A dubious list while I head into Canada

I'm in Falmouth, Maine this morning, getting set to drive into New Brunswick for the exhibition series between the Eagles and the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds. Being on the road has helped me avoid any discussion of the Game That Never Happened, but I've still been steaming over it internally, which led me to think of the following list: The Top 6 losses that made me sick during my time as a BC student. These aren't the most depressing or heartbreaking losses [i.e. National Championship game, ACC title games, etc.], but rather the losses that left me with a sick feeling because of how awful the loss and/or opponent was.

Enjoy:

1. Football - Music City Bowl vs. Vanderbilt - 2008

Yep, this one is the worst; it continued to stain the ACC's already horrible reputation, it broke our one small source of pride, the bowl streak, and it created some big fears about the future of our offense. I respect Vanderbilt as one of the few classy programs in the SEC, but losing to them stinks - especially in a bowl game. This one is tough to stomach.

2. Men's Hockey - vs. Northeastern, March 2008

Senior Night at Conte Forum was the penultimate game of the regular season and the start of a home-and-home with NU. The Eagles needed to step up and win at least one in order to secure home ice for the Hockey East playoffs, but they came in reeling after an 0-1-1 weekend against previously ice-cold Providence.

BC scored just nine seconds into the game, but the rest of it was miserable as Northeastern outhustled BC to every puck and won every battle along the boards. A late Mike Brennan rocket tied the game, but Northeastern dominated and broke through in overtime. After this game, I further adjusted my already low expectations - I just wanted to make it to the Garden for the Hockey East semifinals. How little I knew...

3. Men's Basketball - vs. Duquesne, December 2006

The 2005-06 basketball team should have gone to the Final Four - I maintain that to this very day - and I held out hope that the '06-'07 team could make a similar run. But the loss against an awful Duquesne team at home really put a damper on that. I do recall Duquesne coming back from a late double-digit deficit, and Sean Williams [who?] picking up a very dumb technical foul in overtime to help gift-wrap the game.

4. Football - vs. Georgia Tech, September 2008

We don't lose home games, for the most part; for all the talk about our crappy home field advantage, BC football has dominated at Alumni Stadium over the past five seasons or so. The Class of 2012 was not as lucky as '10 or '11 as their first home game was a bitterly disappointing loss to a team we expected to beat. Chris Crane's struggles poured cold water all over my theory that Crane's mobility and the return of Raji and Toal would make the '08 squad better than their '07 counterpart.

5. Women's Hockey - vs. Northeastern, December 2007

In hindsight, realizing how good Leah Sulyma is in net makes this one easier to swallow, but at the time a loss to Northeastern was very, very tough to take; it was the official sign that the '07-'08 version of the Eagles had something missing, and that the rest of the season would be difficult to watch.

6. Men's Hockey - vs. BU, December 2008

We were lucky enough to go the entire year in '07-'08 without seeing BC lose to BU, so I was able to forget how sickening it is to see a loss in a huge rivalry game. Coming on the heels of the ACC championship loss earlier that afternoon, watching BU fans celebrate all over Conte left me with a sick feeling that lingered for days. Making matters worse: the team hasn't played yet since then.