Sunday, March 13, 2011

Sunday, Bubble Sunday

It looks like we are on the outside looking in. There is still a chance but we won't know anything until the Selection Show early Sunday evening. To many BC fans this is very familiar. Unfortunately our history as a bubble team is not great. More times than not, our bubble teams have ended up in the NIT. Here is a look back.


1985

Resume: 18-9 regular season. 7-9 in Big East play. Lost first round of Big East Tournament.
Invited!
BC made the most of the invite making the Sweet 16.


1988

Resume: 15-12 regular season. 7-9 in Big East play. Lost in first round of Big East Tournament.
Not invited.
This wasn't surprising as BC had an awful Big East record. However, Jim O'Brien made the most of his NIT bid and got BC to the semi-finals before losing to UConn.


1992

Resume: 15-12 regular season. 7-11 in Big East play. Lost in the semi-finals of the Big East Tournament.
Not invited.
This was not a surprise either. The team was young, started hot and then faded later in the season. They received an NIT bid but only made it to the second round.


1993

Resume:
15-11 regular season. 9-9 in Big East play. Lost in the second round of the Big East Tournament.
Not invited.
This was a big disappointment. The team was red hot mid season, but faded down the stretch and didn't get off the bubble. They made the third round of the NIT.


1994

Resume:
20-9 regular season. 10-8 in Big East play. Lost in first round of the Big East Tournament.
Invited!
You would have thought that the resume was a lock, but it was another JOB team that faded down the stretch and got knocked out of the Big East Tournament early. They selection committee didn't think much of BC, handing the Eagles a 9 seed. BC was also put in the same bracket as the No.1 overall seed and defending champions North Carolina. We all know how that ended.


2002

Resume: 19-10 regular season. 8-8 in Big East play. Lost in second round of the Big East Tournament.
Invited!
BC was invited but many said we were flawed and undeserving. We proved them right by getting blown out against Texas.


2003
Resume: 17-10 regular season. 10-6 in Big East play. Lost in second round of the Big East Tournament.
Not invited.
This is the biggest snub in BC history. Our non-conference resume was spotty. We had good wins against UMass and NC State but bad losses to Holy Cross and Kent State. We finished strong in a weak Big East. Most pundits felt we were robbed.



Since the field expanded to 64 teams we ave been a bubble team seven times. Three times we made the Big Dance. Four times we did not. We know 2011 will be added to the list but which way will the bubble burst?



**Please not that I did not include 1996, 1997, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 or 2009 in the bubble review since all of those teams were solid tourney picks.

23 comments:

lbkjj said...

The team has no one to blame but themselves. They put themselves probably out of the dance with their very uneven play.
Let's focus on the NCAA Hockey tournament where our chances are very good to repeat.

brianflem23 said...

Not to correct you, but we actually made it to the semi-finals of the 2003 BE tournament. We had a 1st round bye for our 10-6 record and beat St. John's in the quarter-finals.

Bravesbill said...

This bracket this year is a flat out joke.

Obreezy said...

Living in DC, I've been able to catch a lot of BC's ACC games this season thanks to the local channels pcking up the ACC Network. Some nights were frustrating to watch - but on the whole, it's been fun and I've enjoyed following the team this year. Steve Donahue has done an excellent job in his first year - and the players have been exceeding all the expectations the "experts" in the media predicted for this team. So maybe we didn't make the tournament - and of course that's disappointing - but it wasn't entirely surprising. Yes, the team was inconsistent. But on a good night, they could beat anyone. I find that impressive. It's unfortunate they didn't make the tourney, but BC basketball has a bright future.

mod34b said...

Well said OBreezy

WI_Eagle said...

Anyone know why we're playing on the road as the #1 seed?

BCDoubleEagle said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
BCDoubleEagle said...

We're better off playing on the road. What would the over/under for attendance have been for a meaningless Tuesday night game against McNeese state that wasn't included in anyone's season ticket package? 900? 1,000? BC would have lost money.

WI_Eagle said...

If that's the actual reason that's GDF holding up his middle finger to those who supported the team the whole season....I would have went

Walter said...

I'd be very surprised if BC had any say in playing on the road or not. I can't see them saying no to a home game, and I can't see them actually having any say in the decision.

I'm all about optimism Obreezy, but we are losing Trapani and Raji this year. We still don't really know what Donahue can do with his own players, and ultimately that's what's important in the long term.

TheFive said...

If Gene turned down a home game and basically flipped off the kids who wear the jerseys, the damn-talented group of guys who are coaching them, and the small group of us who support them...then he has an awful lot to answer for.

IF --- and it's an if because I honestly have no idea --- Gene shoved the Eagles onto a plane to rural Lousiana, he is a lunatic. He finally (FINALLY!!!) made a good hire in Steve Donahue, and after a tremendous season he pokes him in both eyes, and kicks him right in the arse...that'll be remembered in a few years when Donahue will have the opportunity to coach at a school that actually supports its basketball program.

Ryan said...

http://www.weei.com/sports/boston/this-just-in/2186431/bc-open-nit-vs-mcneese-state

Declined the home game. Amazing what a fuckup GDF is.

TheGreat98 said...

Wow, USC gets out spot in the Dance at 19-14, with no signature wins, just as many bad losses as us and a weaker conference. Guess the majority of the committee is from the Left Coast.

WI_Eagle said...

Complete horseshit by Gene....as much as I love supporting BC athletics this kind of treatment really makes me question shelling out thousands of dollars a year and then getting stabbed in the back by the atletic director.

WI_Eagle said...

I have to take back all of my rage towards Gene -- student I know who works in the athletic department just told that its due to a scheduling conflict at Conte on Tues. night and we will host later rounds if there are no more scheduling conflicts.

Lenny Sienko said...

"Boston College received a No. 1 seed in an NIT regional and will plays McNeese State on Tuesday at 9 p.m. The Eagles passed on hosting the game and will play instead on McNeese's home floor in Louisiana. The winner earns a second-round matchup with Northwestern or Milwaukee."

This move cries out for an explanation. The question is: will we get one?

Ryan said...

The scheduling conflict is hockey practice. You have to be able to work that out.

Walter said...

Wow. that is surprising.

Although, to be fair to hockey, the hockey east tournament is a lot more important than the NIT, maybe they didn't want to screw around with them right now?

I really hope there is a good explanation for this; otherwise it is just pathetic.

TheFive said...

If there is anyone associated with BC athletics who thinks that Jerry York would cause BC to decline an NIT game because of practice...that person is dellusional. This has Napoleon-in-a-sweater-vest stamped all over it.

eagleboston said...

Some of you are complete idiots. First, no one knows for certain about the scheduling conflict. Just because some student who changes the water cooler in the athletic department says so does not make it fact. Second, let's say for the sake of argument it was moved for hockey practice. I think that is a wise move. Our hockey team, a team defending its national championship, needs the space more than our basketball team playing a meaningless game in a second tier tournament. The basketball players did not earn the right to go to the dance so GDF owes them nothing. They could have prevented this by beating Yale and Miami. They did not do so, and now they have to face the consequences of their actions.

Ryan said...

@eagleboston: A real game takes precedence over practice for ANY SPORT at BC. Especially a tournament like this. You're telling me there's no other rinks in the Boston area for the team to practice in? This is little league, pure and simple. Slap in the face to all players and coaches.

bc1900 said...

There is a comment on a boston.com article about us being left out saying that some in the ACC C-Suite level are upset about Gene's comments about Duke. They claim he said Duke is not academically as sound as BC, etc, etc. Any information on this comment?

Joe Gravellese said...

I honestly have no idea if practice is the scheduling conflict here; it could just as well be that BC didn't want the expense of opening Conte to a crowd of 900 people. BUT...

BC hockey practices at St. Sebastians high school when the court is down, there's something to be said to practicing in your home facility, working out of your own locker room, etc.

More importantly than that, putting the court on and off the ice messes up the ice a little bit the next day.

BC's mens AND womens hockey teams have large tournaments this upcoming weekend (hockey east for the men, Frozen Four for the women) and messing up the ice for a meaningless NIT game against some school nobody's ever heard of probably isn't worth it if it detracts from our chances of winning either of those events.

Now this may be just my biased perspective as a hockey person; maybe the NIT means more than I think it does. But I'm under the impression that nobody really takes it seriously. I could be wrong.

Anyway, hopefully they win @ McNugget State or whatever so they can have a home game in round two, then all of this will be irrelevant.