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2008 Boston College Basketball Predictions and Season Preview

Written by Steve Janus

Last Season
Boston College showed some obvious signs of growing pains last season, finishing the year just 14-17 overall and a dismal 4-12 in the ACC, their worst conference record since joining the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2006. The Eagles failed to reach any kind of post-season play in 2007-08, but they do return three starters for this season, including their leading scorer last season, point-guard Tyrese Rice, who averaged 21 points per game including an impressive 46 point performance against North Carolina. Rice will again be the focus of the BC offense, but will hopefully find ways to spread some of the point-scoring responsibility with his teammates. The Eagles aren’t inspiring a lot of confidence in the college basketball betting community, where Boston College is at +3000 odds to win the ACC this year.

Frontcourt
The Eagle’s front court was not a source of strength for the team last season. They are still young down low in 2008, but will be asking those young players to assume key rolls in the offense and defense. Center Josh Southern is a sophomore that turned in a very promising freshman season. In limited playing time, Southern averaged 5.7 points per game and 3.4 rebounds. He will be called upon to play a much bigger role for the team this year. Forward Tyler Roche will be a familiar face to Boston College fans. He started 23 games last season and it looks like he will maintain that spot going into this season. The Eagles are hopeful that Vermont transfer, Joe Trapani can step in and be a defensive force, including blocking shots, something they feel is their biggest weakness. Corey Raji, Cortney Dunn, and Evan Ravendel will also rotate in to the forward position as head coach Al Skinner has made it very clear that he wants to keep fresh bodies on the floor, particularly in the front court.

Backcourt
Last year the back court was dominated by point guard Tyrese Rice, who returns for his senior year as the obvious leader of the team. A scoring machine last season, coach Skinner has asked Rice to spread the ball around more and focus on taking high-percentage shots. He certainly doesn’t want to lose Rice as a threat on the floor, but feels like too much of the burden was on Rice to score every point for his team. One of those players that should get a few more looks this year is guard Biko Paris, who acted as Rice’s right-hand man last year and should see even more playing time in 2008. Boston College’s 2nd leading scorer from last year, Rakim Sanders will also be returning in for this season at the two guard position. Sanders averaged 11.3 points per game and should see even more touches as Rice continues to spread the ball around. On the bench the Eagles have freshman guards Dallas Elmore and Reggie Jackson, both bigger-type guards that will hopefully add some size and depth to this backcourt. The guards are the obvious strength of this team, but there is some concern about the lack of experience coming in off of the bench.

Final Thoughts
The Boston College Eagles should be an improved team this year. They return 3 of their 5 starters, including their top two scoring guards. The real question for them will be if Tyrese Rice can be as effective as a distributer while remaining the team’s best offensive option. There are plenty of questions for the big men for the Eagles as well, who lack experience and aggressiveness. The Eagles should improve their standing in the ACC compared to last year, but don’t expect them to grow by leaps and bounds over last year. A post-season bid would be a great step in the right direction, but don’t expect a Cinderella Story out of Boston College, who is currently at +10000 odds to win the NCAA Championship.

We are ready for another tremendous college basketball betting season in 2008. Be sure to check out our comparative NCAA basketball odds every day and, if you want to make some major cash this season, you need to grab the college basketball picks from our team of expert handicappers.

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