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Tuesday, May 02, 2006
BC chickens out
As expected, Boston College has decided to end its series with Holy Cross. When next season's schedules are announced, for the first time since the 1944-45 season, the two New England neighbors will not play.

It is sadly symptomatic of the scheduling struggles all good mid-majors have. Many power conference schools are simply afraid to play them, even at home.

As Paul Garvey points out in the Telegram-Gazette (subscription needed):
Worcester Telegram & Gazette News:
The Eagles have dropped Holy Cross like a bad date, joining fellow New England basketball powers/’fraidy cats Providence, UConn and UMass in scratching HC off their schedules in recent years. This loss stings more than the others because the series dates back to the 1905-06 season, and Holy Cross has played the Eagles more than any other opponent.
Basically, what it comes down to is this: Skinner doesn't want to play Holy Cross because it is anything but an automatic win. As Garvey mentions:
Holy Cross, which beat the Eagles three years ago and took them to overtime the following season, combined the emotion from its underdog status and a swarming defense to become a very dangerous opponent for BC. The Eagles might win most years, but the close games and occasional losses were difficult for Skinner to explain to fans, the alumni, and the media, who didn't necessarily view the contests in the context of an anything-can-happen rivalry, but as a powerful team from a major conference somehow having trouble with a small school from the academics-first Patriot League.

The Eagles had one of their best teams in years this past season, but still had struggled to shake off the injury-riddled and not very deep Crusaders in January. Holy Cross stayed with BC until junior forward Keith Simmons cramped up and had to leave the game, the Eagles eventually winning, 63-53. Afterward, Skinner complained about the physical play of the Crusaders, as if freshman Alex Vander Baan was outmuscling broad-shouldered All-American Craig Smith underneath.
It is increasingly clear that if the Patriot League wants to continue to improve its stature, schools are going to have to figure out a way to buy some guarantee games, or some sort of scheduling alliance with other quality conferences.

A big part of the Missouri Valley Conference's success this past season came from a league decision to help schools buy home games. Those early season contests, in turn, became wins that helped elevate the conference's RPI heading into league play.

Kirk Wessler of the Peoria Journal-Star reports the MVC coaches are meeting to discuss ways to continue building that conference's non-conference schedules, including a possible conference challenge with another mid-major league.

The Patriot would do well to follow the MVC's lead.
Published at 9:51 AM by Hoop Time.
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