The debate begins: Does Boise belong in BCS title game?
We can argue. We will argue. Heck, we’re arguing already. But the way has been cleared for Boise State to play for the BCS title.
The Broncos did what they needed to do to make their case. They traveled cross-country and beat a good Virginia Tech team on a neutral field that wasn’t all that neutral. They came from behind to win at the end, and now the burden of proof is on the BCS — the voters in the two human polls and the computers — to keep Boise out of Glendale, Ariz.
We’re going to hear about strength of schedule. We’re going to hear that Boise has only one real chance to lose — against Oregon State on Sept. 25 — the rest of the way. But an undefeated Boise would be awfully hard to deny no matter what else happens anywhere else in college football. And if a place in the title game comes down to an once-beaten Alabama or a once-beaten Iowa against a never-beaten-for-two-years Boise … well, that’s the decision the BCS dreads.
Because if Boise is the choice then a lot of BCS-level programs will scream, “Put them in our league(s) and have them play our schedule and see how long they stay undefeated.” But if Boise isn’t the choice, the BCS knows full well what’s coming.
A full-blown Congressional investigation. Impassioned demands for a playoff grid from everyone who loves an underdog. (And really, who doesn’t love an underdog?) Perhaps even the end of the BCS as we know it, which would be an altogether good thing for everyone except the Broncos.
Say what you will about Boise State and its blue field and its modest conference. But there’s nothing modest about what the Broncos did Monday night in our nation’s capital. A ton of football remains to be played in 2010, but no single game stands to cast the giant shadow of this Boise victory. And if you’re asking me if I think an undefeated Boise State deserves a shot at the BCS title, the answer is …
Absolutely.
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265 comments Add your comment
virginia dog
September 7th, 2010
8:30 am
NO… all we know is that they can beat the best team in the ACC. Heck last year the best team in the ACC had the football rammed down there throats by two non ACC teams Georgia & Iowa and no one thought either of them desired a shot at the national championship.
all this game really showed is what a choker the ACC is in general and Va Tech is in particular. Va Tech is 1 & 26 aganist top 5 teams. that’s why they are called the chokies.
Sid
September 7th, 2010
8:30 am
What are they ……………..one and zero……………??
Brad
September 7th, 2010
8:31 am
Several good points are being made here, and I agree that Boise or any team would have trouble winning it all in the SEC. But what Boise is actually doing here by consistently winning the games they have in front of them, is moving us all a lot closer to a playoff system. And that’s a good thing, because it’s the only true way of separating the men from the boys. Then there should be no questions. When you think about it as we all have many times, Division I College Football is about the only sport that really matters that doesn’t crown their champion solely on the field. And that is pretty unbelievable in 2010! Makes for good arguments, but that’s about it.
Forsyth Dawg
September 7th, 2010
8:31 am
No – this is just like Hawaii from 2007. All the sports writers will be gushing over Boise State and they’ll make it to a BCS game where they’ll get slaughtered by a SEC team. There are WAY too many teams in Division I. This is a joke.
JR
September 7th, 2010
8:31 am
The last time Boise was beaten in the WAC was by Hawaii, who went undefeated in 2007. They played Georgia, who did not win the SEC, and everyone remembers the massacre at the Sugar Bowl. Sorry, but going undefeated in the WAC just is not much of a test. I will admit, they looked good for most of the game last night, but at this point, no one really knows the quality of anyone’s opponents.
Dr. Kenneth Noisewater
September 7th, 2010
8:34 am
i say NO, but if ESPN gets behind them (like they do with all the popular teams of the day), then who knows what kind of effect that will have on the polls.
meh
September 7th, 2010
8:39 am
Boise State wouldn’t go undefeated in any of the BCS conferences except maybe the Big East.
Lindsey
September 7th, 2010
8:40 am
Although that was a great game last name, I think that Boise’s schedule can’t compare to other divisions. That is why we need a playoff system!! GO DAWGS!!
Richie Dawg
September 7th, 2010
8:40 am
This is just one game. We’ll have to see how the rest of the season plays out. If BS goes undefeated and VT has a great season and wins the ACC then I think you have to put BS at the top. But there is a lot of football to be played yet. If BS had to play an SEC tyype schedule every week, they woud certainly lose a couple of games.
Tell It Like It Is
September 7th, 2010
8:42 am
This is the best opportunity to go to a playoff for the national championship like every other NCAA sport. The system as is sucks. If Boise State played in the SEC or the Big Ten, they would be lucky to win five games. Everyone knows it including the NCAA. The issue is money. Take that away and we get a true national champion. Since the biggest contributor to the NCAA war chest is TV revenue, maybe ESPN and the others can bring a solution if they refuse to pay the big bucks to the NCAA and the conferences for rights to televise the games unless a playoff system is developed. With all the worthless bowl games, surely the conference champions could play in these bowls in an elimination process. If the TV networks do not act, then things will stay the same and some teams will be left out of National champion recognition.
DawginLex
September 7th, 2010
8:44 am
Until we get a playoff, we will never really know.
I do know that boise has some players.
I do know that Boise’s schedule is a joke.
I do know that we play Sc then Arkansas then MSU then colorado then Tennessee while Boise plays Nevada and Wyoming blah blah blah.
Richard Tardits
September 7th, 2010
8:46 am
I can’t believe this is being discussed on September 7th. I thought Heisman’s and crystal footballs are handed out after the 12th or 13th game is played.
jim
September 7th, 2010
8:47 am
The situation with Boise speaks to exactly what is wrong with the college football system in the first place. They are a nice team who essentially plays no one all year, with one or maybe two exceptions. Given the present system, they must be considered in the BCS mix. I personally think they would be a doormat in several conferences but we have what we have as a system. So, yes, put them there and maybe they will be the catalyst to change a horrible system.
Eraserhead
September 7th, 2010
8:50 am
It’s laughable to even imagine Boise in the national championship game. If LSU had Boise’s schedule, the Tigers would go 12-0. Let Boise play an SEC or even Pac-10 schedule and see what happens.
Nate
September 7th, 2010
8:50 am
If they played in the acc or sec, they would get even better recruits and be even better.
eastofA1A
September 7th, 2010
8:54 am
Let’s see where VPI ends up at the end of the season. They didn’t even win the division of their conference last year. Although if they hadn’t spotted Boise 17 quick points they would have won easily. Maybe at the end this win won’t help Boise that much.
Ted M
September 7th, 2010
8:54 am
It all depends on how other teams finish. If you have 2 other teams finishing real strong with tougher schedules then no. They only play one good team this year so most likely no.
blue
September 7th, 2010
8:58 am
SEC Rules
September 7th, 2010
12:22 am
In the SEC, Boise St. would lose 2-3 games. In their creampuff conference, they have no hard games. End of story.
Yeah, SEC rules; we’ve heard it for years. Any team that goes undefeated would have 3 losses in the SEC. And the SEC championship game is always the REAL NC game. We got it…really.
coachx
September 7th, 2010
8:58 am
Boise St. looked great last night. Their QB was able to make plats in the clutch. VT’s QB could not rely on his arm when he needed to in crunch time, though he is a solid multi threat QB.
Lets not get a head of ourselves. This is the 4th season opener in a row that VT has lost. sure their a solid program but does beating VT and Oregon St. equate to BCS Championship Game spot ? Lets hope not.
Dawgman
September 7th, 2010
8:59 am
Mark, you can never be critical of a weak schedule again. You have killed the SEC on this topic the last 10 years despite it;s obvious attempt to schedule weaker out of conference teams due to the strength of conference rivalries coupled with some very competitive out of conference state rivalries (Ga Tech). Boise State fits your “playoff mantra” but their scheduling is why we should never know if they were good enough to play “week in and week out” like teams from the major BCS conferences
RGP
September 7th, 2010
9:02 am
Boise State looked better than I thought. Moore is a clutch quarterback and their running game surprised me. VT played awful to start the game and the blocked punt hurt also. It would be interesting to see how BSU would do playing in the SEC or Pac 10 or some good conference where you have tough games every week not 2 tough games a season.
GT
September 7th, 2010
9:04 am
The problem with preseason polls and parity is when we cannot decide on the better team we go with the tradition of that team which does not work any more, except in the television revenues. We worry about an undefeated Boise State yet we give a bottom of the top 20 team like Ohio State a berth in the championship game entirely too much. This Va. Tech team is not even the best team in the ACC yet we act like we are seeing something we are not because the crowds are loud for that team. At the end of the game last night they were putting Va. Tech in the national championship hunt, then they lost,it was classic over hype. Did anyone notice poor play calling with Va. Tech on both sides of the ball. This was very much like last year’s game against Georgia Tech. Va.Tech could have won both those games but were out coached. Judging from some of the players the Falcons have had from Va. Tech, they may just be uncoachable, but if you go back and look at the last half of both games you will see a weird choice of plays. I am thinking Va.Tech is not very conditioned and just ran out of gas after the talk kept landing on Boise State being not use to the heat. If Va. Tech had run those backs more in the second I think they would have gotten more results in both games. Assuming VA Tech is so superior before they earn it is very much like the debate about Boise State. There was a loud football game played last night both in the stadium and on the air.
Terry G
September 7th, 2010
9:05 am
Of course they do. They beat a mid level ACC team. That should be enough to get into the championship game.
dawgcrzy
September 7th, 2010
9:06 am
You know there is something wrong when the media says a team should be in the BCSCG after playing one damn game!
Mitch
September 7th, 2010
9:07 am
How is this for cupcakes
La Laf
Idaho St
Miss St
Colorado
Tennessee
Vandy
That’s 6 cupcakes in a season.
boog
September 7th, 2010
9:08 am
goog gawd… they play one team. Let them play BCS teams every single week. They eeked out a victory against VT. Let them play teams like this every week and they would have several losses. Its a joke.
Vixzilla
September 7th, 2010
9:08 am
I’m for seeing Boise in the BCS championship AGAINST an SEC team. That will put an end to this crap. Boise beat VaTech…SO WHAT!! I can’t figure out for the life of me why they are even ranked. They didn’t even go to the ACC championship game last year and those that did got beat by mediocre SEC teams the week before. MB – you’ge good at stirring up a hornets nest but if you honestly believe Boise is a BCS caliber team, you’ve been smoking too much of the hooka pipe my friend!.
It's a shame what he did to that dog
September 7th, 2010
9:08 am
USC always has a cupcake schedule. Ohio State has had cupcake schedules.
In 2004, Oklahoma played ONE ranked team and still ended up going to the BCS NC over Auburn who beat 6 top 25 teams that same season.
Boise has to play and beat more ranked teams to be considered. But, with no playoff system everything is still screwed.
It's a shame what he did to that dog
September 7th, 2010
9:09 am
“and congress should do something about it.”
And what would that be, giving them free welfare?
Tosh.No
September 7th, 2010
9:09 am
BSU should have joined the PAC 10, then in a few years there would be none of this whining that they deserve the shot. Grow a pair and move to a real conference and we’ll talk. OK
coachx
September 7th, 2010
9:10 am
“I don’t think Boise State should be criticized for its Conference schedule, it is what it is. Where I think they should be “hammered” in the polls is their non-conference schedule cream puffs of Toledo and Wyoming. If Boise State wants to play with the Big Boys for a national championship, they need to play more top 25 programs which they could do. If you are a Bama or Ohio State, scheduling Toledo is OK. If you are Boise State, its not.”
I just wanted to quote this guy b/c he is spot on ! Boise St. conference schedule is full of cream puffs ! B/c of that they cannot addord to schedule 2 of their 4 non-conference games against more cream puffs. They play 10 cream puffs and 2 real teams all season long. That is not BCS Championship worthy. There are probably 20 other teams in the country who would go undefeated with that schedule.
It's a shame what he did to that dog
September 7th, 2010
9:11 am
SuperB
Because ESPN hates the SEC. They have a love affair with USC, O State, Oklahoma and Notre Dame. Always have always will. I’ll never forget when the idiots at ESPN said Auburn 2004 played an easy schedule yet somehow Oklahoma, who played ONE ranked team and won by one point, was better.
Mark Bradley
September 7th, 2010
9:12 am
Let me note here: If you’re a member of a conference, you can only control your out-of-league schedule. Boise State’s out of league schedule includes Virginia Tech, which was ranked in the Top 10, and Oregon State, which is in the Top 25.
PTC DAWG
September 7th, 2010
9:15 am
VOTING to determine the two chosen teams is no way to do this.
pete
September 7th, 2010
9:16 am
coachx
they try. they won’t play them. quit making excuses. they deserve the shot. people questioning them are fools. this is a NEW year. quit going back 5 years morons. let’s go back 3 years. they deserve the chance. if they played in a big 6 conference, they would get more money and even better recruits.
It's a shame what he did to that dog
September 7th, 2010
9:16 am
“Boise State’s out of league schedule includes Virginia Tech, which was ranked in the Top 10, and Oregon State, which is in the Top 25.”
Let’s see where VT ends up at the end of the season. As for Oregon State, who cares? They’ll end up losing at least 3-4 games this season.
The only teams who will get screwed are Auburn and UGA if either of them go undefeated. ESPN hates UGA and they hate Auburn.
See: 2002 and 2004.
pete
September 7th, 2010
9:18 am
espn hates the sec? dude they just signed a 2 billion dollar contract with them fool. man some of you are very ignorant.
PTC DAWG
September 7th, 2010
9:18 am
Just who are the teams that UF has played OOC in the regular season out of the area? I can only think of Syracuse in the last 20 years.
UF doesn’t even leave the state, much less the area for OOC games. Much easier to play in the Swamp than in in another BCS teams home stadium.
Dunwoody DAWG
September 7th, 2010
9:19 am
No freaking way, even GT would run the table on that schedule
. They play 2 games against modest competition and the rest of their schedule might as well be against AAA high school teams. They would drop 4 games (at least) if they played an SEC schedule and weren’t able to get up for 2 games out of the season..
Mike
September 7th, 2010
9:19 am
Bottom line is they beat a team that will end up being 3rd or 4th best in there own conference, VT has no D. Watch Miami and FSU run the score up on them.
GR
September 7th, 2010
9:20 am
“UGA if either of them go undefeated”
Bwahaha. Stop it. You are making me laugh so hard. You have a better chance of the dems gaining seats in the house and senate than that happening.
Kirk Herbstreit
September 7th, 2010
9:20 am
Shoot – several times my Buckeyes haven’t played anybody and we got in the big game, so let’s give Boise a shot.
G8er fan
September 7th, 2010
9:23 am
Dogs are a field goal underdog this week. I thought they showed vegas against La Laf. Oh wait, it was against a bottom 10 worst teams in the FBS. I think spurrier pulls some major magic and beats you by 14.
Steve
September 7th, 2010
9:25 am
Um VT doesn’t play FSU this year Mike. Nice factual post. And if you are assuming they will in the acc champ, well you have them losing to Miami. So that would likely put them in the coastal spot.
DDog10
September 7th, 2010
9:26 am
Absolutely not. Why would anyone schedule a tough opponent when they can play High School teams and get into the BCS. If they want to be considered a legitimate BCS contender, join the PAC 12 or another quality conference. You put them in the BCS and you have another Georgia vs Hawaii. Not a game I care to see.
Ankiel ugh
September 7th, 2010
9:27 am
Some of you are forgetting this. Boise travelled across the country to play a top 10 team basically in their back yard. Give them credit for that and winning. You know how hard it is to travel across the country.
DDog10
September 7th, 2010
9:28 am
HugoStiglitz – Get a grip. Congress has no business worrying about football playoffs. They have already screwed up the country, why would you want them to mess with college football.
Give me a break!
heyberto
September 7th, 2010
9:29 am
Mark, no one can say that now. You’re already saying you’re biased by declaring them bowl bound after one game. That’s ridiculous. Be a professional why don’t you?
Roll Tider
September 7th, 2010
9:30 am
Here’s how I see it playing out:
One-loss Big 12 Champ Texas smokes TCU in the Fiesta while one-loss SEC Champ Bama smokes the ACC/Big East champ in the Sugar.
Ohio St. and Boise play the weakest National Championship game ever regardless of the outcome.
Playoff talk runs on overdrive.
Herbie Eyebrows
September 7th, 2010
9:32 am
NO. They barely beat the 3rd or 4th best team in the 3rd or 4th best conference in college football.