After leaving the Big East, Boston College is hardly coming into the ACC under the radar.
The Eagles return four starters from a squad that went 25-5 last season and climbed as high as No. 3 in the polls.
"We're coming into this league with some respectability, and I think that's important," head coach Al Skinner said. "When Boston College shows up it won't be, 'Boston College who?,' and I think my players are excited about that. They're obviously excited about the challenge."
Despite being the new kids on the block, the Eagles are expected to make some noise in their first season in the league. Chosen second in the ACC's preseason poll, Boston College boasts something that few ACC teams enjoy this season-experience.
The Eagles are led by senior power forward Craig Smith and junior wing Jared Dudley, both 2004 All-Big East first-team selections. Junior wing Sean Marshall and senior guard Louis Hinnant round out a core group of returning starters. The four helped earn the Eagles a No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament before Skinner's squad was bounced in the second round by Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
"We're coming into a new venue and the more experience you have the more it's going to help you," Skinner said. "We're happy that we're able to come in with this type of experience, and that's really going to be important for us if we're going to have any chance to be successful."
Boston College will encounter a number of challenges in its transition from the Big East to the ACC, however. The Eagles will have to adapt to their new league's style of play, which is more run-and-gun than the Big East.
"The Big East is more physical, more bumping and grinding," Dudley said. "I'd say the ACC is more up and down, hoisting threes."
Despite these expectations, Smith said the Eagles will continue to play to their strengths, regardless of what other teams throw at them.
"As far as being a physical team we're going to keep at it, it got us W's," Smith said. "Wear and tear on people, beat 'em down, we're going to keep going with it.... Blue collar guys, the hard workers, that's what we are."
Boston College also faces a grueling travel schedule. Maryland, the Eagles' closest ACC competitor, is more than 400 miles from Boston.
Even with these challenges, Skinner said he expects his team to adapt smoothly to its new conference.
"I like to think that we're going to be OK," Skinner said. "We've had our share of success on the road, and I like to think that we'll be able to go in and kind of hold on."
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