BC and the other schools still waiting for their moment on the big stage

New Year's Day was different this year. The games had more meaning because of the new Playoff. One thing that wasn't different: no BC. As great as the Pinstripe Bowl experience was, BC still wasn't in a major bowl. And BC hasn't played in a true major bowl since the Cotton in 1985. As much as we want to blame it on travel reputation and fanbase size, there have been automatic qualifying opportunities for more than 20 years. First the Bowl Coalition, followed by the Bowl Alliance, then the BCS and now the Playoff. As a member of the Big East and the ACC, BC had access to all of these games. We just never played our way into any of them. We know the near misses: losing to WVU in '93, losing to Syracuse in '04 and dropping back-to-back ACC Championship Games. At this point it is almost bad luck. Other Power 5 teams have made it on fewer close calls.

Although only one year old, the Power 5 conferences of the Playoffs have put the majority of their teams into major bowls. Take a look at the teams that have yet to play in Playoffs and their forebears:

ACC Have Nots
Boston College
Duke
North Carolina
NC State

Virginia

Big Ten Have Nots
Indiana
Minnesota

Big XII Have Nots
Iowa State
Texas Tech

Pac 12 Have Nots
Cal

SEC Have Nots
Kentucky
Missouri
South Carolina
Vanderbilt

(Now I am only using bowl history and qualification based on the bowl's status at that time. Take Duke and the Peach Bowl as an example. The Blue Devils played in the Peach Bowl last year. It was a good bowl, but not defined as a Playoff/Major bowl at the time. This year, the elevated Peach Bowl is one of the official New Year's Six. So although Duke has played in a Peach Bowl recently, they have yet to earn or get selected into the Playoff/BCS/Bowl Alliance/Bowl Coalition games.)

Of course the ACC would have the most teams that have not played in a major bowl. Despite that fact, I don't worry that we are locked into some top heavy conference that will never enable a major bowl. As Georgia Tech showed this year, there will be many times when the ACC runner up also makes a major bowl (as long as the winner gets into the Playoff). As daunting as Florida State, Clemson and Louisville may seem right now, it only takes one down cycle for things to change.

The variety and number of schools that have made major bowls should be encouraging to BC fans. It shows that things can change quickly and every school will get its shot. I'm impatient for our shot, but believe it will be here soon. And hopefully by that time there are eight teams in the playoffs...because then we have a chance to win the whole thing.

All college football schedules now written in pencil

The rumored is now official as BC and Ohio State pushed back their series to 2023 and 2024. It is nice to have the games on paper but I doubt it ever happens. Nine years is an eternity in any sport, but especially one like college football. The rules, philosophies and leaders change so often, you can't count on anything beyond a season or two. BC and Ohio State will certainly have new football coaches and ADs by the time the series is played. Any of those four people could kill the series as it approaches for a myriad of reasons. I am disappointed but not heart broken. I don't care about playing Ohio State. I care about playing interesting and historically strong teams. The good news about college football's constant chaos is that there will be good games in the near future.

The biggest unknown with regards to college football scheduling is the new Power 5. The majority of coaches want to keep scheduling to just the Power 5. That's where the most TV and ticket money is too, so I assume ADs and TV executives will follow. That's a good thing for fans. Instead of a series of MAC or FCS games, all of our out of conference games would be against respectable teams. And the good news is that it won't cost BC a ton of money. If it is mandated by the new rules of the Power 5, scheduling good games will actually become easier. That might lead to some random games (BC vs Mississippi State! or BC vs Texas Tech!), but any type of Power 5 team would be an improvement over some of the random teams we've hosted in recent years.

The only downside of the Power 5 mandate is that we would lose out on some traditional opponents like Army or the chance to play newly scholarshiped FCS teams like Fordham or Holy Cross. But give me exciting football over nostalgia any day.

Outside of mandates, the other unknown is the ACC's potential ninth game. But as I've written before, that is probably the conference's last card to play.

For now all Bates and Addazio can do is work the phones and look for good schedule opportunities in the next two seasons. Beyond that it is just a waiting game. With the way this also shakes out we might end of playing Ohio State well before 2023.

Big 5 one step closer to leaving NCAA

The biggest news of the day was the NCAA's decision to allow members of the Big 5 to create a new set of standards for staff, recruiting, academics and of course player compensation. The New York Times has a good breakdown of what it all means. The new guidelines are still vague enough that no one really knows what schools will do. Just assume that all of this will lead to an expanded arms race. If Alabama pays each student $2,000 annually and takes parents to the bowl games, you can be sure that all the other SEC schools will follow. And then all the other Big 5s will follow too. 

This all might seem like a losing proposition for BC with our smaller fanbase and smaller revenue streams, but I actually see a role for us. If the Big 5 really close ranks and only play each other, I think it will create a lot more parity. The bigger programs won't be able to pad win totals with cupcakes. That leads to more pressure to win and more coaching turnover. If we can play close to our historical norm, I think we will be much more stable and have our occasional runs of greatness. 

Reader Rog raised a question about hockey. The majority of hockey schools are not part of the Big 5. If BC and the hockey Big Ten pay, it might make college hockey awfully lopsided. But hockey is not the priority. It will be football first and then what can they do with March Madness.

The Big 5 doesn't provide lifetime membership, so there is always the chance that BC ends up out of the picture down the road. I will take that chance though since this move removes one more layer of hypocrisy.