Teams: Syracuse Orange (16-0, 3-0) vs. Boston College Eagles (5-11, 1-2)
Rankings: Syracuse (2/2), BC (UNR)
Day & Time: Monday, January 13, 9:00 p.m. EST
Arena: Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA
Line: -8.5 Syracuse
TV: ESPNU/ESPN3.com
Announcers: Mike Patrick, LaPhonso Ellis
Radio: Syracuse IMG Network
BC News: BC Interruption
Rivalry: 40-23, Syracuse
Streak: 2, Boston College
First Meeting: You'd have thunk they'd play sooner but it wasn't until 1959 when the Eagles topped the Orangemen in Syracuse, 78-71.
Last Meeting: The last time these two teams played, it was a showdown of top ten squads. That didn't stop fans of the No. 6 Eagles from storming the court after defeating the No. 9 Orange, 65-60. Gerry McNamara led the Orange with 18 points in the loss.
Best Meeting: January 16, 1984. Thirty years ago this Thursday. Pearl Washington did this...
School Connections: BC head football coach Steve Addazio was a Syracuse assistant in the 90's. And then there's a lot of other stuff, too, but, I'm lazy.
Head Coaches: SU: Jim Boeheim (38th Year, 936-314); BC: Steve Donahue (4th Year, 51-64)
Last Year: In Steve Donahue's 3rd season, the Eagles were 16-17 (8-10). Their season ended with a loss to Miami in the ACC Tournament. What else do you need?
Last Game: The lowly Eagles notched their first ACC victory of the season by topping Virginia Tech, 62-59. Lonnie Jackson led the Eagles with 17 points.
Head Coach Bio: Steve Donahue worked his way up the Ivy League ranks as an assistant at Penn before taking over as head coach for the Cornell Big Red. He led the Big Red to three NCAA Tournament opportunities, including a run to the Sweet Sixteen in 2010. After that, he took the BC job, leading them to the NIT in his first season. The last two have fallen short of the post-season and he'll need to make the Eagles competitive sooner than later.
"Fear Me, I've Killed Hundreds Of Timelords": Olivier Hanlan isn't just their best player, averaging 19.5 PPG, he's also the ACC's top Canadian. He is already the career scoring leader for ACC Canadians in the conference with 820 points. Tyler Ennis, attack!
If Syracuse Wins…: They'll move to 4-0 in the ACC and cement their status as one of the top two teams in the nation. For now.
If Syracuse Loses…: If you thought the ACC looked bad before this...
Fun Fact: The two teams met at least every year except one from 1979-80 through 2004-05. Sorry, Big East.
Fun Fact 2: SU is the highest-ranked team BC has played since No. 2 Wake Forest on Jan. 14, 2009. They lost by 20.