Boston College managed to go without a single win in ACC football play in 2015 despite having the nation’s top-ranked defense. Unfortunately for Eagles fans in Boston, the woes continue to follow the program in the sport of men’s basketball. Boston College’s men’s basketball team has yet to win a game in ACC play, suffering their 15th consecutive loss in conference play this week against Virginia Tech. That puts the men’s hoops team at Boston College three losses away from a winless season in conference play, which would put Boston College in some extremely rare territory for power conference athletic programs.
As noted by Kevin Trahan of SB Nation, no major conference school has gone without a win in conference play in football and men’s basketball in the same academic year since TCU pulled the o-for in both sports in 1976-1977 in the old Southwest Conference. You have to go back to the World War eras to find two more current power conference programs to suffer the same fate. Northwestern did so in 1923-1924 with a combined 0-18 record and Georgia did the same in the 1943-44 seasons. The only other school to do so, Sewanee, ended up leaving the SEC following eight consecutive winless seasons in conference play. Sewanee pulled the dubious achievement off from 1932 through 1940 on six occasions. No wonder they packed it in.
Boston College probably had one of the best 0-8 seasons you may ever see in any conference schedule. The Eagles held opponents to fewer than 20 points on five occasions last season in losing efforts. Boston College held Florida state to 14 points, Duke to nine, Louisville to 17 and (non-conference opponent, of course) Notre Dame to 19. Five of Boston College’s losses came by a one-score margin or less and even Clemson had to pull away for a 34-17 lead in the second half of the game on their march to an ACC championship and spot in the College Football Playoff.
Boston College’s final three games this basketball season will be played against Georgia Tech (16-12), at North Carolina State (14-14) and home against Clemson (16-12). But hey, Boston College is a hockey school anyway, right? Boston College currently has the nation’s second-ranked men’s hockey team according to the latest USCHO rankings, and the women take the top spot in the poll too!