What isn't there to like about Boise State? It plays on a blue field, runs loads of trick plays and has the potential to turn the college football world on its head by eventually breaking into the BCS title game usually reserved for teams from the top six conferences and, perhaps, Notre Dame.
Furthermore, the Broncos are in prime position to finish the regular season without a loss (for the second time in three years), since they only face one more team currently with a winning record.
But make no mistake about it, this Boise team will not deserve a spot in the title game.
Now, many fans will rail at this, asking, ""They won all their games, if only one other team does that, why shouldn't they get a shot at the title?"" The answer is easy: Their resume for this season will almost assuredly not be as strong as several other title contenders (unless of course every BCS conference team loses two or more games; then all bets are off).
It seems fans, and often writers, look at the donut in the loss column and see perfection. They usually lose sight of the strength of the schedule that a team like Boise plays.
This year the Broncos will have faced only one opponent from a BCS conference, Oregon, and even played against an FCS team. By year's end, their second-best win will either be Idaho (a nice surprise at 6-1), or a Fresno State team that has lost every big game it has played.
This is the resume of a champion?
It might strike some as unfair when a team enters a season, wins all its games and still has no shot at the championship. That, however, is just the way college football works.
To win a title, a team needs some breaks. It needs opponents ahead of it to lose and needs its opponents to do well.
A mid-major team like Boise or Utah does have a chance to get to the title game some years, but they need to meet certain criteria.
Look at BYU, who scheduled Oklahoma and Florida State on its nonconference slate and will also face TCU and Utah. Win out with that schedule and a team deserves a title berth.
Perhaps Boise couldn't get too many big names because it has the reputation of a giant-killer (though that didn't keep Washington, Oregon State and Georgia from playing them in the last few years). In that case, they would need to absolutely hammer every opponent, something that should be possible with the level of talent among Western Athletic Conference teams.
Struggling with Tulsa and failing to destroy UC-Davis just won't cut it.
In the end, placing too much emphasis on going undefeated will be bad for college football in the long run. Teams will take games against bottom-tier Sun Belt and Conference USA teams, knowing if everything breaks right, the sure-thing win is better than risking a loss against a good out-of-conference opponent.
Even Boise's current ranking does not entirely reflect the schedule it has played thus far; it is more based on the hype generated by a 35-4 record from 2006-'08. Getting to the title game would in essence be the reward for a four-season stretch, which really clouds the concept of a 2009 national title.
So Boise, if it goes undefeated, should have to accept the consolation prize of a berth in a BCS game instead of a shot at the title. Letting the Broncos in would be a disservice to any other team that survived a more rigorous schedule, beat more than one ranked team and ran through a conference where each week brought opponents far better than most of the WAC.
Think Boise State does deserve a chance for a BCS Title if it goes undefeated? E-mail Ben at breiner@wisc.edu.
