Taking a cue from fellow WAC member Boise State, Boston College has installed blue turf in Alumni Stadium.

In a WAC-ky turn of events, Athletic Director Gene DeFilippo was informed yesterday that BC will be moving to the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) next season.

The Eagles had previously expected to be a part of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) starting in the fall of 2005.

"Umm ... yeah ... I don't really know what happened," DeFilippo said about the sudden change in plans.

Responding to accusations of a conspiracy, Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese denied nothing.

"Simply put, we screwed them over," said Tranghese. "We already lost two teams, there was no way we were letting such a prestigious institution like BC leave and get what they wanted. Think of what that does to our reputation."

It appears that mutual backroom dealings between the ACC and Big East may have caused this debacle. According to Depths sources deep within ACC headquarters, the wording of the contract stated BC would move "to a conference on one of the coasts," never specifically mentioning which one.

"Hey, the whole thing's news to me, but I won't complain," WAC commissioner Karl Benson said. "Our conference champ [Utah] had a 36 percent graduation rate, so we'll take all the help we can get."

Things are not all bad for the Eagles. Instead of mundane road trips to athletic shrines such as Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium, Florida State's Doak Campbell Stadium, and UNC's Dean Dome, BC will get to visit such exotic locales as Boise, Idaho and Ruston, La.

"We're disappointed cause our guys had been looking forward to playing against the great teams down in the ACC," said Al Skinner, BC's head basketball coach. "But I guess traveling 2,500 miles to El Paso, Texas might be a good time."

There are certainly drawbacks to heading to the WAC for BC. Moving to a non-BCS conference will cost the athletic department millions and the conference typically only sends one, occasionally two, teams to the men's basketball tournament.

"We understand that students may be a little disappointed, but we really think this will work out in the end," DeFilippo said. "The potential rivalry between us and the Rice Owls could be heated. Owls are already natural rivals with Eagles in the skies, so they might as well be the same on the court."

Boston Globe beat writer Tex Mullins also sees a silver lining hiding out in the Mountain time zone.

"Think of all the puns our guys can use in their headlines now: 'Eagles caught in Golden Hurricane,' 'Eagles fly over Rainbow [Warriors],' 'Miners can't find [Maroon and] Gold,'" Mullins said. "The possibilities are endless."

DeFilippo is still trying to figure exactly how the mix up occurred. An unnamed source close to the ACC stated that Appalachia trips down to ACC country informed residents of the "frigid temperatures" and "wicked crazy blizzards," scaring many of the warm-weather fans and possibly prompting the ACC's change of heart.

"In the end, I think moving into the WAC will do a lot for the University," said University President Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J. "We've had trouble recruiting our lone student from Wyoming, Utah, and Idaho lately."

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