Clemson, Virginia Tech, Florida State.
Two of those first three are ACC road games, which only adds to the level of difficulty. Granted, the Demon Deacons are legitimately awful, but now the Eagles are in a position where they will need those games. Holding on against Colorado State would have taken pressure off of Boston College, but just imagine where the Eagles would be if they had not beaten the Trojans.
The bottom line is that the Eagles are in trouble if they are not sitting at five wins by the Louisville game.