College Football

Boston College Football Team Opts Out of Bowl Game This Season

BC became the first bowl-eligible team this year to opt out of a bowl game

BC football passes on playing in bowl game this year originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

After the Boston College football team beat Louisville in late November to become bowl-eligible, head coach Jeff Hafley seemed excited about the Eagles' trip to a bowl game, saying "It’s awesome because they deserve it."

But two weeks later, it's an entirely different story at the Heights, with BC becoming the first bowl-eligible team this year to opt out of a bowl game.

Athletic director Pat Kraft and Hafley announced that BC's players elected to withdraw from bowl consideration, saying that the decision was fully supported by the Boston College administration. For a team that only had one player test positive for COVID-19 this season, the uncertainty looming over any future game was the deciding factor.

"They're worn out," Hafley said about his players during a Zoom call. "As we look now with other teams continuing to battle COVID, it's getting worse, and for us to go through three weeks of practice, continue to stay healthy, continue to stay away from our families and then not know is the bowl game really going to happen? Are we going to miss Christmas with our families and then be told on the 25th that we're really not going to play?"

The Eagles end their season with a 6-5 record, including a 5-5 record within the conference, their most ACC wins in over a decade. Boston College had three close losses against Top 15 teams, including a six-point loss to No. 1 Clemson and a 14-point defeat to No. 2 Notre Dame.

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