“I brought up the idea to put a little wager on that game,” said Sean, an advisor in the College of Engineering. “Whoever wins that game, the baby comes home in the colors of the team that won.”

The game stayed on the TV in the hospital room until Monica went into labor, just before the second half. Their son, Luke, came home garbed in green and white, as MSU won the game 77-70.

When the Spartans and Eagles square off Dec. 28 in the Champs Sports Bowl, it will mark the fifth time in their four-year marriage that Sean and Monica’s beloved schools meet in their favorite sports: football, basketball and hockey.

“It’s just been really weird the way it’s worked out, because (MSU and Boston College) are not natural rivals at all — geographically, with conferences — nothing,” Sean said.

Model grads

As Sean and Monica were earning two degrees each from their respective schools, both were immersed in the college experience, working as resident assistants, making it to every football game and holding basketball and hockey season tickets.

“We’re the epitome of each institution’s grad,” said Monica, now an MSU doctoral student and graduate assistant. “We were really involved, really bought into what each institution was about, had really great student leadership experiences and were all about school pride.”

Sean, who proudly lifts his pant leg to expose a green block “S” tattoo on his right calf, said his wife’s devotion to her school was part of what brought them together.

“It was cool to meet someone from another Divison-I, nationally known school that had the same feelings for her school,” he said. “I thought, ‘Cool, now I can root for BC, too,’ never thinking they would meet this number of times.”

Richard Frost, vice president of Hope College, recruited Monica at a college administration hiring conference in 1999 and Sean a year later. The two met when Sean started working at Hope that fall and married in June 2003.

Frost said both hires exuded pride in their respective schools.

“Monica is Boston College,” he said. “And Sean was the same way about MSU ... He grew up at MSU, his dad was a faculty member there. That’s just where the sun rises and the sun sets for him.”

“A fraud”

While the Champs Sports Bowl means Boston College will send a school-record ninth consecutive football team to a bowl game, Monica said the school’s fan base is still disappointed with the season’s result.

“If we had won the (Atlantic Coast Conference) championship game, we’d be in a (Bowl Championship Series) bowl,” she said.

Boston College was ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation after beating Notre Dame eight weeks ago. Despite the team’s early success, Monica couldn’t believe her team was ranked as high as it was.

Boston College hadn’t played anybody and wasn’t tested, she said, until the Eagles scored two touchdowns in the last 2:11 to knock off then-No. 8 Virginia Tech on Oct. 25. Heisman Trophy candidate Matt Ryan tossed two late touchdown throws, and TV cameras caught him throwing up on the rain-soaked sidelines after leading his team to victory.

“That’s just a great story, no matter what school it is,” Monica said. “After that win, I thought we were legit, Ryan’s the real deal, he had all that Heisman talk and our defense was one of the best in the country.”

The team followed up Ryan’s gutsy performance with back-to-back losses to Florida State and Maryland.

“(The season) kind of felt like a fraud, almost,” she said. “After that, it just didn’t mean as much because I was so disappointed.”

Boston College fell 30-16 in a rematch against Virginia Tech Saturday for the ACC championship. With a promising season to an extent lost, Monica said a loss in the team’s Orlando bowl game wouldn’t sting as much as the losses Spartan teams have handed the Eagles in the past.

“I’d be sad for Boston College, but I’d be excited for MSU because I do think it’s a bigger deal for State,” she said.

Hockey heartbreak

Monica didn’t know anything about Michigan, let alone East Lansing, before Sean was offered a job with MSU in 2004.

“I couldn’t have even told you where (MSU) was,” she said. “Now I love MSU, I’m really happy here and have really bought into the whole (MSU) experience, but at the same time, I have to root for my alma mater. When my two teams come up against each other, I feel really torn.”

Of the times her two teams have met, Monica never felt more torn than when the hockey teams faced off in the national championship game in April.

Friends and family members called and sent e-mails to the couple before, during and after the game and would jokingly ask whether the couple was still married.

The Eagles led for most of the game, but a Spartan score midway through the third period tied it up. A goal with 18.9 seconds left on the clock snatched the game for MSU, who went on to win 3-1.

“That part was heartbreaking,” Monica said. “I moped around the house for a couple days.”

Sean said his celebration of the monumental win at the couple’s home in Lansing was much different from other MSU victories.

“(Monica)‘s usually the person I go and talk to because we talk about basketball or hockey or whatever,” he said. “But at that point, I knew I had to step away and go call my friend.”

Sean called Ahmed Fareed, a friend and former sports broadcaster for WILX in Lansing.

“I became Sean’s wife for that 30 minutes,” Fareed said. “He was desperate to get a hold of someone. MSU made this great achievement and he didn’t have anyone to celebrate it with. He had to get it out, and once he did, we talked for a good half hour.”

Sean said while a football win in the Champs Sports Bowl would mean a lot, it will be hard to match a national title game again.

“It’s a bowl game, it’s national exposure and it’s a big game for both teams, but what was at stake in that game was the pinnacle,” he said. “What’s at stake (now) isn’t on the same level as the national title game in hockey, for us.”

“A whole other beast”

Fareed said the Fochtmans’ MSU and Boston College ties and the two teams’ recent and frequent matchups have made for an interesting rivalry in their household.

“I don’t know how much longer their relationship can last if these MSU-BC matchups keep coming up,” Fareed said, jokingly. “I might have to provide some relationship counseling either way.”

Monica is due to have another child in March, just in time for Sean’s favorite season — March Madness.

“March is a whole other beast at our house,” Monica said. “I don’t see (Sean), I don’t talk to him.”

A framed picture of Sean holding then-9-month-old Luke with Tom Izzo graces the wall of Sean’s father’s office.

“It will be a part of our family history forever,” said Sean, who was a student from All-American point guard Mateen Cleaves’ freshman year through his national championship senior season.

While Sean went to the Final Four in 1999, a decision in 2000 prevented him from seeing the team win it all.

“I had tickets to the Final Four, and I had to choose between going to that and going to a conference and getting a job,” he said. “In our field, that conference is where you get jobs. If you don’t go to that, you’re done.”

Despite what was at stake, Sean said he actually battled with himself in his mind. He ended up going to the conference and getting the job that led to meeting his wife.

When the Spartans made it to a third straight Final Four in 2001, Monica caught a first glimpse at how passionate Sean was about the sport.

“She got to really see how intense I was,” he said. “That was her first taste, and thankfully, she stuck with me.”

Sean goes into what the couple calls “Man Mode” when the game is on.

“It’s like he’s out there playing,” Monica said. “He stands up, his face gets all red. (MSU) is just such a part of his life and a part of who he is and (those) were really important, great years for him, so I certainly understand and admire that.”

As a doctoral student in the College of Education, Monica is studying to enter the field of college administration, where the couple hopes their love for their schools will only continue to grow.

“Yes, we went to college, but we’ve both also chosen to work on college campuses with college students,” she said. “College, the college experience and sports will always be a big part of our lives because of what we’ve chosen to do for a living.”