BC-Holy Cross preview

Last week was exciting -- the start of a new season. This is more subdued. The tradition with Holy Cross is nice and the excitement about this BC team is palpable, but I don't think we will know anything more about BC after playing a bad FCS team.

What's on my mind (not totally related to this game) 
I think Holy Cross' Head Coach Bob Chesney will be a FBS head coach real soon. His track record of success building terrible, low resource programs will be enticing to many schools. If he has even the littlest bit of success in Worcester, it looks like he will leverage that for another job. After Holy Cross, the next step would seem to be either FCS power or FBS bottom dweller. Either way, the guy looks like he is going places.

Three Simple Keys
1. Add some more deep passing for Brown. I don't suspect he will be under much pressure. I would like to see BC attempt more deep passes to build his confidence and put pressure on future opponents to not load the box.
2. Get reps for the young guys. The new redshirt rules are a gift. Use it this game to develop young guys and second teamers.
3. Clean up Special Teams. It should be better than last week.

Gambling Notes
-- Addazio has not lost to an FCS school
-- BC leads the all time series 48-31-3
-- BC has won their last three home games against Holy Cross
Because this is a FCS-FBS game, there are no lines on the major sites

Factoid
While Fenway hosted the series for many years, BC also played Holy Cross in Foxboro twice.

Scoreboard watching
Most of the ACC is taking on FCS teams this weekend, so there is not much at stake with regards to the division race. The big game is Clemson-Texas A&M. It would be nice for the Tigers to win in convincing fashion, so that the national perception of the ACC remains strong.

I hope to see...
A viral highlight from Dillon. There was talk after last week about whether Dillon's Heisman hopes were ruined by not padding his stats against UMass. I don't think they were and feel like the middle of the season will determine his chances. However, it wouldn't hurt to get on people's radars now. A nice viral moment would lay the groundwork for a Dillon trophy run.

BC is in trouble if...
As always with these lopsided games, the only real trouble for BC is injury. We will survive this game, but a significant injury could ruin the season.

Overall
This won't be close. As much as I long for a spirited rivalry, this is not the year. BC will crush them and we may even have to speed the clock in the second half.
Final Score: BC 52, Holy Cross 10

BC needs to get Holy Cross in Hockey East

As BCI points out, it appears Holy Cross wants to join Hockey East. There are lots of hurdles to clear, but if the Crusaders put together a solid proposal, BC needs to be their biggest advocate.

Even though the Holy Cross-BC rivalry doesn't mean much to any BC fan born after 1970, baby steps towards rebuilding it are good for BC. We are headed towards a time of uncertainty for college sports. Paying players, breaking off from the NCAA, and challenges to Title IX are all in play. Given that BC is proudly anti-athletic payment, I could see a situation where our leadership decides to de-emphasizes sports (especially if the Power 5 really starts up player salaries). However, if our historic rival is moving towards big-time sports (like Football and Hockey), it will put pressure on BC. Why would BC give up the marketing and community advantage that sports brings just when Holy Cross is embracing it? Holy Cross learned their lesson when they decided against the Big East basketball and gave up athletic scholarships.

I know that Holy Cross joining Hockey East is not the same as the Crusaders joining the Big Ten (or even something like the Conference USA), but it is a good first step. And even if it doesn't generate huge athletic momentum for them or start an athletic renaissance for BC and Holy Cross, it would still be good to play them more often. Their return to big-time sports is also a good reminder of what we did right over the years.

Time to add Holy Cross to the football schedule (seriously)

Earlier this week the Patriot League announced that they would start providing football scholarships in 2013. This is good news for BC as now we can renew our football rivalry with Holy Cross. It may not excite most younger BC fans, but adding the Crusaders back to the schedule makes a lot of sense.

All FBS teams will play a FCS game annually. As much as we hate it, the game are not going away. In fact, I think the nine game conference slates will have some teams searching for wins by scheduling two FCS games annually. In the past BC scheduled their FCS opponents and justified it as a game good for New England. But with Northeastern dropping football, URI downgrading and UMass upgrading, BC is left with only Maine and UNH as potential New England opponents. (Games against non-scholarship Harvard and Holy Cross could not count towards BC's bowl eligible wins.) Now that Holy Cross has scholarships, those games can count.

Although it would still be a cupcake game on the schedule we can frame it as tradition. The two schools have played 82 times and for years it was a huge game in Massachusetts. Playing again would still excite some of our older alums. I also think it would energize Holy Cross to the point where they would probably be willing to play us every year. I also don't think Holy Cross would demand an exorbitant pay day. It's a bus trip and they could sell their ticket allotments. When BC brings in the Weber States of the college football world, we pay a premium. Holy Cross wants to be associated with BC. Playing us annually helps their branding. Plus it is win-win. If we crush them, there is no embarrassment. If they give us a game or win, they have huge bragging rights.

The ACC expansion allows for only three non-conference opponents. BC fans want us to play Alabama, Michigan and USC every year. The reality though is BC needs to play schedules comparable to our peers. Yet at the same time generate interest. Getting Holy Cross back on the schedule is the just one step towards that.