The Boston College Eagles are getting a new home this holiday season. For one game, they're leaving Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill and trading it in for Fenway Park.
The Eagles will face 17th-ranked Southern Methodist University in the Wasabi Fenway Bowl on Dec. 28, at 11 a.m., airing nationally on ESPN. Tickets can be purchased at FenwayBowl.com/tickets.
This will be BC's first appearance in the Fenway Bowl, which was set to begin in 2020 but is hosting its second game after twice being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Eagles are 6-6 and bowl eligible for the third time in four years under head coach Jeff Hafley and bowl eligible for the seventh time in eight seasons. BC rallied from 1-3 to earn bowl eligibility for the first time since 2017. SMU were 11-2 this season and won the American Athletic Conference.
"We're excited to be staying close to home for our students and fans to get one more chance to see us play," Hafley said in a statement Sunday. "Boston is a great sports town, one that we're proud to be a part of every day and now we get to be a part of the growing tradition of postseason football in New England. And for our team, we get a chance to play on a field in our own backyard that few get the opportunity to and will do so competing against one of the top teams in the country and a future conference rival."
This will be the first time since 1986 that BC and SMU will play each other. The only previous meeting was a 31-29 SMU win in Dallas in 1986.
Starting next year, they'll both be playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference when they, along with California and Stanford, join the ACC.
Fenway Park was Boston College's home field from 1936-1945 and again from 1953-1956. They last played there in 2017 as the road team against Connecticut in a 39-16 win.