Exactly 16 years ago today, March 20th, 2009. Minneapolis, Minnesota. The first round of the NCAA basketball tournament. As a 7-seed, Boston College lost to 10-seed USC by 17 points. Taj Gibson, DeMar DeRozen, and Dwight Lewis led the Trojans past an Eagles squad that featured Tyrese Rice, Corey Raji, Joe Trapani, and a freshman Reggie Jackson. Since that day, Boston College has never been invited back to the Big Dance.
Head coach Al Skinner had BC in a good place at that time, having journeyed through the Big East to ACC transition with ease and making March Madness appearances in five of his final seven seasons at the helm, including an appearance in the 2006 Sweet Sixteen.