Boston College Preview 1

Boston College vs. Clemson, 01/09, 4:00pm, Littlejohn

Clemson hosts BC this weekend; along with the Virginia game at Littlejohn, this game represents probably the only two remaining games on the schedule where Clemson should be heavily favored. That's more a reflection of the strength of the ACC this season than any inherent weakness in the Clemson team.

Not to say BC is a complete pushover, while they sport a pretty dismal 10-5 record, they only have two really bad losses: at home against Maine and St. Joseph's. Losses to Northern Iowa, Harvard, and Rhode Island aren't as bad as they might seem; Northern Iowa is a bubble NCAA tournament team, Harvard should battle Cornell for the Ivy League title, and Rhode Island will get some NCAA consideration (although that's largely because they play in the overrated Atlantic 10). Meanwhile, BC already knocked off a talented albeit largely untested Miami squad in their ACC opener.

That being said, in general terms BC profiles as the kind of team that Clemson has played well against in recent years: decent to good offense packaged with a distinctly below average defense. If we dig into the stats a little deeper, it only gets better for the Tigers. On offense, BC doesn't shoot particularly well (a dismal 32.9% from long range) and they are at best league average in taking care of the ball. On defense, BC can't force turnovers at all, coming in at 302nd in Division I. Their steal percentage is 340th out of 347 teams. This obviously bodes well for Clemson, a team who's biggest weakness on offense is losing the ball.

Two possible problems to watch out for in the game: 1) BC defends the shot reasonably well so Clemson will have to work for good looks (hopefully without taking more than 35 seconds). 2) BC does a good job on the offensive glass. In part this can be attributed to their poor 3-pt shooting (bad 3 point shooting teams will grab long rebounds), but they also have some height which suggests some real ability.

All in all, it should more or less be a cakewalk. I expect Clemson to come out focused for their home ACC opener and put up some points early, hopefully giving the freshmen plenty of playing time tomorrow.