WAC Football & Basketball blog

The Bulldogs of Fresno State will kick off the bowl season when they face upstart Wyoming on December 19th. The Nevada Wolf Pack will bring a tremendous running game to a national stage on Christmas Eve when they face SMU at 8:00 in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl. Surprising Idaho will stay in state for the Humanitarian Bowl when they take on Bowling Green on December 30th. The big game for the WAC as usual includes powerhouse Boise State. In what could possibly be the best game of the bowl season, the Broncos will look to stay undefeated as they face unbeaten TCU. The game will take place on January 4th at the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.

Boise State ran their record to 12-0 in a thrilling 44-33 victory over Nevada. The Broncos still have their sights on a BCS bowl game but must finish the regular season with a victory over New Mexico State to further solidify their chances. With Oklahoma State’s loss to Oklahoma, the latest bowl projections show Boise State facing Iowa in the Fiesta Bowl. In the meantime, BSU is the lone WAC school with a logo Snuggie available for purchase. Fans can buy Boise State Snuggie blankets online through DFN Sports site.

Every major online site is picking Ohio State to edge Boise State for a BCS bowl bid. ESPN.com has Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl, while College Football News & Scout.com places Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl with both leaving Boise State in either the home-town Humanitarian Bowl or the Poinsettia Bowl. But Boise State is ranked ahead of Ohio State in the BCS as well as both the AP & USA Today polls. This lead to a bit of research:

- Boise State is 12-0 (8-0 WAC), Ohio State 10-2 (7-1 Big Ten)
- Boise State is currently #9 in the AP, USA Today & BCS rankings, Ohio State is #10 in all 3. The Harris Poll, a piece of the BCS formula, also has Boise State ahead of Ohio State.
- Boise State is ranked #7 by the computer average of the BCS, Ohio State is ranked #11.
- In the past two seasons, Boise State has one more win that Ohio State in BCS Bowl games; Boise State is 1-0 while Ohio State is 0-2.
- The BCS Average for Boise State is .7034, for Ohio State .6340, a difference of .0694. The only other substantial gap this big in the Top 10 is between #4 Florida (.8851) an obvious title contender and #5 USC (.8076), a team on the outside looking in.
- Boise State went 8-0 against bowl-eligible teams (6-6 or better) including a win over BCS #19 Oregon.
- Ohio State went 5-2 over bowl-eligible teams including losses to BCS #5 USC, #8 Penn State and wins over BCS #21 Michigan State and #22 Northwestern.

The numbers do not lie; the Broncos deserve the BCS much more than Ohio State, a team that would make it based on program history/reputation (which is questionable based on recent bowl history) and the almighty dollar. While Boise State fans traveled very well for the Fiesta Bowl two season ago with nearly 40,000 tickets sold, Ohio State fans are known to travel as well as anyone in the nation.

So will fairness prevail in the BCS in 2008? Or will the BCS ensure that the $17 million payout stays with their favorites, the BCS conference teams in an effort to futher the gap between the haves and have-nots? I guess we will find out tomorrow night…