This ACC thing doesn't seem to be working out too well, on any front, for BC. Certainly not in hoops, where the Eagles have remained also-rans since the move from the Big East back in 2005. Football? Not much better, with the last really serious push in the loop way back in the Matt Ryan days.

Some have suggested rather uninspired coaching hires as the reason. Others wonder about the fit in the ACC, with historical ties only to a couple of old regional foes now in the league, like Syracuse and Pitt. The league foes in the Carolinas and down the Eastern seaboard, and now over to the mid-South, have little if any historical connections to BC.

For the Eagles' sake, it's too bad the old Big East never cemented its football presence -- then something of the old Eastern independent alliance could have at least remained, with its ancestral ties to the Eagles. BC, it seems, has not been helped by these entries spinning off in different directions (old rival Penn State, which never embraced the Big East concept, to the Big Ten; West Virginia to the Big 12; etc.).

Bruce Marshall's full breakdown of Boston College's 2023 outlook, which includes how he's playing their win total, can be found below as part of SportsLine's preview of the ACC season.

ACC preview: Conference winner | Boston College | Clemson | Duke | Florida State | Georgia Tech | Louisville | Miami | NC State | North Carolina | Pittsburgh | Syracuse | Virginia | Virginia Tech | Wake Forest

2023 Boston College at a glance

• Last Year: 3-9 SU, 4-8 ATS, 6-5-1 O/U
• Returning Starters: Offense 3; Defense 5
• Win Total: 5.5 (Over -135, Under +110) 
  

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