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.