UConn @ BC -- 9/10/16?

[primus74]

Great thread. I think it would be great for both fan bases to play. Look how fired up everyone is getting in this one thread. It would make for a great time, assuming no knuckleheads throw things or get in fights.

A few things about UConn destroying the BCS. Sure UConn lost badly that day. Was it a down year for the BE? Absolutely. But, why focus on 1 year? That's just myopic. Over the course of the 15 or so years of the BCS, the BE did very well. They had a much better record than the ACC and that even includes post-2004 when Miami and VA Tech left and then BC a year later.

Getting back to the Fiesta Bowl game against Oklahoma, they were fired up for that game and came out and played great with more talent than UConn had. If memory serves me right, Coach Stoopes said in an interview before the game that they were in no way overlooking UConn. Remember that they had just recently had embarrassing BCS losses in the Fiesta Bowl to Boise St and WVU. Also, that same year, the ACCs BCS representative, VA Tech, lost to Stanford by the same margin of 28 points.

I sure hope this UConn-BC happens. I think it would be great for New England. The schools already face each other in hockey and lots of Olympic sports each year. Why not football and men's and women's basketball as well?

 

[Yawkey Way]

Can someone help me find Boston College on this last of NCAA national champions? My search function keeps coming up empty.

http://www.ncaa.com/history/football/fbs

Cliff Morgan, Ray Byrne... Coaches poll. But the 1940 Coaches poll was not considered in the voting until 1950. BC finished undefeated at 11-0, beating previously #1 ranked Tennessee in the Sugar Bowl. Remember this is 1940, and its undeniably true that there is anti catholic biases in these things back then. So does the NCAA of 1940 recognize BC as the National Champion for 1940 ? No. They have Minnesota as the National Champion for 1940. I am willing to accept that Minnesota is the NCAA's version of the 1940 National Champion. I also am willing to accept BC as the shared National Champion for that season. Thats how modern day NCAA would do it. If a team today was undefeated and beat the #1 team in the New Years Sugar Bowl, you can bet your life the modern day NCAA would acknowledge that undefeated Sugar Bowl Champion as its National Champion... or at the very least, the " shared " National Champion for doing so. So saying BC " shared " the National Title in 1940 seems a reasonable settlement to this, imo.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

I came here in peace, but if this is turning into a good ole fashioned game of poke-the-other-guy-in-the ribs, I suppose I'll play.

Yes, BC never played in a BCS game. BUT the BCS was only around for 16 years. BC has been playing football for 123. Seems kind of silly to say that UConn's best season was better than BC's best season by disregarding 90% of BC's history.

1.) BC has a shared national championship in 1940. UConn has never sniffed anything like that.

3) UConn's appearance in a BCS Bowl was such a blackeye for the sport, such an intolerable embarrassment, that as soon as possible the powers-that-be changed the rules to ensure that no "Big East" "champion" would ever get an auto-bid ever again. That's right, the fact that UConn snuck into a BCS Bowl destroyed the Big East.

*** I really hope this game happens. This is getting fun! ***

Time to get some gasoline and a match…

OK, BC claims it won the national championship in 1940. In 1940, the polls weren’t unified yet. BC was selected by 2 guys, Cliff Morgan & Ray Byrne, as the national champions. Tennessee, even after losing the Sugar Bowl to BC, somehow was also voted #1 in a pair of different polls. Stanford, which was 10 – 0, was voted #1 by 3 polls. Minnesota, which went 8 – 0, was first in 10 polls, including the AP, which was the most closely watched of the time and had BC at #5. So, pardon me, put I would put a massive asterisk next to that national champion.

As for history, looks like BC has gone to 24 Bowls since 1938, which works out to 31% of the time. UConn began transitioning to D1A in 2000 became Bowl eligible in 2002 and joined the Big East in 2004. So from 2002, UConn has been to 5 Bowls, which works out to 38% of the time. And UConn has a BCS Bowl under its belt.

Yes, UConn was beaten by Oklahoma in the 2011 Fiesta Bowl by a score of 48 to 20; but, it was just 20 to 10 at half and 34 to 20 at the end of the 3rd quarter. Oklahoma was simply the better team and wore UConn down at the end highlighted by a few poor turnovers. Why does the media (plus BC and Syracuse fans) make such a big deal of UConn losing in the Fiesta Bowl? In 1999, BC was crushed by a 7 & 5 Colorado team by a score of 62 to 28 after falling behind 45 to 7 at the Half. In 2013, an 8 & 5 Arizona team beat BC 42 to 19. Not once after each loss did someone say that BC was an embarrassment and should never be allowed to play in a bowl game again. Heck, last year Oregon ripped Florida St 59 to 20 in the Rose Bowl/Semi-Final; but, no one in the media screams that the Seminoles should have never been in the game in the first place.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

A BC fan claiming UConn killed the Big East is rich. Leahy's hands are still stained red. Did he ever get rid of the knife?

Agree, BC was not the only reason the Big E failed. The fools in Providence brought the wood for bonfire that the old Big E became, not inviting Penn St for example; but, BC brought the matches.

 

[Yawkey Way]

Uconn has never beaten BC in football... in over a dozen tries.. Will they someday ? Who knows. Maybe they will. Uconn is attempting to move up to the stature of a BC, and many of its fans obsess over this quest to supplant BC as the dominant football program in New England some day in the future. I would like to see Uconn get its chance... and soon.... to win or lose again to BC.

 

[The Viking]

Cliff Morgan, Ray Byrne... Coaches poll. But the 1940 Coaches poll was not considered in the voting until 1950. BC finished undefeated at 11-0, beating previously #1 ranked Tennessee in the Sugar Bowl. Remember this is 1940, and its undeniably true that there is anti catholic biases in these things back then. So does the NCAA of 1940 recognize BC as the National Champion for 1940 ? No. They have Minnesota as the National Champion for 1940. I am willing to accept that Minnesota is the NCAA's version of the 1940 National Champion. I also am willing to accept BC as the shared National Champion for that season. Thats how modern day NCAA would do it. If a team today was undefeated and beat the #1 team in the New Years Sugar Bowl, you can bet your life the modern day NCAA would acknowledge that undefeated Sugar Bowl Champion as its National Champion... or at the very least, the " shared " National Champion for doing so. So saying BC " shared " the National Title in 1940 seems a reasonable settlement to this, imo.

The NCAA did not recognize then and it does not recognize now Boston College as a champion or a co-champion or a shared champion. They have had 75 years to re-assess and they have chosen not to. Stop with the non-sense.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

If I choose to believe that it is appropriate for BC to schedule Harvard and Uconn to schedule Yale once every decade or two, that is my opinion. If you believe that neither Uconn or BC should ever play an Ivy school that is in their state, that is your opinion, and I can respect that opinion of yours as well.

Actually, the reason why BC and UConn should never play an Ivy League team is for safety. The physical skill, size and training that a P5 football program has today (UConn is a P5 level school according to the B1G and UConn's football practices facilities are a lot better than what BC has today) if far greater than what the Ivy's have. Yes, a few players on an Ivy team maybe able to compete with a p5 team; but many cannot and they are going to get hurt.

Its similar to why the public high schools in Jersey refuse to play the power Catholics anymore. Eastside (Patterson) threatened to forfeit its game against Don Bosco Prep this year because in 2014 they lost 56 to 6 with Eastside suffering 12 injuries, several of which were season-ending.

 

[Yawkey Way]

Agree, BC was not the only reason the Big E failed. The fools in Providence brought the wood for bonfire that the old Big E became, not inviting Penn St for example; but, BC brought the matches.

Miami " brought the matches ". BC was committed to the BE, only so long as Miami stayed in the league. BC believed that the league would collapse if it lost Miami. Once Miami informed BC it was going to leave the BE, BC saw the handwriting on the wall, and decided to prepare itself to leave. ( even tied to get Syracuse to go then too... but Boeheim at the time was insistent on not leaving the BE). But it was Miami that set the dominos in motion... not BC. And Tranghese, the BE commish was caught up in the Basketball interests.

 

[The Viking]

Your boy Leahy didn't want Louisville in the Big East because he believed in academics. And then he allows them to scoot in over a much better academic instituion 10 years later.

Your thoughts?

 

[Yawkey Way]

The NCAA did not recognize then and it does not recognize now Boston College as a champion or a co-champion or a shared champion..

Perhaps you did not read my remarks on this above. If you had, there would be no apparent reason for you to reply in this fashion.

 

[Yawkey Way]

Your boy Leahy didn't want Louisville in the Big East because he believed in academics. And then he allows them to scoot in over a much better academic instituion 10 years later.

Your thoughts?

BC voted " yes" for West Virginia ( and Uconn's )admittance to the BE years earlier.... so " academics " was never an issue on who gets into these leagues and who does not. I would hope you would know this by now too. The NCAA , coaches, etc talks about " student- athletes ", and " academics " too on why they make the policies they do. Do you you believe them too ? You tell me. Does ND sign network TV contracts based upon the academic considerations of its " student athletes " ? You also can tell me. I say that Father Benjamins makes his rounds without fail each and every day in bigtime college football decision making.

 

[The Viking]

He is a president who has a voice at the table and he was in fact upset with the possible addition of Louisville after VT and Miami left. Granted his voice was just one and he was unable to curb the addition back then but we know where his allegiance was when the time came to pick Louisville over a top 20 national public university. It was not with the greater academic school.

How do you think Father is enjoying his Louisville companions now with their "hooker shows" on campus?

 

[Yawkey Way]

Actually, the reason why BC and UConn should never play an Ivy League team is for safety. .

If " safety" is the issue of primary concern, then perhaps no school should permit College Football on their campus. As for FBS playing FCS shools, while the scores tend to be lopsided, there is no data that shows that any more injuries are suffered in these games than when teams play teams from similar divisions. Uconn played Yale not that long ago. I don't recall Yale suffering any more serious injuries beyond the their fragile egos in the tilt.

 

[Yawkey Way]

i

How do you think Father is enjoying his Louisville companions now with their "hooker shows" on campus?

Thats probably for you to contemplate here ( or other Catholics here ), as I am not a Catholic. Besides, there are lots of secular Presidents of secular US Colleges and Universities that are the worst filth in the Country, imo. But we are talking college football here, so I really don't care what school presidents are doing or saying. But if that angle is important to you, thats cool and all as well. But I really have no interest on what BC's School President or any other School President for that matter thinks about " hooker shows on campus ".

 

[CAHUSKY]

. Remember this is 1940, and its undeniably true that there is anti catholic biases in these things back then.

To be fair, after reading your posts in this thread, I have a huge anti Catholic bias tonight. And I'm a Catholic.

 

[Yawkey Way]

To be fair, after reading your posts in this thread, I have a huge anti Catholic bias tonight. And I'm a Catholic.

Go to confession and beg for forgiveness then ... who knows, perhaps you'll feel better after you rid yourself of this anti catholic demonic hold upon you ( lol!) As for me, I'm now off to bed now to give my keyboard a well needed rest.

 

[Waquoit]

How do you think Father is enjoying his Louisville companions now with their "hooker shows" on campus?

You don't think Lyin' Leahy enjoyed his own hooker shows back in the day?

 

[Waquoit]

And you finished the year UNRANKED. Again, before you say anything about BC football, finish with a ranking at least once. Any ranking will do. Not even going to require you to finish with a Top 10 ranking (like BC has 4 times).

I've been to Yale, home of the most college championships, and I say your program is a joke. Given every advantage and in your best year you are no better than the common ruck. And has spent any political capital they had on blackballing UConn. What a bunch of losers. Even lost to UConn in hockey.

 

[Nostical]

Where's the wisdom of Rodney King when we need it?

 

[BugsyCT]

Actually, I wouldn't trade our BCS bowl loss to OU in for any semi-recognized national title in 1940. At least the majority of us got to watch it and enjoy the fact that they were participating in it it in our lifetime. (can't speak for everyone - some of you were around before 1940 that might still remember that).

Don't really care about national perception about not belonging there, but that's just me. We were in that bowl game because we did what was required to be in that bowl game - won the Big East (and beat the 2 teams head-to-head that we finished tied with). Disagree with it? Then they should have changed the rules. Did Pitt belong in the Fiesta Bowl in 2004 when they got stomped by Utah? Maybe, maybe not, but they met the requirements to be there.

 

[Dooley]

I was on that train.

Too funny. As soon as I watched it, I thought of you!

 

[Dooley]

I don't want to upset Yawkey/Tusky, but there is no such thing as a Boston College football championship from 1940. Every site I've seen states that Minnesota is the champion. So in light of this...

Poll for UConn fans: which "championship" carries more weight?

1. Syracuse 1959 Helms Trophy
2. Boston College 1940 mysterious championship*

*I've looked at a few sites and NONE of them recognize BC as sharing any sort of title in 1940. Perhaps our BC friends got their years mixed up...it's possible seeing as though it was over 70 friggin' years ago.
http://collegefootball.about.com/od/nationalchampions/a/champions-list_3.htm
http://www.collegefootballpoll.com/champions_national.html
http://wilson.engr.wisc.edu/rsfc/history/kirlin/champs.html

And we thought Syracuse fans were pathetic. Making up championships has to be a new Boneyard low.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

If " safety" is the issue of primary concern, then perhaps no school should permit College Football on their campus. As for FBS playing FCS shools, while the scores tend to be lopsided, there is no data that shows that any more injuries are suffered in these games than when teams play teams from similar divisions. Uconn played Yale not that long ago. I don't recall Yale suffering any more serious injuries beyond the their fragile egos in the tilt.

I'll leave the debate over safety and football in general for another posting.

As for Yale and UConn, you may also want to take a refresher in history or at least a course in how to check the internet. The instate rivalry that began in 1948 was last played in 1998 with UConn winning 63 to 21. 1998 was the last year UConn was a D1-AA football program as the transition began in 1999. The two schools spoke to each earlier in 2015 about playing again in the future; but, UConn declined. The minor factor was that Yale wanted a home & home, which UConn felt was not favorable. The bigger issue is that the NCAA requires that a waiver be granted each and every time that a D1 scholarship offering football team wants to play a non-scholarship offering team. Why, the NCAA cites player safety as reason #1. The difficult of getting such a waiver is why the 3 game series between Army and Yale, which Yale won the first game, was reduced to a single game from a 3 game contract.

http://www.nhregister.com/sports/20150905/sunday-gravy-uconn-vs-yale-football-not-in-the-cards

 

[BugsyCT]

I don't want to upset Yawkey/Tusky, but there is no such thing as a Boston College football championship from 1940. Every site I've seen states that Minnesota is the champion. So in light of this...

Poll for UConn fans: which "championship" carries more weight?

1. Syracuse 1959 Helms Trophy
2. Boston College 1940 mysterious championship*

*I've looked at a few sites and NONE of them recognize BC as sharing any sort of title in 1940. Perhaps our BC friends got their years mixed up...it's possible seeing as though it was over 70 friggin' years ago.
http://collegefootball.about.com/od/nationalchampions/a/champions-list_3.htm
http://www.collegefootballpoll.com/champions_national.html
http://wilson.engr.wisc.edu/rsfc/history/kirlin/champs.html

And we thought Syracuse fans were pathetic. Making up championships has to be a new Boneyard low.

From Wiki:

"A banner on BC's campus commemorating the team uses the phrase "national champions," but Boston College was not awarded a national championship by any of the national polls at the time of the 1940 season. Although BC's claim to a title is not recognized by the NCAA or college football historians in general, one website, the College Football Data Warehouse, claims that selectors named Cliff Morgan and Ray Bryne rated BC #1 in 1940.[8] This web site states that BC's historic 1940 run resulted in a split championship with the University of Minnesota, but it's not clear whether the selectors awarded BC a title at the time of the 1940 season, or if they did so retroactively.[9] The NCAA lists only Minnesota as the national champion in 1940, and does not credit BC with any national championships in football.[10]"

Hard to argue with the opinions of two people.

 

[Jimdish255]

Yawkey's right. I found video evidence of that 1940 Championship.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

BC voted " yes" for ( and Uconn's )admittance to the BE years earlier....

LOL nice try, UConn was a founding member of the Big East. The other founding members did not "vote" on UConn, or anyone's, admittance. Holy Cross rejected the offer from Dave Gavitt when he was formulating potential members, who then called UConn.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Too funny. As soon as I watched it, I thought of you!

Post-Beanpot win T rides home are a rite of passage for BU students. It's essentially a giant party bus.

Post-national championship T rides home would have been a rite of heaven last April if - well....

To keep this post on-point with the thread, most BC kids don't know which line to take from the Garden after the games they've won, so their rides are lame.

 

[Yawkey Way]

I've been to Yale, home of the most college championships, and I say your program is a joke. .

I've been to both New Haven for the Harvard- Yale game and to Cambridge for the Harvard - Yale. I have to hand it to the Beautiful People that annually go to this. Nobody stands totally upright at the games with the alcohol level 7 times the legal limit better than these folks. Its not really a football rivalry game. Its more of an event there. Most are so drunk at the game they are peering out to the field from the stands and can't see a gawddamn thing. Those here that have been at a Harvard- Yale game know precisely what I am talking about with this too.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Most are so drunk at the game they are peering out to the field from the stands and can't see a gawddamn thing.

Sounds like a typical sporting event at UMass.

 

[Yawkey Way]

LOL nice try, UConn was a founding member of the Big East. The other founding members did not "vote" on UConn, or anyone's, admittance. Holy Cross rejected the offer from Dave Gavitt when he was formulating potential members, who then called UConn.

Not for Football, brassboy. Uconn football had to separately ( and much later after the founding of the BE ) to apply for admittance to the BE for its football program to be considered for admittance to the BE., at which point as some may recall here, BC voted " Yes " for Uconn's football team to be included in the BE Football League. ( Of course this was before Blumenthal initiated his later lawsuit against Swofford, the ACC, BC, Miami, etc for " setting out to destroy Uconn football ", and all of that sorry saga)