Every season has a few turning points. Last year, we beat Clemson when we needed to and saved the season. This year I think there will be a few other turning point games. I also think there will be some must wins from a marketing and momentum standpoint. This is my order. Share yours in the comments.
Most important games
1. Northwestern. This is BC's toughest out of conference schedule in many years. We will need the Northwestern win to help our bowl eligibility. Gene could also use a big win early in the season to help ticket sales.
2. Clemson. It is the first ACC road game. It is also the point when the schedule goes from easy to tough. BC needs to win this game to help the ACC Atlantic standings and keep the momentum going.
3. NC State. This is the last home game of the year. It will probably be TOB's last game in Boston. It comes at a point in the schedule when BC could be in the middle of a losing streak. BC will need this win to end the home slate on a high note and to get the last word with TOB.
4. Florida State. I actually think we will match up well with Florida State. The game's importance is more based on the Thursday night aspect. This will be BC's biggest showcase of the year. They need to play well.
5. Notre Dame. Spaz has yet to beat the Irish. For the casual BC fans this will start to become an issue.
6. Virginia Tech. Probably our toughest road game and chance for a statement.
7. Miami. I don't think this game will have major ACC implications. I also don't think either team will be ranked at this point. But it will be another national television game and BC might need the win to secure bowl eligibility.
8. UCF. First road game and important for early season momentum.
9. Maryland. This could be a trap game given that it comes between VT and FSU.
10. UMass. I expect us to win this game. If we lose the BC and Spaz bandwagon will be empty.
11. Wake Forest. It's Parent's Weekend. You want to make sure everyone is in a good mood.
12. Duke. Very little at stake here. If we win, no one will care. If we lose, no one will care.
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7 comments:
"12. Duke. Very little at stake here. If we win, no one will care. If we lose, no one will care."
If we lose, BC Nation will be outraged. Duke??? No way Losing!!! Never,ever ever
Good list, but I disagree about Northwestern. Despite REALITY that they are a strong Big ten team with a good QB worth seeing in person, I think a win here has none of the effects that you'd hope for because the Northwestern football brand is weak. No one that doesn't already have tix would say "Hey, BC just beat Northwestern. They might be good, let's watch their next game." Plug in a different run-of-the-mill Big Ten team like Michigan State and the effects differ greatly.
Also, non-conference games only matter to us if we've got 5 other wins and need to be bowl eligible, or if we're undefeated and need to get to BCS Title game. As long as we're bowl eligible, having 6- 7- 8- 9- wins etc doesn't matter for bowl placement in our case. ACC games matter the most (since they affect standings and can put us above our conference foes in the pecking order), then rivalry type games matter next.
Since I believe the ACC games are most important, I'd move Maryland higher since they've got one of the better young QBs around, they're in our division so a big effect on standings, and we go up against them for 98% of our recruiting targets. I agree that Clemson and FSU are huge.
I understand the points about Northwestern and starting strong early, but I don't think it makes a big difference.
Also, thanks for posting something related to positive outcomes such as winning. I'm getting sick of summer talk on all the boards and blogs about how bad our coaches, AD, recruiting, and tailgating are.
If our offense can be halfway decent --- even Dana Bible decent --- this BC team will be competitive with anyone it plays. The competitiveness could translate to wins if Spaz improves his game management or cedes control of it to Rogers.
I fear, though, that our conservativism on offense was not entirely the fault of our former offensive coordinator. I think the Stache in charge liked it just fine.
But it's one thing to move the ball steadily, as the Bible offenses did, and fail to convert inside the opponents' 40 yeard-line. At least then BC stands a chance at winning the field position game, and gives its defense a chance to dominate. It's quite another to not move the ball at all, so that the opposing team has a short field all day long. That's what BC's dealt with the past two years. And they still were bowl eligible despite being to win only by relying on defense --- a defense that was consistently knee-capped by the horrid offense.
If that changes, this team has the ceiling of the late-era TOB teams. And that would be a pretty pleasant season right about now.
Mod34b, my opinion is that losing to Duke would cause tons of apathy, not outrage.
ATL -- Most people from BC dislike Doook to begin with and think, correctly, that their football program is horrible. So I would disagree with you on this point.
ATL,
Very intriguing post. I'm going to defer to others on this one as I am horrible about assessing teams this early in the process.
One interesting topic you might want to post is which true freshmen will see the field this year? Last year, a surprising number of true freshmen saw the field and several were high-impact players. Will we see a repeat this year, or is the depth situation greatly improved and most will be redshirted?
Also, will any of the redshirt freshman see the field this year and what effect will they have on the team?
I'd rank the conference games above anything else in terms of importance:
1. FSU (Thursday night on ESPN, favorite to win our division)
2. NC State (need to beat TOB)
3. Clemson
4. Maryland
5. Wake
6. VT
7. Miami
8. Duke
9. ND (Spaz needs to get a win over the Domers)
10. Northwestern
11. UMass
12. UCF
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