Happy To Be Here?To make a long story short, Boston College spent a good portion of the season in the top ten (deservedly or not) and even made its way up to #2 before losing to Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship. The Champs Sports Bowl gets the fourth selection from the ACC. There you have it. It is worth mentioning that BC had the weakest OOC schedule in the ACC, but once again, they find themselves up against a supposedly lesser opponent, in this case the 7-5 Michigan State Spartans who managed a sparkling 3-5 in conference record. Then again, they lost those five games by a combined 28 points, never losing by more than 7, so you might want to check the spread here.
Come Here Often?
Kiiiiinda. Though this is their first time at the Champs Sports Bowl, BC will now ensure that they've made a lesser bowl game in Orlando the last three decades. In 1982, they lost to Auburn 33-26 in the Tangerine Bowl (but what we'll remember most is the laughter) and in 1993, Glenn Foley directed them to a 31-13 win over Virginia in the Carquest Bowl.
Why Care?
You know, I should be telling you that it's a good opportunity to see MSU's pass rush against Matt Ryan, but the Spartans have gone Florida State Lite and suspended five of their players for this game. Unfortunately for them, this includes Jonal Saint-Dic and SirDarean Adams, who are every bit as good as their names. In any event, MSU will likely rely on its running attack, which finished 25th in the country on the strength of Javon Ringer (1346 yards) and Jehuu Culcrick (4th in the nation with 21 rushing TD's). As far as Ryan goes, he's the top ten draft pick of choice for uncreative types; sure he looks like the real thing and has led BC to some pretty bracing victories, but he's often been inconsistent and had a rather poor second half of the season once the competition ratcheted up. Granted, he doesn't really have a lot of weapons on the edge, but just wait until the Ravens draft him.
And The Winner Is...
This is not the mismatch you might assume it is. Yes, BC finished #2 in the ACC and yes, Sparty finished 8th in a questionable Big Ten. But you could make the argument that MSU played better towards the end of the year and if you give half a crap about motivational factors in bowl games, you could bring up the fact that this is MSU's first bowl since 2003 and BC slides backwards into a contest they likely see as beneath them. Nonetheless, you figure that Ryan will want to show off his skills in the short/immediate passing game to impress the scouts and Michigan State is missing some serious firepower on the defensive side of things. If I were feeling more frisky, I'd go with Sparty, but BC is just too good at winning games they're supposed to and nothing more.
BC 31 Michigan State 24
