By
Brian Harbach
As an SEC writer, breaking down the WAC is way off of my normal radar. But after watching the polls the last couple weeks and watching Boise State steadily climb higher each week one thing has become clear: Boise State could ruin college football as we know it this season if it goes undefeated. This is not some attempt by a BCS writer to take shots at the little guy, actually I have never had a problem with the little guy getting a shot in a BCS game or a BCS Championship game. The problem I have is limited directly to the 2009 Boise State team and the Boise State program.
This is not a BCS vs. Non-BCS discussion, this is a view of the totality of Boise State’s 2009 schedule and how it compares to other BCS “buster” programs in the country. Earlier this year I stated that there was nothing wrong with BYU getting into the BCS Championship game because they manned up to play a BCS schedule. If BYU had gone undefeated they would have had wins over Oklahoma, Florida State, TCU and Utah. Of course 1-loss SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 or Pac 10 team would likely have a better resume than the Cougars, but BYU would have stepped up their schedule and in my opinion earned the right to play in a Championship game if they were the only unbeaten team in the country.
You could argue that BYU would not have played the type of schedule a Florida or Ohio State or Southern Cal had played, but they did not back into the game by playing Eastern Sisters of the Poor University out of conference. The little guy deserves the shot if they earn it and the rest of the games work out in their favor. But Boise State hasn’t done that, they play in one of the worst Non-BCS leagues out there, the WAC, and have done nothing to beef up their weak schedule out of conference. A win over the Pac 10’s Oregon is meaningless, that league has been a one team conference for nearly a decade so excuse me for not pumping my first at a 19-8 win that will be remembered more for a punch than for the game.
Allow me to list the Broncos 2009 opponents so you can understand the true travesty that is the Boise State Schedule. Oregon, Miami-OH, Fresno State, Bowling Green, UC Davis, Tulsa, Hawaii, San Jose St, Louisiana Tech, Idaho, Utah State, Nevada and New Mexico State. If a Big 12 or SEC team played four of those teams in their Out of Conference schedule they would be viciously attacked for not playing any big time games, but this is the complete Boise State 2009 schedule.
Actually outside of beating up on the Pac 10, Boise State has no regular season win of any stature in the last seven years. The toughest OOC game Boise State played in was a trip in 2005 to Athens, Georgia to face the Bulldogs. The media expected a four quarter battle, some even picked Boise State to shock UGA and earn the national respect they deserved. The Halftime score was 24-0, final score of 48-13. Boise State supporters may want to blame the other teams for a fear of getting upset by the Broncos and an unwillingness to travel to Idaho for a game.
That argument doesn’t hold any water, WAC programs should not get return visits from BCS programs unless they are willing to play two games on the road for one return trip. Fresno State is a great comparison in this situation; Pat Hill’s team will play anyone, any time in any place. Because of that philosophy Fresno State plays a wicked schedule and has yet to have an undefeated season but in most years if Fresno went unbeaten they would have a stronger argument than Boise State for inclusion in the BCS Title game. If the 2009 BYU or Fresno State schedule was what Boise State had to play this year, they would not go unbeaten and they would have no chance at a BCS game.
The bottom line is that the exclusion from the BCS Championship is all Boise State’s own fault. They seem to care more about a BCS game than an actual championship game as evidenced by their scheduling. Even future scheduling is questionable, in the next six years they have 3 games scheduled against BCS opponents. A game in 2010 in a neutral site with Virginia Tech and two games against Oregon State is all they have set up. The rest of the OOC games include good teams from non-BCS conferences; four games with BYU and three with Utah. Is this how Boise State plans on exciting the voters and improving their status in the college football world? Beating teams from the Mountain West conference is the long term plan for respect?
Putting Boise in a BCS Championship game for an undefeated season this year would be the end of college football as we know it. What BCS conference team would ever play a tough game if a team like Boise State was rewarded for playing weak games instead of challenging themselves? No reason for Ohio State to play Southern Cal, there is no benefit. Alabama vs. Virginia Tech, not gonna happen any more. Bring on the FBS teams because Boise State’s cake walk schedule allowed them to snack their way into the Championship game.
If this year ends just like all the others for the Non-BCS group and Boise State is the only unbeaten team from the underdog conferences do not blame the voters or the system. The blame should fall solely on the Broncos themselves. This schedule is a joke, it is not deserving of a championship game and frankly it is not deserving of a BCS bowl game, but they will of course earn a spot. It doesn’t matter what they did in the past to Oklahoma in the Fiesta bowl, it doesn’t matter that Utah beat Alabama in last year’s Sugar bowl. This is about 2009; the schedule is bad even though the team is really good. Sure it’s sad, but it isn’t unfair. If you want to play in the big game, you better win one or two of them in the season. Because if Florida and Texas are in the BCS title game come January you can bet they played 3 or 4 games just as tough throughout the season.
Do you agree, disagree or think I am just picking on the little guys? E-mail
me Brian Harbach
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