In an announcement that this Syracuse Orange basketball fan found less than thrilling, the ACC announced on February 3, 2012 that when Syracuse joins the ACC our team's primary travel partner in college basketball will be the Boston College Eagles. What that means is that we will play Boston College in basketball in home and away games every season.
Syracuse is Joining the ACC by 2014
Syracuse announced back in September of 2011 that we will be leaving the Big East Conference, which we helped to found back in 1979, and be joining the ACC, along with the Pitt Panthers. The Big East has a 27 month waiting period for teams leaving. At this point it is unclear if Syracuse and Pitt will have to wait 27 months to join the ACC, but the ACC has to have schedule plans for when Pitt and Syracuse do join.
Syracuse's ACC Travel Partner Team in Basketball is Boston College
The ACC scheduling plans for when Syracuse and Pitt join the ACC call for each team to have a primary travel partner. Each traveling partner pair will play each other home and away each season.
Teams will then play four other teams home and away each season on a rotating basis, and then play the other eight teams in the league once during the season, for an 18 game ACC schedule. All teams will rotate except for the travel partners, who are locked into home and away games each year.
All I can say about the idea that we will play the Boston College Eagles each season in home and away games is, who cares? As a Syracuse basketball fan who lives in New Jersey midway between New York City and Philadelphia, I have no interest in watching us play Boston College.
This Syracuse Basketball Fan Will Really Miss the Big East
Ever since Syracuse announced we were leaving the Big East for the ACC, I've been lukewarm to the idea at best. I love the Big East in basketball, and playing St. John's, Georgetown, Villanova, Louisville and UConn every year. There is no way Boston College can compare to playing those teams.
The one thing I do like about the move to the ACC is playing North Carolina and Duke. Under the ACC scheduling plan though, if I understand it correctly, we will only play North Carolina and Duke in home and away series in a season once every three years. That's pretty disappointing.
This season, in 2012 in the Big East, we are playing home and away series vs Providence, UConn and Louisville. The Providence games excited me about as much as Boston College, but UConn is the defending NCAA Champion, and the Louisville games with Rick Pitino are always fun. The Providence games are over, but we have not played UConn or Louisville yet this season.
Boston College Cannot Compare to Most Big East Teams
As a Syracuse basketball fan, it's going to be really hard to give up playing games in the New York area vs teams like St. John's, Rutgers, Seton Hall and UConn. Not to mention playing teams like Villanova in Philadelphia, Marquette in Milwaukee, Georgetown in Washington D.C., DePaul in Chicago, and Louisville and Cincinnati.
The ACC announcement that Syracuse's travel partner in the ACC is going to be Boston College is already making me nostalgic for the Big East.
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