It's all a little crazy until you start believing in the simple philosophies of success held by point guard Troy Bell and coach Al Skinner.

But the facts are the same: Boston College went from worst to first in the Big East, led by a point guard from Minneapolis, Minn., and the lowest key coach in the country.

The Eagles are 26-4 and a No. 3 seed in the East subregional in Uniondale, N.Y. Bell, a sophomore, is the co-Big East player of the year, averaging 20.3 points a game.

Lucky for Boston College that Minnesota never showed an interest in Twin Cities native Troy Bell.(AP)

And if the Twin Cities and the rest of the nation are still wondering about the Eagles and Bell, they are about to find out all about them.

Bell grew up 10 minutes from the University of Minnesota and was more than interested in playing college basketball for the Gophers.

"I kind of wanted to go to the University of Minnesota," Bell said. "But they never really showed much of an interest."

It has turned into one of the biggest recruiting misses in the game. Minnesota was in the middle of a difficult time when Bell blew up at the Academy of Holy Angels High School, in suburban Minneapolis. New coach Dan Monson had just taken over from Clem Haskins after an ugly academic scandal. It all resulted in Bell falling through the cracks.

Boston College, Xavier and Tennessee were major schools that offered and Bell connected with Skinner, himself a one-time overlooked high school player on Long Island who worked his way into a scholarship at Massachusetts and a seven-year NBA career.

Skinner isn't an aggressive recruiter. He lays it on the line, saying he will give a kid the opportunity to play, improve and win, but he expects self-motivation and discipline. That was it. No bells, no whistles. Bell loved it. He signed on and showed up in Chestnut Hill looking to prove everyone in the Big Ten wrong.

"I never really received the credit I felt I deserved (in high school), but its no big deal," Bell said. "So I definitely used that as motivation.

"I don't come into any situation with any preconceived ideas. The coaches told me I had a great opportunity to start, but they didn't make any guarantees. My goals were just to start, to get a feel for the guys and the program and to take it from there.

"I already knew I could score. That was never a problem. So I wanted to come in and to try to win some games, make some improvements, make some strides."

He strode his way to Big East rookie of the year honors, averaging 20.1 points a night and made the Basketball Times' freshman All-America team.

There were problems, though. The Eagles finished last in the Big East for the third consecutive year. There was a 12-game losing streak. Attendance at Conte Forum was embarrassing. Bell had the individual hardware, but as he watched the NCAA Tournament on CBS last March, he saw Tennessee, a team he could have played for, advance to the Sweet 16. He thought about transferring.

"You can't help but think about it," said Bell.

Bell met with Skinner, however, and the coach challenged his budding star like he challenged his final bench warmer. He told him to spend the summer working hard to get better. Bell went to work.

"We had guys on this team, Troy included, who committed themselves this summer to working hard and getting better," said Skinner, the Big East coach of the year. "We improved through hard work."

The results have been historical. Bell went from being a good player on a bad team, to the best player in a great league. Putting up impressive numbers when you are the only offensive option on a team that opponents are blowing out is one thing. Doing it when opposing teams are keying on stopping you as a critical part of winning is quite another.

It all started with an intense desire to win, a feeling shared with his coach. Bell and Skinner don't wear their emotions on their sleeves, but underestimating their desire for victory is a mistake.

"I don't worry about players being competitive," said Skinner. "Guys want to win. If I have to coach competitiveness, we are in trouble."

"You have to be competitive to be any kind of player in college," said Bell, who maintains a cool demeanor on the court. "But at the same time, you have to see the end result. You have to see what you want to do. You can't be enthusiastic all the time because you'll make some poor decisions. While there is that side of me that's really competitive, there's also that side that can calm down and realize what I have to do.

"I'm pretty much the same on and off the court. I'm just calm and collected and I just take things as they come. I don't get upset too much at all."

Bell and BC are a feel-good story, overlooked, under-appreciated, a team of champions without a single guy over 6-feet-8 and no one player who came anywhere near being named McDonald's All-American.

Which really doesn't matter to Bell. He's a college All-American, and that's all the sweeter. And the goal now is very simple: make the Final Four for the first time in school history.