Sympathizing with Boise State fans
Saturday, December 20th, 2008We look forward to it all year, and inevitably, it disappoints us in the end. Yes, it’s that time of year again, bowl season.
That’s not to say that the championship game is a disappointing match up, in fact it looks on paper to be a pretty exciting game with No. 1 Florida taking on No. 2 Oklahoma. What’s disappointing is once again several teams not getting a shot at the title.
There are teams with a legitimate argument (Texas) and some that are just fooling themselves with wishful thinking (Ohio State). I’ll make this disclaimer upfront, and since I’m new to this site and will be covering the Western Athletic Conference, it’s important that everyone knows that I am a University of Idaho graduate. I don’t like Boise State.
However, I do feel like the Broncos were ripped off just a bit. I’m not going to sit here and say they should be playing in the championship game on January 8. You can’t give a team whose opponents went a combined 64-81 a chance at a championship game, especially if they’re not from one of the big boy conferences. Oklahoma went 12-1 against opponents that combined for a 90-68 record, and they played in arguably the nation’s toughest conference this year, the Big 12. Night in and night out it seemed as though they were playing another top-5 team. Boise State can’t say that.
If you want a chance for a national title bid in the current bowl system, your non-conference games have to be tougher than Idaho State, Bowling Green, Oregon, and Southern Miss. Sure you went undefeated, but look at your weak conference and your weak non-conference opponents. You only have your schedule-maker to blame.
Going undefeated is a great accomplishment no matter who you play. They played well in just about all of those games, but there were a couple of close games, including Oregon and a 7-5 Nevada team. If BSU is as dominant as they want us to believe, those are games they should have won more easily.
As an Idaho graduate, it’s too easy for me to slip back into my Bronco-bashing, and you have no idea how hard it is to say what I’m about to say, but to be fair and balanced, and to develop any credibility with my readers, it has to be said.
I would love to see Boise State take on Florida in the national title game. That high-flying Bronco offense against the stout Florida defense would prove to be a great battle. Instead, however, the Broncos will be playing Texas Christian University in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl.
Ridiculous name aside, this bowl game should be an interesting match up. TCU played in some big games and held its own against some pretty legitimate foes including No. 8 Utah, No. 9 BYU, and even Oklahoma.
Even though I know Boise State, and all other WAC teams would help out my beloved University of Idaho with a paycheck by winning their respective bowl games, I still find myself hoping nothing but trouble for the Broncos. I can sympathize with bronco fans that their team maybe got robbed a little bit, but the Vandal in me will always find a way to laugh at any misfortune BSU suffers. Even if my team does go 2-10.
Check back later and we’ll talk about how the bowl games went for the WAC teams. Fresno State plays Colorado State today, Boise State plays TCU on the 23rd, Hawaii plays Notre Dame on the 24th, Louisiana Tech plays Northern Illinois on the 28th and Nevada plays Maryland on the 30th.
Brian Armstrong
DFN Sports WAC Correspondent