Boston College athletic teams are called the
Eagles. They compete in NCAA Division I-A as members of the Atlantic
Coast Conference in all sports offered by the ACC. The men's and women's
ice hockey teams compete in Hockey East. (Skiing, fencing, and sailing
are also non-ACC.) Boston College is one of only 13 universities in the
country offering NCAA division I-A football, division I men's and
women's basketball, and division I hockey.
Principal athletic facilities include Alumni Stadium (capacity: 44,500),
Conte Forum (8,606), Kelley Rink (7,884), Shea Field, the Newton Soccer
Complex and the Flynn Recreation Complex. The Yawkey Athletics Center
opened in the spring of 2005. BC students compete in 31 varsity
sports[4] as well as a number of club and intramural teams. On March 18,
2002, Boston College's Athletics program was named to the College Sports
Honor Roll as one of the nation's top 20 athletic programs by U.S. News
and World Report.
Boston College athletes are among the most academically successful in
the nation, according to the NCAA's Academic Progress Rate (APR). In
2006 Boston College received Public Recognition Awards with 14 of its
sports in the top 10 percent of the nation academically. The Eagles tied
Notre Dame for the highest total of any Division I-A university. Other
schools having 10 or more sports honored included Navy (12), Stanford
(11), and Duke (11). Teams honored were football, men's fencing, men's
outdoor track, men's skiing, women's rowing, women's cross country,
women's fencing, women's field hockey, women's indoor track, women's
outdoor track, women's skiing, women's swimming, women's soccer, women's
tennis and women's volleyball. Boston College's football program was one
of only five Division I-A teams that were so honored. The other four
were Auburn, Navy, Stanford, and Duke.
As far as athletic success in the attention of the major media
spotlight, Boston College fared exceptionally well in 2005-06. Both the
Men's and Women's basketball teams made it to the Sweet Sixteen round of
their respective NCAA Tournament fields, the football team won the MPC
Computers Bowl, and the Men's hockey team advanced to the NCAA Men's Ice
Hockey Championship game, losing to Wisconsin 2-1.