BC bowl plans hit cold spot

When he walked out of Byrd Stadium in College Park, Md., after Boston College's 31-16 victory over Maryland Saturday, athletic director Gene DeFilippo believed the Eagles had made a nice closing argument for themselves.

With scouts from the Peach and Champs bowls hovering afterward, DeFilippo knew the Eagles had improved their postseason position for one of the Atlantic Coast Conference's six bowl slots. After all, BC had wrapped up its inaugural season in the ACC by tying Florida State for first place in the Atlantic Division with a 5-3 league record (8-3 overall).

Yesterday, however, DeFilippo was certain of only one thing: BC would be making a school-record seventh consecutive bowl appearance. He was not certain, however, of when, where, and against whom the Eagles would play. BC's bowl outlook became muddled by Georgia Tech's stunning 14-10 upset of No. 3 Miami (8-2) Saturday night.

''What happened is Georgia Tech made a heck of a statement right after we did," said DeFilippo.

The Yellow Jackets' victory had far-reaching repercussions that rippled through the conference. Not only did Georgia Tech just about end the Hurricanes' chance at a berth in the ACC championship game, but it likely has made a deep impact on BC's bowl destination.

The Eagles, who jumped two spots to No. 21 in the Associated Press poll, overcame four turnovers to capitalize on four takeaways (3 interceptions, 1 fumble) in beating Maryland. After the game, it appeared BC had improved its bowl prospects to either the Champs Dec. 27 in Orlando or the Peach Dec. 30 in Atlanta.

But Georgia Tech's upset likely knocked Miami into the mix for a possible Gator Bowl berth, which completely muddled BC's bowl picture.

''There's no earthly idea what happens now," DeFilippo said, pointing to the fact BC is jockeying with Clemson (7-4), Georgia Tech (7-3), and the loser of the ACC title game between Florida State (7-3) and either Virginia Tech (9-1) or Miami (8-2) -- the Hokies will secure the bid with a win over North Carolina Saturday.

More problematic is the fact that the Yellow Jackets, who moved ahead of the Eagles in the AP poll to No. 20, will be going for their eighth win against Georgia Saturday and the Hurricanes will be going for their ninth win, against Virginia the same day.

With the Meineke Bowl in Charlotte, N.C., looking at either Georgia Tech or Clemson, and this weekend's Maryland-North Carolina State winner ticketed for the MPC Bowl in Boise, Idaho, BC could get squeezed out of one of the ACC's six bowl slots and end up filling in as an at-large entrant in either the Music City Bowl Dec. 30 in Nashville opposite a Big Ten opponent or the Liberty Bowl Dec. 31 in Memphis opposite the Conference USA champion.

While those destinations would not put a damper on a successful season, they're not what the Eagles had in mind. BC, however, has no one to blame but itself, having squandered a chance for a berth in the inaugural ACC championship game when it absorbed a 16-14 loss at North Carolina Nov. 5.

''It's meaningful because that's what you come into, but you can't be satisfied [with a tie] because you want to get to the championship game and you want to have a chance to win it," coach Tom O'Brien said after the triumph at Maryland.

''I think maybe we surprised people with the way we can play football. Everybody wanted to know if we could survive and play in this league, so each week it was one of those situations for us to prove that we belonged.

''I think we proved we can compete and I think we proved we can win in this league."

Now all that's left for the Eagles is to wait and see where they will go bowling.

''I have no idea where we'll go," said DeFilippo.

''One thing's for sure, we're going to go to a bowl and it'll be a good bowl, because we've got an 8-3 record and we tied Florida State for first place in our division and we had an outstanding year. But where we'll end up? I really don't know."