Boston College dominated the stretch of the rivalry, winning 15 of the 17 games, routinely blowing out the overmatched Minutemen.

[3] With BC's schedule increasingly filled with powerhouse I-A teams from outside New England, the annual rivalry entered a long hiatus after the 1982 game, and would not be played again for 30 years.

Starting in the 1990s, UMass administrators began talking about moving the football team to what was then still called Division I-A.

[4] In April 2011, UMass announced plans to join the Mid-American Conference and play the next year as the second Massachusetts member of the FBS.

[5] The first two games would be played in 2014 and 2016 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, a Boston suburb, about 30 miles south of Chestnut Hill.

For UMass, the games were a chance to test their mettle against the only other FBS team in the state and prove that they belong at the top level of NCAA football.

For Boston College, the "rivalry" was not as keenly felt, as the Eagles have had four decades to establish a long history of competition with top-tier programs outside New England.