BC, ND have much to lose
At first glance, it looks like a blemished game. Notre Dame is struggling at 2-4 and coming off a 45-14 loss to Southern Cal. Boston College is 4-3, dealing with the distractions of its switch to the Atlantic Coast Conference, and coming off its worst performance of the year, a 39-14 loss to Syracuse.
Notre Dame vs. BC. This is not the Catholic Super Bowl. It is not even a battle for rankings or respect. It may very well be a battle for one of the Big East's guaranteed bowl slots.
Here's why. The Big East has five guaranteed slots for its eight teams: the BCS bowl, the Gator Bowl, the Insight Bowl, the San Francisco Bowl, and the Continental Tire Bowl. Notre Dame can fill any of those slots in place of a Big East team -- with the exception of the BCS bowl -- at the discretion of the bowl. And Notre Dame will get the nod over a Big East team every time when the teams have similar records.
It becomes especially dicey for Big East teams that are marginally bowl-worthy -- say, 7-5 or 6-6. Notre Dame's appeal will trump everyone.
For BC, the goal all season has been "drive for five" -- coach Tom O'Brien's mantra for the Eagles to earn their fifth consecutive bowl bid. NCAA rules state that, to be bowl-eligible, a team must have six wins against Division 1-A teams and a winning record.
In a 12-game season, a winning record is 7-5. But the NCAA allows a 6-6 team to accept a berth with a bowl that has a tie-in with that team's league. BC, then, could go 6-6 and get a bid to the Insight or San Francisco bowls. But a 6-6 BC team vs. a 6-6 Notre Dame team is no contest for either of those bowls. Notre Dame rules. And BC can't count on any support from the Big East office in light of its decision to join the ACC.
So a win over Notre Dame is vital for BC. Not only would it put the Eagles within one win of bowl eligibility, it also would give Notre Dame five losses -- two shy of taking the Irish out of all bowl consideration.
After this weekend, Notre Dame's remaining games are against Florida State, Navy, Brigham Young, Stanford, and Syracuse. Notre Dame probably will be favored in all but the Florida State game.
A BC loss could put the Eagles in a tough situation, with Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Rutgers, and Virginia Tech remaining. Virginia Tech is ranked third. Pittsburgh and West Virginia have shown flashes of toughness, though both of those games are at Alumni Stadium. And while Rutgers is an away game, the Eagles have been able to handle the Knights, who have not won a Big East game in almost three years.
So Notre Dame has basically moved into the "must win" category. "It's a huge game for us for a variety of reasons," said BC athletic director Gene DeFilippo. "Bowlwise, and everything else as well."'
Membership drive The Nov. 4 meeting of Big East presidents to decide the league's new configuration has been switched from Philadelphia to New York. Big East officials met with officials from the University of South Florida last week, which means that Cincinnati, Louisville, and South Florida seem like locks as the new members in football and basketball, while DePaul and Marquette will be additions to the basketball conference . . . Miami coach Larry Coker doesn't think moving to the ACC will affect the intensifying rivalry between Miami and Virginia Tech. "It's a league game now and it will be a league game after this year," said Coker, whose team plays the Hokies in Blacksburg, Va., Nov. 1 . . . Coker thinks Big East football this year is as good as he's seen it . . . Syracuse's R.J. Anderson is the only Division 1-A starting quarterback in the country who has yet to throw an interception . . . Virginia Tech has one more possible stumbling block before its showdown against Miami: The Hokies play West Virginia in Morgantown tomorrow night. Tech coach Frank Beamer says he does not mind the idea of his team coming to town with a large target on its back. "I've been with a lot of teams that came in and out of town and no one knew we were there," said Beamer. "It will be a great atmosphere." . . . The University of Miami filed suit against the Big East Conference and four of its member schools, claiming it suffered "substantial monetary damages" by remaining in the league. The school also filed a separate lawsuit against the University of Connecticut for defamation. Both were filed in state circuit court in Miami. The four league members named in the first suit are Connecticut, West Virginia, Rutgers, and Pittsburgh -- schools that are suing Miami, alleging it was involved in a conspiracy with the Atlantic Coast Conference to weaken the Big East.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
