BC Bulletin

Boston College Football Could Play Spoiler Role Against CFP Contender: The Rundown

On Saturday, the Eagles could potentially knock out Georgia Tech from CFP contention—and cost the Yellow Jackets a bid to the ACC Championship.
Graham Dietz|
Nov 8, 2025; Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA; Boston College Eagles wide receiver Lewis Bond (11) runs the ball during the first half against the Southern Methodist University Mustangs at Alumni Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images
Nov 8, 2025; Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA; Boston College Eagles wide receiver Lewis Bond (11) runs the ball during the first half against the Southern Methodist University Mustangs at Alumni Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images | Eric Canha-Imagn Images

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Boston College Eagles

With two weeks of the college football season left, or three for some teams, now is the time to keep an eye on which teams are vying for a conference championship and could potentially reach the 2026 College Football Playoff.

On Saturday, Boston College football (1-9, 0-6 ACC) will host No. 14 Georgia Tech (8-1, 5-1), which currently sits atop the Atlantic Coast Conference ahead of No. 16 Miami, No. 19 Louisville, No. 20 Virginia, No. 23 Pittsburgh and unranked SMU, which all have three losses or less. BC’s game is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET and will be televised on ACC Network.

Pulling off an upset over the Yellow Jackets at Alumni Stadium on Saturday is highly improbable—the visitors are favored by 16.5 points—but the Eagles have a prime opportunity to play the role of spoiler against a program with legitimate ACC title aspirations.

If Georgia Tech were to win out, it would reach the CFP for the first time in program history—that is, from when the initial four-team CFP format was established in 2014 and revised in 2024 to a 12-team playoff.

In the latest CFP ranking, which ultimately gets decided by the College Football Playoff Selection Committee at the end of the regular season, No. 16 Georgia Tech was the second-highest-ranked ACC team in the group—Miami was ranked the highest in the conference at No. 15—beating out Virginia at No. 19, Louisville at No. 20 and Pitt at No. 22.

For BC, which currently has nothing to lose because it has not won a single game against an FBS opponent this year, it would arguably make sense to come into Saturday’s matchup with a spoiler mindset as added motivation.

BC head coach Bill O’Brien might not totally see it that way, but anything the Eagles can do to feel like they have something to play for should be considered in the locker room, especially considering the impact it would make on the college football landscape as a whole.

“I don’t think it’s that motivation specifically,” O’Brien said on Tuesday. “I think it’s more about, like, our last home game and being able to send the seniors out a winner. But I think our guys, you know, they approach every day [with the same attitude] and they compete.”

O’Brien added: “You know, we were out here for a while today, longer practice on a Tuesday, and they’re competing hard. They’re doing everything they can to try to go out there and win. So I don’t think it’s all about [spoiling Tech’s season]. I think it’s more about, ‘Hey man, keep banging on the door and keep trying to make plays so that we can get on the winning side of things.’”

Last season, although the circumstances were much different as far as records go, Syracuse knocked then-No. 6 Miami out of the ACC title game and the 2024 CFP with a 42-38 win. The Orange finished the regular season with a 9-3 record, and the atmosphere at the JMA Wireless Dome after the upset triumph sent shockwaves throughout the entire country.

Syracuse students rushed the field to celebrate the victory, which spoiled the Hurricanes season, and head coach Fran Brown instantly became a legend.

Why can’t BC and O’Brien try to make that same impact on Saturday?

Here is The Rundown, your daily stop for the latest Boston College athletics news, for Thursday, Nov. 13.

Thursday's Schedule

Women's Hockey: vs. Boston University, 6 p.m. ET | Preview | Watch | Live Stats

Wednesday's Results

Women's Basketball: Boston College 92, Rider 52 | Box

Did You Notice?

  • Boston College men's basketball officially signed four-star guard Trey Beamer on Wednesday.
  • Boston College football picked up a commitment from 2026 linebacker Demetrius Thompson, who flipped from Southeast Missouri State.
  • No. 18 Boston College men's hockey goaltender Louka Cloutier was named the Hockey East Rookie of the Week after the Eagles' road series at Vermont, in which the true freshman goalie surrendered just one goal in BC's two wins.

Boston College Eagles Quote of the Day:

“My father (Barry) was a great player in high school (in Fairhaven) and played at Brown. He became my coach when I was very young. We just kind of clicked, and it took off from there. He demanded fundamentals. He is still a terrific role model. My other role model was my high-school coach, Nancy Woicik. She played at Westwood High for Kathy Delaney-Smith, the current coach at Harvard, and also played at Providence with Kerry Phayre, who is now the coach at Assumption. She is heavily connected in women's basketball. When she coached me at Foxboro, she had two young kids. So she taught me you can be a great mother and a great coach and have that balance in your life. She remains one of my dearest friends. I consulted her about taking this job."

- Sarah Behn

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Graham Dietz
GRAHAM DIETZ

Graham Dietz is a 2025 graduate of Boston College and subsequently joined Boston College On SI. He previously served as an editor for The Heights, the independent student newspaper, from fall 2021, including as Sports Editor from 2022-23. Graham works for The Boston Globe as a sports correspondent, covering high school football, girls' basketball, and baseball. He was also a beat writer for the Chatham Anglers of the Cape Cod Baseball League in the summer of 2023.

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