Boston College: The biggest inferiority complex in college sports

By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

In dating a so-called Superfan, who was also a member of the Boston College marching and pep bands, I have come to learn one very real fact: the Eagles only truly hate teams that are better than they are. All of the so-called "rivalries" the school has in its major sports, whether it be football, basketball or hockey, are mostly one-sided, based more on envy than anything.

To ask a Superfan about one of their rivals is to learn that every team the Eagles have a rivalry with sucks, despite what any number of national championships or any other statistics might lead you to believe. Boston College is the greatest athletic program to grace God's green earth. Everyone else should be insanely jealous and Superfans just can't figure out why no one actually is.

Well, here it is, spelled out plain and simple for all you Boston College fans. In the great scheme of things, you really aren't that good now and you really have very little history of ever being very good.

Let's start with football.

Boston College fans want you to think that the series with Notre Dame is an age-old tradition dating back to the early days of college football which they have dominated for the past decade. In truth, in the eyes of Golden Domers, Boston College takes a back seat to USC, Michigan, Michigan State and some would even argue Navy. In reality, the "Holy War" series has only lasted 18 games and the only thing that makes it truly notable is the fact that these are the two only Catholic universities playing Division 1 football at the bowl championship level. The two teams first met in 1975, but did not play each other regularly until the 1990's. Even the Eagles' series with Notre Dame hockey has a greater history in terms of games played and longevity. It's true that from 2000-2008, the Eagles have held a 6-1 advantage, but even with that, the series is still tied, 9-9.

Eagles fans like to point to their recent head-to-head dominance as evidence that Boston College is a better program than Notre Dame, overlooking the fact that Notre Dame holds 11 national championships (or 13, depending on who you ask) to Boston College's zero. For those keeping score, no team has as many national titles as the Fighting Irish.

Boston College also likes to mention recent bowl success over the last decade, but since the BCS's inception in the 1998-1999 season, the Irish have been to three BCS bowls, something Boston College has never done. They have gone to distinguished bowls such as the Meineke Car Care Bowl, MPC Computers Bowl and the Continental Tire Bowl, however.

Notre Dame boasts 178 All-Americans to Boston College's 10 and seven Heisman Trophy winners to the Eagles' Doug Flutie. Ten Irish have gone on to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Two Eagles have that distinction.

Notre Dame football has only had 11 losing seasons in 102 years. Boston College football has had 23 in 74 years, over 30 percent. Bottom line, a nine-win season at Boston College is considered a success. A nine-win season at Notre Dame is a disappointment.

In hockey, the Superfan's obsession with Boston University can at least be legitmized by the two teams' close proximity. Both even share the same branch of the Green Line. Because of this, the rivalry actually has longevity. But that's about where the conversation ends.

While the half-full student section at Conte Forum likes to chant "Sucks to BU," nothing could be further from the truth. First off, in head-to-head play, the Terriers lead the all-time series 123-106-17. Boston College holds the edge in Hockey East tournament and regular season titles, but seeing as both teams played in the ECAC beforehand, BU holds more combined titles. In all, the Terriers have won 14 regular-season league titles to BC's 11, while winning 12 conference tournaments to the Eagles' 10.

Boston University has also dominated the bragging rights in Boston, having won the Beanpot 29 times. That's right. BU has won more Beanpot finals than Boston College has participated in.

But with all that, the most striking number is this: BU also holds the edge where it counts the most, having won five national championships, while Boston College has only won three.

The most pathetic "rivalries" of them all might fall in the realm of basketball, however. The Eagles don't have any real heated rivalries with any out-of-conference teams. UMass is a fabricated series without much conscequence and Notre Dame holds some sentimentality because of BC's Big East days and the simple fact that it's a team from South Bend.

But at this point, Superfans concentrate most of their hatred on natural in-conference "rivals" with whom they really have no business being in the same conversation.

With three national championships, Duke has as many titles as Boston College has Elite Eight appearances. Boston College has never advanced past that point, something Duke has done 14 times. The Blue Devils have won 21 conference tournament titles as well as 21 regular season titles, compared to BC's three and four, respectively. And yes, those numbers for BC are combined between both the Big East and the ACC.

As if that wasn't good enough, Superfans also like to spit venom at North Carolina, who surpasses Duke in the number of national championships (5), final four appearances (22), conference tournament championships (25) and regular-season titles (34).

So can these really be considered rivalries or sad expressions of feelings of inadequacy. There are plenty of good - but not great - athletic programs all around the country and most of them realize exactly what they are. Why is it that Boston College fans can't figure it out?