Should Boise State get a shot at a national title?

"If Boise State were in a BCS conference, it would be a .500 team."

God, I hate that reasoning. If Boise were in a BCS conference, it would also have the same exposure/budget/recruiting/facility parameters (or at least in the same neighborhood) as its fellow league members. Who is to say Boise could not compete on a more level playing field?

However, BSU, in its current state, is plenty capable of, for one game, playing with the best programs in the nation. This year's Broncos have nothing left to prove.

As for a shot at the national title via a playoff, yes, BSU deserves it -- because no playoff in Division I-A is going to exist without every conference champion, and the Broncos won their conference. But the thing keeping college football from a playoff is not the bowls -- it's the six BCS leagues who do not want to share any more of the postseason pie with the five unwanted stepchildren.

 

Forget the glamour of the conference name for a minute, who exactly did OSU play this year? Texas and Michigan, two high quality opponents. The remainder were glorified "Big 10" teams. Now Florida is a quality opponent but the BSU only played "two quality opponents" argument is weak. Funny how once a "Cinderella" crashes the party and its all about tearing her down. At least its not like BYU in '84 where the only quality opponent was a sad sack Michigan team in the Holiday Bowl. BSU beat the Big 12 Champion, even if OU was somewhat "down." That means that Texas wasn't that great.

 

The best "defense" in the nation allowed 32 points to USC, 42 to Ohio State and 26 to Ball State in the last two months. They can shut down the run better than a lot of teams in recent memory. They can't defend the pass worth a lick, which played to USC's strength today.

 

Georgia, last fall, Boise got smoked.

And why should the Big Ten teams need to beg Boise to play? Boise is the team that has to go out there and work a little harder to beef up that non-con sked.

 

Boise State should be No. 2. Beating Oklahoma wasn't beating Florida. Not this year.

 

I don't think anyone on this thread is against a playoff. Personally I would love to see the FRAUDS! that are Boise State try to win a playoff. Of course Boise State is capable of winning a game against a team from a power conference, because that is the Broncos Super Bowl and the Broncos know full well they will have no problem defeating a New Mexico State team (that has won 1 game over a D-1 opponent in the last three years), a game over Nevada (which lost to 6-6 Miami in a game suited for Reno), a game over San Jose State (which has been terrible the last few years), a game over Idaho (which features more players from Idaho than any other team in the nation, which says a lot about how crappy Idaho high school football is), a game over Fresno State (which enamored the nation with big wins FOUR YEARS AGO), a game over Louisiana Tech (which plays all kinds of big time schools on the road so it can collect pay checks) and a game over Hawaii (neat, the Rainbows beat Arizona State, well, you throw the ball 70 times a game and eventually you will beat most teams).

 

Joe, a very good point. But as constituted now, Boise could not hang with the big boys week-in, week-out.

 

Division I college football does have a playoff. It's called "Every week of the regular season."

If a team goes undefeated in one of the top six "BCS" conferences and then wins its bowl game . . . I call that a "true" national champion every time.

If no team goes undefeated, but strength of schedule is considered when two one-loss teams are matched up . . I'd call that a "true" national champion.

I happen to like the bowls. I happen to not care who wins the national title, and I happen to be just fine with the BCS. Honestly, how often do we get a screwy system where three teams are undefeated as happened two years ago? And how many times would one or two undefeated teams have had a higher-caliber bowl opponent if we had the BCS before 1998?

Bowls aren't TERRIBLE for college football. They ARE college football. The bowls are big money, and big tradition. As the Fox idiots said hey man, the I-AA presidents have a playoff! I screamed at the TV that a major bowl system wouldn't be lucrative at that scrub level.

Because I know that big bowl money (and great tradition like the Rose Bowl) will continue to nix the idea of a playoff, I'd rather get 20-something games to watch every holiday season than a playoff at this point. Anyone who pines for a playoff will get an ulcer long before the presidents and commissioners consider it. So why freak out about it? If there were a playoff, you bet I'd watch. But I'm not going to waste energy clamoring for it.

As for Boise State . . . . the system is designed so that ideally two undefeated teams from BCS conferences meet. I wouldn't have minded if they expanded that to mean two undefeated teams, period. That would at least minimize the fanboy whining on both sides.

 

Did I miss when Georgia went up there as well?

 

Why the fuck should the first game from last season matter?

 

Nope, but if Georgia did, we wouldn't even be having this conversation.

 

Because the first time Boise played some big-boy competition, it got its ass handed to it.

It's pretty damn relevant, since it's one of the main reasons people don't put Boise on that big-boy level.