Fewest Wins in an ACC Regular Season, Since 1987

Is it too early to start looking forward to February 21?

Sure, there are plenty of hurdles to be overcome, plenty of chances to go astray. But looking at the schedule, when Boston College travels to Winston-Salem eight days after Mike Krzyzewski’s birthday, it will represent the Eagles’ first, best chance to avoid a rendezvous with infamy.

If you’ve watched Wake Forest lately you know it has earned its 1-6 start in ACC play. All but two of those defeats were by double-digit margins. The Demon Deacons’ only conference win came at home against NC State, which itself is 1-6.

Weak defensively, Wake has shown little sign of coming out of its swoon. But it’s a team with potential. The Deacons have a talented post player in Devin Thomas, quality guards in senior Codi Miller-McIntyre and freshman Bryant Crawford, a dangerous streak shooter in 6-10 forward Dino Mitoglou, and enough serviceable parts to comprise a competitive squad.

That’s certainly more than BC has going for it. Headed into tonight’s home game against troublingly inconsistent Florida State, Coach Jim Christian’s group has lost 12 of its last 16 outings. The Eagles have gone down in their ACC games by an average margin of 20 points; the closest outcome was a 14-point loss to Miami last week.

Following the FSU visit, BC travels to UNC, UVa and Louisville. Not much leeway there. After that it’s home again for Carolina and Syracuse, a possible victim, before enjoying a little road trip to play Clemson and then Wake.

The Tigers historically experience odd swoons, and don’t enjoy the same advantage at their temporary home, Greenville’s Bon Secours Wellness Arena, as they do at Littlejohn Coliseum. But they’re playing some of their best ball yet under coach Brad Brownell, and are apt to rightly look at a visit from the Eagles as a chance to bolster a prospective NCAA resume.

Which brings us to Feb. 21, Joel Coliseum, and a prime chance for BC to get an ACC win.

That won’t be the only chance. Following the Wake trip the Eagles face Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech, stronger than their weakling records indicate, and then NC State at Raleigh before finishing with Clemson.

But Wake, as it’s playing now, may offer Boston College the best chance to avoid the first winless ACC season of the expansion era, the first since Bob Staak’s Wake squad went 0-14 in 1987, and only the sixth victory-void regular-season record in conference history.