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With summer approaching its climax and HCSMFS apparently stocking up on guns while keeping things simple (or something like that), the folks at TNIAAM and BC Interruption are once again preparing for battle as our two schools lock horns to see who will win the 2014-2015 edition of the Orange Eagle Trophy competition. Following a convincing victory in the inaugural season, Syracuse looks to retain the trophy, while BC regroups in an attempt to even the score.
While much of the Winter and Spring sports schedules remain to be announced the '14-'15 competition is starting to take shape. Below is the schedule and points system for the new season:
The #OrangeEagleTrophy rules committee has decided to make a few changes that we believe will make the competition more...well...competitive, while increasing focus on head-to-head match ups between the schools:
1) More scoring!!! In a purely cosmetic move, we have decided to double the point totals from last season. Does it really make a difference? No, not at all. But dammit, this is America, and we want our point totals to look more like Arena Football and less like Big Ten basketball. Done.
2) New "banding" for revenue sports. This season, Group A sports (men's basketball and football) will earn their school up to 12 points. All other sports are in Group B and are worth 6 points each. For sports where SU and BC compete more than once during the regular season (basketball, volleyball, softball come to mind), the point totals for each contest will be equal to the overall point allocation for the sport, divided by the number of contests (e.g. volleyball plays twice = 3 points per contest; men's basketball = 6 points per contest)
3) Post season points: For any match-up where SU and BC compete in the postseason (ACC tournament, NCAA tournament, etc), each contest will be worth 6 points.
4) Changes to men's hockey and men's lacrosse: In keeping with the head-to-head nature of the competition, the rules committee felt that these sports -- while being high profile for their schools -- have different tournament structures and therefore lack equity in achieving bonus points. As a result, we have limited the bonus point system to include a single 10 point bonus for winning the National Championship in their respective sport.
5) Removal of track and field from the competition: SU and BC technically face off in the ACC Championship each year, however unlike cross country (where an equal number of runners compete on each team) there is a high degree of variability regarding the number of competitors from each school that qualify for the ACC championships. This gives an unfair advantage to one school over the other before the competition even starts.
So there you go! In less than 60 days SU and BC's nationally-ranked field hockey teams the meet up in Syracuse to get the whole thing started again! Will BC Interruption exact revenge from last season, or will the incumbent champions prove their Northeastern superiority once more??? Let us know what you think of the updated scoring system and stay tuned and keep an eye out for updates as the 2014-2015 competition unfolds. Oh, and Sean, send us some pics of that beautiful trophy living the good life in the Pacific Northwest!
