Early season start times announced

The ACC and BC released the start times for the first few weeks of the season. Some were already known and some were a surprise.

The first game is a bit out of BC's control. We will play Northern Illinois on a Friday night at 9:30 PM on CBS Sports. That is a little late for our players and our fans on the east coast. There's not much BC could do though. As the home team, Northern Illinois' TV partner picks the start time.

The second game is a 1 PM start at home vs Wake. The 1 PM games are good for tailgaters, but frustrating for a program perspective. This game will not be on real TV. We can all stream it via ACC/ESPN, but that is not the same.

The Notre Dame game will be at noon. That is also somewhat surprising. These days the Irish rarely play the noon game. The have a good west coast following and the early start makes it harder for those fans. I still expect it to be BC's highest rated Saturday game of the season.

The only game that might get a better rating is the prime time game against Florida State on a Friday night.

All the other start times will be announced during the season once our TV partners know which matchups are actually going to be good.

Hugh Davis video and other links

Here is more video and analysis of BC's latest verbal, Hugh Davis. It is only drills in a highlight video, but the guy looks fast and explosive.

Sailing finished 4th at Nationals.

This is 247's Notre Dame site previewing BC.

Remember the BC Memorial Database

Some of you may not realize this, but Boston College has a very extensive and thoughtful database of all its alumni veterans who died in the line of military duty.

I attended BC during a time of relative peace. It was after the Cold War and before 9/11, so threats to our country and security seemed like a thing of the past. But even then there was a strong ROTC program and many of my classmates dedicated themselves to protecting and serving our country. The Memorial database is a reminder that Boston College alums have been serving and protecting our country since the school's founding and many made the ultimate sacrifice for the peace and prosperity of the United States. Thanks to all of them.

Lax falls in Championship game to Maryland

A great run came up short as the Women's Lacrosse team lost to Maryland in the National Championship game. The first half was a great performance. BC fell behind early, then rallied to tie the game and stifled Maryland's offense. The second half was more of a struggle as the Terps would get a lead, BC would cut into it and then Maryland would build a lead again. In the end there wasn't enough time for another comeback.

While it is disappointing to come this far and not win, this game and run was a program builder. BC can now sell this success to more elite recruits. I think there are many Lax titles in the school's futures.

Addazio riding recruiting momentum

It has been a busy few days for Steve Addazio and his staff. On Friday they picked up a verbal commitment from Indiana LB Hugo Davis. The services have Davis as a three star player. BC is one of his better offers but this guy seems like a good fit on and off the field.

🦅COMMITTED🦅 #BeatClemson #DijonStrong pic.twitter.com/PeJSntVB3O

— Hugh Davis™ (@HughhDavis) May 27, 2017

Saturday brought more good news. New Jersey LB Vinny DePalma committed. He's got offers from Duke, Pitt and Wisconsin and is the type of player we should get. The other thing I like about DePalma is seeing it as a sign of our New Jersey strength.

Lax headed to Championship game

It is so close, you can feel it. After beating Navy Friday, BC is now one win away from a National Championship in Lacrosse. The girls needed a second-half comeback to advance, but it doesn't matter how you win -- just as long as you win.

Next up is top-seeded Maryland. The teams faced each other mid-season and the Terps won. But this BC team is very hot and ready to take on anyone.

Here are the final seconds of the game via BCI Look at the excitement of the girls. Take all on Sunday!

16-15 @BCwlax IS GOING TO THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/d1HyxpeL4E

— BC WLaxerruption (@bcinterruption) May 27, 2017

Alumni is getting new turf

For something that is supposed to last a long time, BC has changed the playing surface at Alumni quiet a bit over the last few years. The school and Astroturf just announced that Alumni will be getting a new rug. It is part of an extension with the synthetic grass company that will also include the baseball/softball fields and the Indoor Practice facility.

No costs were disclosed, but I assume BC got an significant break on the early upgrade to the Alumni surface due to selecting AstroTurf for all the new fields and facilities. BC made the switch to Astroturf from FieldTurf in 2012. For those of us who remember the original "astroturf," have no fear. This is not the hard flat green carpet. Astroturf's current solution has the modern feel with blades of fake grass and mini rubber pellets to cushion falls. To the average fan -- and probably many players -- there is no noticiable difference between AstroTurf and their competitor, FieldTurf.

It seems like AstroTurf is pretty proud of their BC deal. The lone stadium field on their Wikipedia page is of Alumni. After losing so much market share when FieldTurf came on the scene -- including losing the BC deal in 2004 -- it seems like AstroTurf has rebounded and is building up an impressive collection of stadiums.

As long as the deal makes sense and the players are happy, I don't care what brand BC uses for turf. I just hope that they take this opportunity to change the midfield logo. New turf would be a perfect time to get rid of the italics lettering in the logo.

BC win totals from CFN

Last week, the leading gaming service released their 2017 win totals for college football. However, BC only earned a "N/A." Most of the teams selected at the bottom of their conference received the same status. This is partially due to lack of interest and the fickle nature of predicting the bottom of a Power 5 conference. If scheduled well, a lower Power 5 team can walk right into five wins. Although the gaming experts are avoiding BC, CFN is not. They put the over/under on BC wins at 5.5.

I don't bet, but the over on 5.5 seems like easy money to me. I will get into season predictions later in the summer, but winning the three non-Power 5 games, and then getting three wins out of ACC and ND play doesn't seem too much to me.

Baseball drops ACC Tourney opener to NC State

BC left too many on base in a critical ACC Tournament loss to NC State. Jacob Stevens gave BC a solid start but BC failed to capitalize early and the Wolfpack padded their lead in the later innings. Now BC as they face UNC next in pool play. That game becomes a must win to keep any hopes alive. The good news is that this team has responded repeatedly when it seemed like they were in a hole. EDITED: My mistake. As Brian pointed out in comments, this eliminates BC. I thought they could still have a chance depending on how the pool played out, but even if UNC loses twice, BC is out.

New alums owe BC Sports a "thank you"

Another batch of Eagles went from students to alumni Monday. Congratulations to all for their hard work and dedication. One thing that gets overlooked in all of our BC sports debate is what an incredible service Boston College Athletics provides to our alums. It is and instant and constant connection back to the community. It can be a reason to gather, to stay in touch, to commiserate and provide a great form of pride.

I know plenty of graduates didn't care about BC Sports while they were students. I hope that changes as alumni. For all that is wrong with college sports, there is still plenty right. For as frustrating as being a BC fan can be, it also provides so many exciting moments. And while all recent graduates applied to an elite national university, I hope you remember that sports did play an important part in building that national reputation. So many of our Catholic and Jesuit peers don't have the same recognition nor endowment because they didn't have big time sports as and branding and fund raising tool.

To the Class of 2017, continue to excel and keep rooting for the Eagles.

🎓🎓🎓 It’s Commencement day at @BostonCollege! Congratulations to the Class of 2017. Go do great things! #WeAreBC #EverToExcel #BC2017 pic.twitter.com/XnG0J1eqh8

— BC Alumni (@BCAlumni) May 22, 2017

Baseball closes Shea with big wins, headed to ACCs

Some run down facilities grow in charm as they age. Sometimes when we look back at something terrible, the memories become more found than they were in reality. I don't know if one day BC Baseball fans will look back at the time on Shea Field as the "good ol' days," but at least they will remember the final weekend as a good time. BC swept Notre Dame to secure a spot in the ACC Tournament. Considering how the regular season and ACC season started, this is a great way to finish. The team is playing much better. Although they will be a long shot to advance beyond pool play in the ACC, there is more hope now than there was four weeks ago. Congrats to the guys. I hope BC's new baseball complex let's them take the program to the next level.

Arthur Bailin did a great job capturing the last out.

Last out at Shea. It sends @BCBirdBall to the ACC tournament. pic.twitter.com/uLwZFu2oQK

— Arthur Bailin (@arthurbailin) May 20, 2017

Lax headed to Final Four

Big congrats to the Lacrosse team. They are headed to the Final Four after knocking off USC 20-14. BC established the lead with a strong defensive performance in the first half. The second half was more back and forth, but BC did enough to hold off the Trojans.

BC has a bit of a home field advantage in the semis, as the Final Four is being held at Gillette. They face Navy for a chance to get to the Championship game. As the saying goes, "you gotta take 'em one step at a time..." but this is a huge opportunity for BC sports. Winning a national championship in a growing sport like Lacrosse would be a great moment for the school and athletic department. Lacrosse is one of those sports that is huge in traditional ACC county AND New England. It is the type of sport where our conference and geography come together and can support a champion. Let's see the women keep going!

Tucky to Cincy shows complications when staffers leave

Before this post gets misinterpreted, let me make a few things clear: Ethan Tucky wasn't going to make or break BC in 2017 nor change Addazio's future. I also don't think former Addazio assistant Al Washington is "disloyal" or doing anything wrong. But Tucky is an example of having to sell a kid on BC the program and not the bond he has with his recruiter. The former BC LB got his release and is now officially headed to Cincinnati. 

Tucky to Cincinnati makes sense beyond the Washington connection. It is much closer to home for him. They have a new, young and exciting coach. However, it is not all roses. He will have to sit a year and is changing positions. Despite the Fickell excitement, he is also leaving a Power 5 team for a mid-major. 

BC and Addazio could have made his release conditional and "blocked" Cincinnati, but they did not. Fickell shares an Urban Meyer connection with Addazio and BC doesn't want to make enemies in such a traditionally strong recruiting area for us in Cincinnati. Tucky and the Bearcats also played it the right way. In the article there is no mention of Al Washington nor his prior relationship with Tucky. 

I don't imagine any other current BC kids are going to leave to reunite with Washington. But other kids will leave for various reasons when they are not happy at BC. That is why all coaches need to sell BC first. It is not about the assistant, nor Addazio, nor playing time. It is about playing and going to school at BC. That is all the coach can guarantee. If the kid buys that first, the other unpredictable stuff becomes less important. 

The first of many offseason QB competition posts

As you read BC previews this summer and listen and read about the team, the QB issue will be front and center. Even with Wade coming out of Spring as a No. 1 player, there will still be intrigue. Below is a video from the ACC highlighting both players' Spring Game performances.

Jarmond explains scheduling

Scheduling for Ohio State is very different from scheduling for BC. But there are a few lessons from this OSU piece that provide insight into how new BC AD Martin Jarmond thinks.

Jarmond tries to measure stability and predictability of opponents. But as he admits in the piece, this is somewhat difficult when you schedule games ten years out. (That's why I find BC's scheduling so cynical and dumb.) Like BC, he also tries to schedule opponents who have a geographic tie to our alumni base or recruiting needs.

Given their budgets and fanbase, scheduling for Ohio State is a bit different than what Jarmond will do at BC. I hope he continues to look for quality opponents and not just easy wins.

BC might debut on ACC Network

The ACC Network is still another year away, but BC could find out soon if they will play the first football game on the network. Half the conference can't play on the network that weekend in 2019 because they've already booked a non-conference game. BC hasn't locked in a game yet making them a likely candidate.

In my opinion being the first game -- or one of the first -- is a good thing. BC can hype it up to recruits and earn some goodwill with the schedulers at ESPN.

The downside is we don't know what the carriage issues will be like then. I would hate for BC fans to not be able to see the game due to a fight between cable companies and the conference. Hopefully there is some online option for those who won't have the ACC Network in 2019.

Owens to Maryland Football

When he tweeted out a pic of himself in football cleats, I said BC should see if Garland Owens was serious about playing a new sport. It appears that Maryland took it seriously, because the former basketball player will spend his grad year playing football for the Terps.

According to reports out of Maryland, he will be playing Tight End and is just waiting on Admission's at Maryland.

I don't know if BC looked into him playing football for us. Clearly the Admissions component would have been much easier. But I don't know where Addazio is with scholarships and if he wanted to use one on a project like Owens. We have decent depth at TE and WR. Would he have made a difference? Probably not.

Good luck to Garland. Thankfully we don't have to play him this year.

Garland Owens played basketball for BC last season. Looks like he’ll be suiting up for Maryland football this fall. https://t.co/dIdgpBB4z9

— Testudo Times (@testudotimes) May 15, 2017

Women's Lax advance to Elite Eight

The BC Women got their first win over Syracuse Lacrosse at just the right time. The Eagles upset the Orange in the NCAA Tournament Sunday to advance to the Elite Eight.

Because of the upset, BC will now host its next tourney game against USC. Congrats to the team and keep it going to the next round.

Opponent previews

CFN has been posting their Spring recaps and season previews. It is a useful tool to get up to speed on BC's future opponents. Here are their summaries of a few of the teams on BC's schedule.

-- Notre Dame
-- Northern Illinois
-- UConn
-- Louisville

Ethan Tucky transferring

Attrition and transfers are always expected, but I am surprised by the Ethan Tucky news. The Ohio LB has been granted his release by BC and is looking to transfer closer to home. 

Tucky is yet another reminder that predicting who will blossom at BC and who won't is a bit of a crap shoot. He was a highly regarded recruit. He seemed to pick BC for the right reasons. Tucky also had a previous relationship with Jim Reid, making the coordinator change an non issue. Even the early press Tucky received when he got on campus indicated that big things were ahead. Since he redshirted, he will leave BC without ever touching the field. 

I think BC has enough playmakers on Defense, that this won't be an issue. Best of luck to him at his next stop.