The Boston College men’s basketball squad will travel down to Kentucky to take on the Louisville Cardinals tonight at 7:00 pm ET.

Louisville is 11-5 over all and 2-1 in ACC play. Getting adjusted to Chris Mack’s system, the Cardinals thrived in Chapel Hill on Saturday and stomped the Tar Heels, 83-62. If you’re Jim Christian’s Eagles, this isn’t the most fortuitous time to travel to the KFC Yum! Center. (More on the KFC! Yum Center later.)

 

Boston College is 0-3 in ACC action and 9-6 on the year. The Eagles will be without one of their offensive weapons, freshman guard Wynston Tabbs.

Louisville is favored by 10.5 points and the Over/Under is 147 points.

Frankly, the Eagles won’t be expected to do much tonight, and that will probably be the case, but that’s not the point of this piece.

Take a look at both programs:

Louisville’s program faces two scandals (Strippers & Pay To Play), which forced the school’s administration to can coaching legend Rick Pitino. David Padgett steps in, on an interim basis, to coach the Cardinals for the 2017-18 season; and then Louisville goes out and hires Chris Mack to guide the program into the future. Mack had built Xavier into a Top 20 team and was one of the hottest coaching candidates in the nation. Louisville goes big.

Ricky P. with his Louisville national championship ink

 

Boston College was faced with a coaching change, at the end of the 2013-14 season, and former athletic director Brad Bates hired Jim Christian. As a head coach, Christian enjoyed success at Kent St., struggled at TCU resulting in his dismissal, and then put together two fine seasons at Ohio University. B.C. did not go big.

Louisville simply reloaded by hiring Chris Mack. Boston College made a nice hire for a MAC school. At this moment, B.C. would struggle to win an Ivy League crown and Chris Mack is focusing on winning a national championship. Yet, both schools compete in the ACC.

The Cardinals play in the KFC Yum! Center, which cost $238 million to construct in 2010 and seats 22,090. The Eagles play at Silvio O. Conte Forum, which cost $25 million to build in 1988 and holds an intimate 8,606. Louisville’s on-campus practice facility, the Yum Center (not to be confused with the the KFC Yum! Center) cost $15.2 million to build in 2007. These two programs compete in the same conference but operate in different realities.

“Never Nervous” Pervis Ellison leading the way in 1985.

 

Boston College is an Atlantic 10 program and the Louisville Cardinals are gearing up to perennially challenge Duke, North Carolina, Virginia and Syracuse for an ACC title.

So, how will the game go tonight? You do the math.

 

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