Pundits hate our schedule too

As BCI pointed out, CBS thinks BC has the weakest schedule of any Power 5 team. Our non-conference is a joke and even the ACC games line up in a favorable manner. CBS is not alone in trashing our schedule. Fox Sports' Bruce Feldman also thinks BC's slate is very friendly. He uses an index, but is math really needed when you look at UConn, Wagner, UMass and Buffalo?

Purdue and Stanford are nice additions to future schedules, but there is no getting around this lineup. We will hear numerous excuses as to why it had to be this way. None of it really matters though. All that mattes now is winning and bouncing back from last year. If Addazio can't bounce back with this schedule, then he deserves all the criticism that comes his way.

Thoughts on the Football schedule

The ACC released its football schedules and there were a few surprises for BC. Here is the schedule.

Sep. 3 -- Georgia Tech (Dublin)
Sep. 10 -- at UMass (Foxborough)
Sep. 17 -- at Virginia Tech
Sep. 24 -- Wagner
Oct. 1 -- Buffalo
Oct. 7 -- Clemson
Oct. 22 -- Syracuse
Oct. 29 -- at NC State
Nov. 5 -- Louisville
Nov. 11 -- at Florida State
Nov. 19 -- UConn
Nov. 26 -- at Wake Forest

Friday Night Lights
BC has ESPN to thank for two Friday night games. Contractually the ACC owes ESPN Friday night games and BC proved to be a good host when playing a top team last year. The ratings were good and the BC-centric SportsCenter was a nice touch. I expect BC and ESPN will do the same thing when Clemson comes to town. As for being the road team in a Friday game later in the season, that is probably a compromise between the ACC, FSU and ESPN. The 'Noles probably did not want to waste a marquis game on Friday night and ESPN probably wanted a decent TV draw. This is not going away, so I hope BC starts to make a thing out of hosting and playing in these games.

I hate moving the Syracuse game
This was supposed to be a Thanksgiving Weekend tradition. Since its inception one or both teams have been bad and the games have lacked any sizzle. By playing earlier in the year, perhaps both teams will still be in contention and the students will be on campus. But I don't think moving it really helps either team. The way to make fans care is to turn it into a real tradition. Very few things are consistent about BC Football year to year. While forced, I think ending the season with Syracuse every year was a step in the right direction.

This schedule lends itself to a bounce back year
BC had plenty of bad luck last year, but you cannot ignore a winless conference slate. Given how bad the team was, I can't call any game a lock. Yet looking at that schedule, you see how things can get better next year. The non-conference schedule is very easy. BC gets plenty of time to prepare for Georgia Tech's unique offense. Moving Syracuse and playing UConn late means that there are winnable games spread throughout the year.