Instead, I'll blame my ability to get distracted. Here are my thoughts on an interesting weekend coming up in the world of BC athletics:
Men's Basketball
-The men's basketball team has ACC games tonight and Sunday, against NC State and Virginia. Can they build off of their encouraging performance against Duke? Virginia is atrocious (1-9 in conference) and NC State is beatable (4-5). I'm actually feeling pretty optimistic about BC's chances for two wins. A lot of bad breaks have contributed to BC's losing streak. I think we'll end up going 4-3 the rest of the way, which should be good enough to make the NIT with one win in the ACC tournament - which was all I expected out of this season.
-I won't be attending either game thanks to BC's stupid student ticketing policy. Needless to say, there will be hundreds of empty student seats; none of these students will think of giving their tickets away to people who want to go, of course. It's probably a blessing in disguise: with today being Valentine's Day, I'd probably be in Le Chateau Bow-Wow with the Lady if I blew it off for a basketball game.
-Tonight's game is being broadcast live on ESPN at 7 PM.
Women's Basketball
-Don't expect much tonight as BC plays at Maryland in what will almost definitely be their third consecutive conference loss. Once this game is over, BC's ACC record will be 5-5, which is still far better than one would have predicted going into this year.
-If you're really interested in watching the slaughter, the game will be on ACC Select.
-Although I'm doomy-and-gloomy about the Maryland game, I still think BC has a reasonable chance to make the NCAA Tournament. Although it would be very tough to pull off, going 3-1 after the Maryland game and getting to 20 wins is wholly within the realm of possibility. BC plays GT (5-5) at home on Monday night in what will be a make or break game, before going to FSU (5-4), facing UVA (6-2) at home on Senior night, then trekking to Miami (2-7) to close the regular season. If BC gets to 20, one win in the ACC tournament could get the Eagles in.
-The top 4 teams in the ACC are pretty clearly defined (UNC, Maryland, Duke, Virginia), but there's no reason to believe that BC isn't in the mix to be the 5th best. They took it on the chin against NC State, but that was in front of a packed house against an inspired team playing for head coach and cancer survivor Kay Yow on 'think pink' day. Sometimes, emotion can carry the day.
Men's Hockey
-There's no time for a Beanpot hangover as the Eagles resume the Hockey East regular season title chase with a home-and-home against UMass-Lowell, Friday night at Conte Forum and Saturday night at Lowell's Tsongas Arena.
-Things have changed quite a bit since the last time these two teams got together. UML has gone from #12 to 'freefall' in no time, and many of Lowell's fans are predicting a bloodbath and a BC sweep. I say not so fast. If the two Beanpot games ended after 5 minutes in overtime, BC's record would be 1-1-2 in the last four games against a not-so-impressive slate consisting of Providence, BU, UMass and Harvard. Winning the Beanpot is nice, but BC has a lot of work to do if they're going to contend for the big trophies this season.
-Look to see how John Muse recovers after having by far his worst outing as an Eagle on Monday night. His two biggest problems were rebounds and going down to the ice early and often. Rebounds have been an issue all year, but his quick drops to the ice are a recent phenomenon; hopefully, it can be chalked up to big-game nerves and Muse will return to form this weekend.
-BC is 5 points behind UNH with 8 games to play in the regular season. UNH plays a pretty tough Providence team this weekend. Hopefully the Friars can steal a game, the Eagles can sweep, and BC can go into next weekend's home-and-home down three points.
-For what it's worth: if the season ended today, BC would be playing Lowell in the playoffs. So pay attention to these matchups.
-Remaining schedule (a home and home each weekend for the next 4 weeks): UMass-Lowell, UNH, Providence, Northeastern
Women's Hockey
-BC looked pretty lethargic in Tuesday's 2-1 consolation game victory over Northeastern, but to be fair, it was the Women's Beanpot 3rd place game in front of about 15 fans. I'm just glad to have finally beaten Northeastern.
-The Eagles ship up to Orono, Maine this weekend for a two game set with the dreadful Maine Black Bears. My good friends and fellow BC fanatics Grant and Mike will be making the weekend trip, but I decided to pass on this one.
-Speaking of the Maine series: it's a big one. The task ahead of BC is tough - they pretty much have to go 5-1 in their remaining games to have a shot at making the Hockey East playoffs. It needs to start with two wins against Maine.
-BC's last game against Maine resulted in a narrow 3-2 win at home on October 27. BC outshot Maine 29-17, but gave the Bears the advantage of 6 power plays (something that has been a recurring problem for the Eagles). Look for a better performance this weekend from BC. I'm fairly confident (but not overconfident) that BC will sweep. They had better.
-Remaining schedule: two @ Maine, home-and-home vs. BU, home-and-home vs. PC
-With 6 games to play, the Hockey East Standings look like this (top 4 make the playoffs):
- UNH 29 pts
- UConn 21
- PC 18
- BU 17
- BC 14
- NU 11
- Maine 7
- Vermont 3
Softball
-I had no idea about this until I checked BCEagles.com this morning, but the softball team starts its season tomorrow with two games in North Carolina - one against Ohio at 10 AM and one against East Carolina at 2 PM.
-I have no idea how the team is supposed to be this year, but I'd imagine that the forecast calls for: pain. I just hope we beat BU.
1 comment:
"One of?"
You just made the big board, jack.
Post a Comment