Ah, the beginning of October. It’s a magical time, when a good 20 college football teams are still dreaming of hoisting the glass football. That includes Boise State, oddly enough; the perennial mid-major Cinderella is counting its ifs for reaching the title game, according to the IDAHO STATESMAN, and none of them are entirely unreasonable.
(”Give me freedom or… wait, the Statue of Liberty doesn’t say that. Great, now I just look ridiculous.”)
But wait. It seems paradoxical, but is getting a non-BCS team to the BCS Championship Game really in the best interest of the non-BCS conferences? It really depends on your definition of the word “fair.”
For example, in light of the Utah Utes’ perfect season in 2008, one that included an annihilation of Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, the Utes’ inability to be so much as considered for the title - even as Harris Poll members freely admit they never watched Utah play football that season - so incensed the state that they pursued antitrust legislation against the BCS.
At issue was more than just bowl consideration, but a fairly lopsided inequality in monetary distribution, hardly a laughing matter in a bowl system that hands out hundreds of million dollars in bowl payouts a year. This, of course, did not stop the mid-major conferences from re-upping the BCS deal anyway, because cowardice is rooted in smart short-term accounting. Honestly, it is.
So given that the BCS system screwed Utah and routinely screws non-BCS teams (and conferences) out of the $17 million payouts in favor of lower-ranked, BCS conference champions, does admitting Boise State into a title game under circumstances that basically boil down to “we would be shot if we did not let a team with this resume in” absolve the BCS of blame?
Frankly, even as much as we love Boise and their brand of football - the Boise St.-Oklahoma 2007 Fiesta Bowl (click to open the full game in a new window) remains our favorite of all time - we’re not so sure that the scales even out if the Broncos play for a title.
Moreover, we’re worried that such a trump card: “Hey, when you’re an obvious #1, we’ll let you in” would cripple the non-BCS conferences’ case against the BCS, even as it remains a fundamentally unfair system geared toward filling the coffers of the Big Six conferences at the expense of the smaller D-I schools.
Look. Odds are that, given everything that has to go right for Boise State to get into a title game, this argument will be moot within a matter of weeks. Running the table is hard enough as it is, and the Broncos are at such a systemic disadvantage when it comes to polling and perceptions that they basically need to be the only undefeated team in the country while the top 1-loss contenders fall in conference championship play. We’re looking at a longshot here to begin with.
But though we, as college football fans, would enjoy seeing Boise Sate in the championship game, it kind of seems like the only way we’re going to see that cartel broken up is if the Broncos’ season is, for lack of a better term, martyred. Congress is a lumbering wildebeest, incapable of swift, just action under any circumstances. Obviously, the case against the BCS isn’t strong enough yet, even though people are willing to go homeless in order to fight it.
The only way it’s going to go away, then, is if it proves to be even more demonstrably unfair than is already apparent. A Boise State title shot doesn’t fix that.
10:38 am on October 1st, 2009
Oh, look, Boise State’s playing Hawaii! And New Mexico State! What a scary schedule!
11:52 am on October 1st, 2009
if the bcs system opens up and allows boise state in (should it work out), then it’s better than i thought. i don’t think that will happen though. i think an undefeated boise state will still be snubbed and just given a good bowl, like utah. the problem will be if they get destroyed in that bowl game… like hawaii a couple years ago. that will prolong this bcs mess.
i think boise state is a good team. they dismantled oregon, who has since proven totally legit. they can’t do anything about their conference except hope that it slowly gets better and gains more respect, which i think it currently is.
1:17 pm on October 1st, 2009
Kyle, no different than the out of conference dogs that Florida, LSU,Aub,Bama, whup up on annually.
1:25 pm on October 1st, 2009
Boise has been trying to schedule better nonconf games each year. (they have VA tech next year). They are being offerred crappy 2 for 1 games with good teams. Big teams don’t want to start their schedule off with a loss to a WAC team. Can’t blame them, but can’t blame Boise for not being able to play them. They gotta get outta the WAC….until then….keep winning.
1:42 pm on October 1st, 2009
You’ve got it backward.
They’re ranked #5 right now because they DO have a national rep and 1 early quality win. The teams in 1-4 will not run the table in all likelihood, (some play each other). Boise St. will only lose position if it takes OT or a last minute field goal to beat a creampuff like UC Davis, or something.
So they stand a good chance of locking better teams out of the title game.
1:46 pm on October 1st, 2009
Honestly, I agree that Florida, LSU, SEC teams in general, etc. tend to have weak out of conference games. But their in conference games are incredibly difficult (for the most part). However, a weak schedule doesn’t mean that undefeated means you deserve a BCS berth - even if it’s not your fault that you’re in the WAC with such terrible teams. Do I think Boise State’s a good team? Yes, as demonstrated against Oregon. Do I think they should go to the national championship if they’re the last undefeated team? Depends on who the others all lost to. Obviously, another thorn in the BCS system as opposed to a playoff system…
(And for the record, I’m a VA Tech alum who’s looking forward to playing Boise State next year - especially at FedEx Field right here in good ole’ DC.)
9:04 pm on October 1st, 2009
While the SEC and the Big 12 south have proven themselves (as a whole) over the years. I have been suprised to find out the big 10 is completely overrated, as well as watch the pac-1(usc) not do so well overall. The MWC has gotten better somehow and some of the eastern conf. have slid downhill. The truth about college sports is we really don’t know how good they are until they play each other. I’m hoping this BSU team gets a chance. They just look real tough this year.
9:35 pm on October 1st, 2009
Ihatethesec…yea Bama plays those weak teams like Virginia Tech. I have news for you, the Big Eleven is done. Troy would finish in the top half
1:04 am on October 2nd, 2009
I want to remind all you faquing ashholes who think it’s ok to diss Hawaii about their loss to Georgia in the Sugar Bowl how about Illinois getting their ash handed to them just as bad by USC. So what’s your point you lowlife caaksahker?
3:00 am on October 2nd, 2009
This is very reminiscent to me of Penn State’s situation in the 70’s. They ran the table, yet were declared #2 (by President Nixon no less) prior to their bowl game. Back then, Penn State was known as a ‘cow school’ (Agriculture Majors), and it took Paterno until ‘82 to finally gain enough respect to get to a National Championship Game and winning it.
Then, 3 years later, they were declared the ultimate underdog, facing the University of Miami (with Heisman winner Testaverde, Coach Jimmy Johnson, etc… who all came off their plane wearing Army fatigues, saying Penn State didn’t have a chance).
The press all declared the game a mopup with no chance for Penn State… Then the unthinkable happened. Yup, PSU won the national title with the defense intercepting Testaverde to end the game.
….
Yes, I am proud of what Boise State has done the past 10 seasons. When I moved to Boise in 98, no one knew of the football program, and they have grown leaps and bounds; first by entering Division I football combining smart recruiting, hard play, and then scheduling bigger and bigger opponents.
First, people from the east coast would call me with jokes about the blue Smurf Turf in 2000 (after the first bowl game played in Boise), and then with respect following the Fiesta Bowl victory over Oklahoma.
Boise State continues to grow, may enter a more competitive conference down the road, and are doing alot of things right, along with all the community support you can imagine.
I’m not sure if they are ready to play David to the BCS’s Goliath (ie. their Bowl System and voting structure), but it is interesting that they are once again being thrown into the spotlight to represent the little guys, just as Penn State was some 40 years ago.
If all goes well, history may well just repeat itself once again.
(disclaimer: I am a Penn State alum (82-85) and current Boise resident, but wanted to share the deja vu moments that I’ve been noticing)
11:15 am on October 2nd, 2009
I’m biased and open about it, But the BCS is Effed based on the fact the best two teams never end up playing each other. How many 10 teams does SC have to ruin at the end of each year to get a show @ Myers and his crew ?