Time to get overly excited about BC Football news

As I tweeted when Syracuse won, BC controls its own destiny. Win out and we are in the ACC Championship. Win that and we have a pretty good argument for the Playoffs. Seems simple, right? If you are on social media, you will see lots of people are playing the "what if" game. Let's break it down and also look at other things on the table.

Beat Virginia Tech...
If BC wins this weekend and Clemson holds their own against Louisville, the BC-Clemson matchup would likely be a primetime game on an ESPN network and also have an outside chance as being the location for Gameday! It would be one of the few battles of ranked teams that weekend. It would be a chance to have an ACC location for Gameday and return to BC after a long absence. Gameday remains an incredible tool for selling the program and would be another validation of the season. It would also provide energy to the home atmosphere that has been lacking in the years since our last Gameday.

Then beat Clemson...
At 8-2 and having just knocked out an elite team, BC would probably get close to Top 10 in the rankings. There is still a lot of bottlenecking in the polls, but more teams will lose in the next two weeks and very few two-loss teams would have such a win. Beating Clemson would also give BC the head-to-head tiebreaker in the division standings.

Win out the regular season...
Once you've knocked off Clemson and won in Blacksburg, you've done the hard part. BC would be a heavy favorite over FSU. Then it is Syracuse at home Thanksgiving Weekend with everything on the line. What could go wrong there?

Win the ACC Championship...
If BC really does run the table, we would also be a favorite in the ACC Championship. Win that and we are guaranteed a major bowl -- the first since Flutie. But at this point, we would also be in the playoff discussion. If you are following the Playoff release and the computer projections, you will see BC is in the low 20s. That basically means it could happen, but would be the longest of long shots. Because of the human element, I don't think a two-loss BC team would ever be included. But there is only one way to find out!

Now the first step is winning this weekend.

What if: Matt vs Matt

The above is a twitter exchange between Matt Hassellbeck and Matt Ryan. It's a harmless series of tweets but it got me thinking about what if the Matts had been on campus at the same time.


Outside of their NFL pedigrees, the Matts had a lot in common. Both were tall, well-rounded recruits from Northeast private schools. Both had decent offers aside from BC, but neither were considered top recruits. But where I think their BC careers become very similar is their ability to shine through QB controversies.

Hasselbeck earned starts as a redshirt sophomore. Only the following season saw him lose his spot in the preseason to Scott Mutryn. Hasselbeck persevered, pulled out a game in Hawaii and never looked back.

Ryan also endured a frustrating QB controversy. He won games as a back up, lost his job when Quinton Porter came back and then earned the job back. As we know, once Ryan earned the job, it was his for the next two and a half years.

But what if...what if Hasselbeck and Ryan had competed for the BC job at the same time. Who would have prevailed in this hypothetical QB controversy? Both could take big hits. Both proved they could adapt to new offenses. Both had the leadership intangibles. It would be a tough choice. Hasselbeck was more mobile. As a college player, Ryan had the better arm and proved to be great under pressure. I think if it came down to it, I would have to go with Matty Ice.