Commonwealth Classic

The Commonwealth Classic
The Commonwealth Classic
Boston College; (10 wins)	2000; 2001; 2002; 2003; 2004; 2005; 2006; 2008; 2009; 2010;
UMass; (9 wins)	1995; 1996; 1997; 1998; 1999; 2007; 2011; 2013; 2014;

Commonwealth Classic
	Boston College Eagles UMass Minutemen
Sport	Men's basketball
First meeting	1995
Latest meeting	2014
Statistics
Meetings total	19
All-time series	Boston College 10–9

Last updated April 17, 2023

[Interactive fullscreen map]

Locations of Boston College and UMass

The Commonwealth Classic, also known as Commonwealth Cup^[1] or Governor's Cup (for the trophy awarded to the victor of the game),^[2] is the title of a basketball rivalry between Boston College and the University of Massachusetts. The name refers to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the New England state in which both universities are located. The game has been played a total of 19 times, with BC leading the series 10–9.

History

The first game between the two schools occurred December 8, 1905. Since then, UMass and BC have played each other irregularly over the course of their in-state rivalry. In 1995, the basketball rivalry was officially designated as the "Commonwealth Classic" by then-Massachusetts Governor William Weld and members of the Massachusetts General Court who were among the nearly 20,000 spectators to watch the game at the new FleetCenter (now the TD Garden). It was the first college basketball game played in the new arena. The first game holds the record for college basketball attendance in New England. The series had been held annually since 1995, until Boston College suspended the series in 2012.^[3]

UMass dominance in the 1990s

The 1990s were the best decade of UMass Minutemen Basketball as the Minutemen went to the 1996 Final Four and went 6–0 in the decade against Boston College. Their longest winning streak ever against their cross-state rivals.

BC dominance in the 2000s

After going 0–6 against UMass in the 90's, BC has bounced back and won the first seven games in the 2000s, going 7–0. This streak was snapped on December 12, 2007 when UMass edged BC 83–80.

2010s

The 2010 game, won by Boston College, was played at the TD Garden at a part of the Boston Tip-Off Classic. After UMass routed Boston College 82–46 in 2011 in Chestnut Hill,[4] BC ended the annual series in 2012.^[5] After a year hiatus, the rivalry was renewed in 2013 as a part of the Coaches vs. Cancer Boston Tip-Off. UMass won the 2013 game by a score 86–73^[6] and the 2014 game by a score of 71–62.^[7]

Results

Boston College victories	UMass victories

Date	Location	Winner	Score		Notes
Date	Location	Winner	BC	UM	Notes
January 26, 1979	Boston, MA	Boston College	82	70
December 29, 1990	Boston, MA	UMass	81	83
December 9, 1995	Boston, MA	UMass	57	65
January 18, 1997	Boston, MA	UMass	78	90
December 14, 1997	Boston, MA	UMass	57	65
December 12, 1998	Worcester, MA	UMass	45	75
December 4, 1999	Chestnut Hill, MA	UMass	67	74
December 17, 2000	Amherst, MA	Boston College	74	65
December 8, 2001	Chestnut Hill, MA	#13 Boston College	80	78
December 7, 2002	Amherst, MA	Boston College	80	62
December 6, 2003	Chestnut Hill, MA	Boston College	76	75
January 2, 2005	Amherst, MA	Boston College	67	48
January 3, 2006	Chestnut Hill, MA	Boston College	91	62
December 2, 2006	Amherst, MA	#11 Boston College	84	73
December 12, 2007	Chestnut Hill, MA	UMass	80	83
December 6, 2008	Amherst, MA	Boston College	85	81
December 23, 2009	Chestnut Hill, MA	Boston College	79	67
December 4, 2010	Boston, MA	Boston College	76	71
November 11, 2011	Chestnut Hill, MA	UMass	46	82
November 10, 2013	Boston, MA	UMass	73	86
November 16, 2014	Boston, MA	UMass	62	71

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References

↑ University of Massachusetts Media Guide (PDF)
↑ Boston Globe coverage of the 2006 Commonwealth Cup
↑ "Boston College Basketball Drops UMass from 2012–13 Schedule". 18 April 2012.
↑ "UMass 82, Boston College 46". ESPN.com. Associated Press. Retrieved 2013-11-26.
↑ ESPNBoston.com (17 April 2012). "BC bows out of hoop game with UMass". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2013-11-26.
↑ "Chaz Williams' big 2nd half leads UMass past Boston College". ESPN.com. Associated Press. Retrieved 2013-11-26.
↑ Ken Powtak. "UMass runs away from BC in 2nd half, 71–62". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 2014-11-16.

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[1] University of Massachusetts Media Guide (PDF)

[2] Boston Globe coverage of the 2006 Commonwealth Cup

[3] "Boston College Basketball Drops UMass from 2012–13 Schedule". 18 April 2012.

[4] "UMass 82, Boston College 46". ESPN.com. Associated Press. Retrieved 2013-11-26.

[5] ESPNBoston.com (17 April 2012). "BC bows out of hoop game with UMass". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2013-11-26.

[6] "Chaz Williams' big 2nd half leads UMass past Boston College". ESPN.com. Associated Press. Retrieved 2013-11-26.

[7] Ken Powtak. "UMass runs away from BC in 2nd half, 71–62". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 2014-11-16.

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The Commonwealth Classic
Boston College (10 wins)	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2008 2009 2010
UMass (9 wins)	1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2007 2011 2013 2014

v t e Boston College Eagles men's basketball
Venues	Roberts Center (1958–1988) Conte Forum (1988–present)
Rivalries	Boston University Harvard UMass
Culture & lore	Baldwin the Eagle "For Boston" 1978–79 point shaving scandal
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–10 1910–11 1911–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23

v t e UMass Minutemen basketball
Venues	Drill Hall (1899–1931) Curry Hicks Cage (1931–1993) William D. Mullins Memorial Center (1993–present)
Rivalries	Boston College
Culture & lore	Sam the Minuteman "Fight Mass"
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

v t e Atlantic Coast Conference rivalries
Conference	O'Rourke–McFadden Trophy (Boston College–Clemson) Boston College–Syracuse Boston College–Virginia Tech Clemson–Florida State Clemson–Georgia Tech Textile Bowl (Clemson–NC State) Tobacco Road (Duke–North Carolina–NC State–Wake Forest) Duke–North Carolina basketball/overall (lacrosse) Victory Bell (Duke–North Carolina football) Duke–NC State Duke–Wake Forest Florida State–Miami Jefferson-Eppes Trophy (Florida State–Virginia) Georgia Tech–Virginia Tech Miami–Virginia Tech North Carolina–NC State overall North Carolina–NC State North Carolina–Wake Forest NC State–Wake Forest South's Oldest Rivalry (North Carolina–Virginia) Pittsburgh–Syracuse Syracuse–Virginia Virginia–Virginia Tech (overall, football, and men's basketball)
Non-conference	Alabama–Clemson Alabama–Georgia Tech Auburn–Clemson Auburn–Georgia Tech Boston College–Harvard (men's basketball) Boston College–Holy Cross Green Line Rivalry (Boston College–Boston U) Commonwealth Classic (Boston College–UMass basketball) Boston College–UMass Cincinnati–Louisville (overall) The Keg of Nails (Cincinnati–Louisville football) River City Rivalry (Cincinnati–Pittsburgh) Clemson–Georgia Clemson–South Carolina Colgate–Syracuse Cornell–Syracuse (lacrosse) Duke–Maryland (men's basketball) City Game (Duquesne–Pittsburgh) East Carolina–NC State Florida–Florida State (football) Florida–Florida State (men's basketball) Florida–Florida State (baseball) Florida–Miami (football) Florida–Miami (baseball) Florida Cup (Florida–Florida State–Miami) Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate (Georgia–Georgia Tech) Georgia Tech–Tennessee Georgia Tech–Vanderbilt Hobart–Syracuse (lacrosse) Indiana–Notre Dame (men's soccer) Johns Hopkins–Syracuse (lacrosse) Johns Hopkins–Virginia (lacrosse) Kentucky–Louisville overall Governor's Cup (Kentucky–Louisville football) Kentucky–North Carolina (men's basketball) Louisville–Memphis Maryland–Virginia (football) Maryland–Virginia (lacrosse) Maryland–Virginia (men's soccer) Miami–Nebraska North Carolina–South Carolina Notre Dame–UCLA (men's basketball) Notre Dame–UConn (women's basketball) Penn State–Pittsburgh Penn State–Syracuse Backyard Brawl (Pittsburgh–West Virginia) Syracuse–UConn (overall) Syracuse–West Virginia Duel at the Diamond (VCU–Virginia baseball) VMI–Virginia Tech Virginia Tech–West Virginia
Notre Dame football rivalries	Boston College–Notre Dame Florida State–Notre Dame Georgia Tech–Notre Dame North Carolina–Notre Dame Miami–Notre Dame Notre Dame–Pittsburgh

Statistics
Boston College Eagles UMass Minutemen
Sport	Men's basketball
First meeting	1995
Latest meeting	2014
Meetings total	19
All-time series	Boston College 10–9