Syracuse vs. Boston College: TV/streaming, time, odds, history & more

Teams: Syracuse Orange (3-1, 0-0) vs. Boston College Eagles (1-4, 0-0)

Day & Time: Saturday, December 12, 1 p.m. ET

Location: Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA

Line: N/A just yet.

TV/Streaming: ESPNU, WatchESPN

Radio: Cuse.com, TK 99/105, WAER 88.3

Boston College Blog: BC Interruption

Rivalry: 51-26, Syracuse

Current Streak: 4, Syracuse

First Meeting: Syracuse lost the first three matchups that it played against Boston College. The first of those meetings came in 1959, where the Eagles won 78-71 in Syracuse. Pete Chudy led the Orange with 13 points while Jon Cincebox grabbed 19 boards.

Last Meeting: Boston College limped into the March contest against Syracuse with three of its top five scorers out due to injury. Elijah Hughes and Buddy Boeheim caught fire, combining for 49 of Syracuse’s 84 points as the Orange toppled the Eagles 84-71.

David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

Head Coaches: Syracuse - Jim Boeheim (45th year, 1,068-400) | Boston College - Jim Christian (seventh season, 76-123)

Coach Bio: Christian was an all-state guard at Bethpage, New York before heading to Boston University to play collegiate ball. He would transfer to Rhode Island for his final two seasons and helped the Rams reach the Sweet Sixteen of the 1988 NCAA tournament during his senior year. After a season in the Australian Basketball Association, Christian transitioned to coaching by joining Western Kentucky as an assistant. He also held assistant jobs at Saint Francis, Miami (OH), Pittsburgh, and Kent State, eventually becoming the head coach of the Golden Flashes in 2002. Christian led Kent State to two NCAA tournament appearances before moving to TCU in 2008. He then moved to Ohio for two years before getting his first Power Five head coaching job with Boston College in 2014.

After three straight losing seasons with the Eagles, including a winless conference season during the 2015-16 campaign, Christian earned his first winning season with Boston College in 2017-18 with a 19-16 record. The Eagles were eliminated in the first round of the NIT that year, but the winning record earned Christian a contract extension through the 2021-22 season. However, the Eagles followed up with two straight losing seasons.

Last Year: Despite going 13-19, Boston College went 7-13 in ACC play, good enough to finish tied for 10th in the conference, the highest finish under Christian. That season included a win over No. 18 Virginia. The Eagles got the tiebreaker to get the 10 seed in the ACC tournament, but they lost to Notre Dame by 22.

Last Game: Boston College led by 15 with 14:04 left in the 2nd half against Minnesota. However, the Gophers rallied back and sent the game into overtime. Minnesota then showed that free throws matter, hitting 7-of-8 from the charity stripe to win 85-80 over Boston College.

David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

“Fear Me, I’ve Killed Hundreds of Timelords”: Wynston Tabbs is Boston College’s leading scorer with 17.2 points per game, but Syracuse should be paying just as much attention to CJ Felder and Rich Kelly. The pair are averaging 10.8 points per game, and both are shooting at or above 50% from the floor and above 43% from three.

If Syracuse Wins: See? Jim Boeheim can win outside of New York before January.

If Syracuse Loses: How quickly does Boeheim agree with Coach K that it doesn’t feel right to play basketball right now?

Fun Fact: This will be Boston College’s first home game of the season. The Eagles’ first four games of the season were at Mohegan Sun and the game against the Gophers was in Minnesota.