Boston College aims to be first team to win championship in hometown in 26 years

The Terriers, who had been to five consecutive Final Fours, looked like a good bet to do it again this year in the tournament they are hosting. But it will be Boston University's Green Line rival, Boston College, trying to take the trolley to the title when the tournament starts Thursday.

"It's a unique experience for us, because we're three or four miles away. And we still have lobster sent to us" by the organizers, Boston College coach Jerry York joked Wednesday during a coaches' news conference. "We're excited about winning a championship. Certainly, to do it in our backyard would be a phenomenal thing for all of us."

Boston College (26-8-5) will play Ohio State (26-12-2) in the late game Thursday night, with Michigan (30-11-1) playing New Hampshire (25-11-1) in the afternoon. The championship is Saturday night.

Michigan, which won its eighth championship in 1996, is in its fourth consecutive Final Four and its sixth in seven years. New Hampshire is in its first.

All three games at the 18,000-seat FleetCenter are sold out, and the crowd figures to be heavily favored toward the two New England teams.

"We're going to be playing a very good hockey team in a hostile environment," said Ohio State coach John Markell, whose Buckeyes reversed last year's 12-25-2 record to qualify as the year's biggest surprise. "Playing in Boston against Boston College, with possibly 16,000 fans cheering against us, probably will wake us up pretty quickly."

You'd think so, but that's not necessarily the way it's worked in the past.

College hockey has gone 25 years without a local champion. And college basketball hasn't had a team win in its home city since UCLA in 1972 and '68, although Kansas ('88), N.C. State ('74) and Kentucky ('58) all won in their home states.

NCAA football titles are decided by bowl games and the polls, and the College World Series has stayed in Omaha, Neb., since 1950. The NFL is the only major professional sport with a rotating championship site, and no team has ever won the Super Bowl at home.

The hockey Final Four was held in Colorado Springs, Colo., for its first 10 years before going to neutral sites in 1958. Over the years, teams have mustered significant home-ice advantages - BU won twice just across the state line in Providence, R.I., Cornell won in Lake Placid, N.Y., and Wisconsin won in Duluth, Minn.

But, just as often, a "home" team failed to take home the trophy; Denver lost at home in 1964, and Minnesota lost the '81 game in Duluth and the '89 title in St. Paul.

York said his team, which plays at the FleetCenter for the Beanpot and in Hockey East tournaments, won't get any edge from knowing the arena's quirks. But not having to travel, plus having the students and alumni a "T" ride away, will help.

"Every 24 years, we'll get it, I guess," he sof the city's last Final Four. "It's good to be at home. It certainly is an advantage."

04-02-98