Preview: no. 18 UConn vs. Boston College

Folks, welcome to yet another Thirsty Thursday.

Sorry, scratch that.

*Bloodthirsty Thursday.

After years of cross-conference seething and recent weeks of blazing spitfire in the direction of Chestnut Hill, UConn-BC is finally here. The teams last met on equal ground back in 2005, when the Eagles flew out of the XL Center with a 75-70 win behind 17 points from current Los Angeles Clipper Jared Dudley.

Now, they're headed in opposite directions.

BC basketball has reveled in irrelevance since the Dudley era, while UConn has, you know, been to a couple Final Fours and brought home a national championship. In 2013, the Huskies have battered their last three opponents, outscoring them by an average margin of 86-59. Meanwhile, Boston College dropped games to UMass, Providence and Toledo, before they slipped by Florida Atlantic.

At this point, there's more blood in the water than there is water.

This game can't start soon enough.

COVERAGE

TV- ESPN2, ESPN3

Radio- WTIC, WHUS

Twitter- @TheUConnBlog, @NoEscalators

VEGAS, BABY

UConn is favored at every stop by 9.5 points. Here's how your friends will look post-game, if they take the Huskies.

GET CAUGHT UP

The last time we saw them, the Huskies topped BU at home, 77-60. Since then, John Rook has taken a lengthy look at rivalry and how it pertains to the renewed UConn-BC series.

STORYLINES

#BEATBC

Oh, and the winner of this game will play the victor of Indiana-Washington tomorrow at around 7:30 p.m. The loser will tip-off at 5 p.m. from the Garden against the loser of IU-Washington.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

UConn

G- His first name rhymes with "jazz": The 6' 1" senior captain continues to lead the team in rebounding at 9.5 per game.

F- Neils Giffey: Does Herr Blitzkreig return after hoisting only two shots against BU?

F- DeAndre Daniels: He's baaa-aaack.

Boston College

G- Olivier Hanlan: Most important— Averages 24.5 points per game and is the reason some crazy people like BC as an ACC sleeper (L O L). Most fun—Hanlan is Canadian and was recruited by Rice. Yes, they have a basketball team.

F- Ryan Anderson: Anderson's slowed down from a smoking hot start, but the junior is still a very good player, who must be kept under wraps—particularly on the boards.

F- Patrick Heckman: 6' 7" German who likes to shoot threes. Sound familiar?

PREDICTIONS

Andrew: UConn, 77-59

Aman: UConn, 84-68

Mac: UConn, 65-61

Rich: UConn, 74-59

John: UConn, 88-76

5-5, kids. Time to #BeatBC