This episode abounds in 1980's trivia. The weeping quarterback with the running eye black is poking fun at disgraced televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker whose mascara ran down her cheeks during a tearful television appearance in 1986. 1980's music references include Sledge reciting lines from The Police song 'Every Breath you Take' from their 1983 album 'Synchronicity.' Sledge also refers to a group of coeds as The Bangles. Later Sledge says he hopes to get home to 'watch something bad on the fourth network," a reference to the then-fledgling Fox network.
The title refers to the college cliché about a great athlete or popular guy at a college or university, Big Man on Campus or B.M.O.C.
Aubrey Morris appears in this episode. Morris also appeared in the Stanley Kubrick film "A Clockwork Orange" which was parodied in the episode "A Clockwork Hammer".