Boston College teams are known as the Eagles. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) sub-level for football), primarily competing in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) for all sports (except men's lacrosse) since the 2005-06 season. The Eagles formerly competed as a charter member of the Big East Conference from 1979-80 to 2004-05. Up to that point, Boston College was the only Big East member affiliated with the Catholic Church that played football in the conference. All the football-playing members of the Big East are now secular (usually public) institutions. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, fencing (non-ACC), football, golf, ice hockey (non-ACC), lacrosse (non-ACC), sailing (non-ACC), skiing (non-ACC), soccer, swimming, tennis, and track & field; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, fencing (non-ACC), field hockey, golf, ice hockey (non-ACC), lacrosse, rowing, sailing, skiing, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track & field and volleyball. The men's and women's ice hockey teams compete in Hockey East; while the women's rowing team competes in the Eastern Association of Women's Rowing Colleges (EAWRC) as well as the ACC; and the co-ed skiing, fencing and sailing teams are non-ACC/NCAA. Boston College is one of only thirteen universities in the country offering NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly, I-A) football, Division I men's and women's basketball, and Division I hockey.

The mascot for all Boston College athletic teams is the Eagle, generally referred to in the plural, i.e., "The Eagles". The character representing the mascot at football, hockey, and basketball games is an American bald eagle named Baldwin, derived from the "bald" head of the American bald eagle and the word "win". The school colors are maroon and gold. The fight song, For Boston, was composed by T.J. Hurley, class of 1885.

In hockey and (less famously) baseball, Boston College participates in the annual Beanpot tournaments held at TD Banknorth Garden and Fenway Park, respectively. Boston College competes in the Beanpot against the three other major sports colleges in Boston: the Northeastern University Huskies, Harvard University Crimson, and Boston University Terriers. BC has reached the championship game 31 times and has won the Beanpot 16 times, including the 2010, 2011 and 2012 championships. The less renowned baseball tournament, was first played in 1990 and out of seventeen baseball Beanpots, Boston College has won nine, last winning in 2008. The baseball team also plays an exhibition game against the Boston Red Sox at City Of Palms Park in Ft. Myers, Florida during Major League Baseball's spring training. The men's hockey team won the 2008 NCAA Championship on April 12, 2008 with a 4–1 victory over the University of Notre Dame in Denver, Colorado, and the 2010 NCAA Championship with a 5–0 victory over Wisconsin on April 10, 2010.

Principal athletic facilities include Alumni Stadium (capacity: 44,500), Conte Forum (8,606), Kelley Rink (7,884), Eddie Pellagrini Diamond at John Shea Field (1,000), the Newton Soccer Complex (1,000), and the Flynn Recreation Complex. The Yawkey Athletics Center opened in the spring of 2005. BC students compete in 31 varsity sports as well as a number of club and intramural teams. On March 18, 2002, Boston College's Athletics program was named to the College Sports Honor Roll as one of the nation's top 20 programs by U.S. News & World Report.

Boston College athletes are among the most academically successful in the nation, according to the NCAA's Academic Progress Rate (APR). In 2006 Boston College received Public Recognition Awards with fourteen of its sports in the top 10% of the nation academically. The Eagles tied Notre Dame for the highest total of any Division I-A university. Other schools having ten or more sports honored included Navy, Stanford, and Duke. Teams honored were football, men's fencing, men's outdoor track, men's skiing, women's rowing, women's cross country, women's fencing, women's field hockey, women's indoor track, women's outdoor track, women's skiing, women's swimming, women's soccer, women's tennis, and women's volleyball. Boston College's football program was one of only five Division I-A teams that were so honored. The other four were Auburn, Navy, Stanford, and Duke.

There is a medical service.

Student media
Newspapers

• The Heights,[the principal student newspaper, published twice-weekly; established in 1919
• The Gavel, an independent progressive student magazine; launched on October 27, 2009. The Gavel is a mainly web-based publication and updates daily, while it prints monthly.
• The Observer,[ a conservative student newspaper founded on the principles of the Catholic Church
• The Rock, an independent student online publication recognized by the University. Launched on September 26, 2011
• The New England Classic, a satirical newspaper unrecognized by the university but regularly published and distributed on campus; launched in Fall 2007 and is independently funded.
• Broadcasting
• The BC, a widely acclaimed parody of The OC featuring students, Jesuits, and administrators
• Boston College Television (BCTV), a student-run cable television station formerly featuring a show known as Now You Know,[98] but now reports on student life, sports, entertainment, and other subjects
• WZBC, 90.3 FM, the student-run radio station which provides independent and experimental music
• Other notable publications
• Sub Turri, the Boston College yearbook, published since 1913
• The Stylus of Boston College,the undergraduate literary magazine, founded in 1886
• Elements Undergraduate Research Journal, the premier undergraduate research journal of Boston College, published biannually
• Al-Noor: The Boston College Undergraduate Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Journal, one of the only undergraduate Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Journals in the world.
• Kaleidoscope International Journal, the international relations and global studies journal of Boston College