I'm a BYU fan, but more importantly for this entry, I'm a Mountain West Conference fan. If you're an MWC fan - even if you are a Utah fan - I know we can agree on at least one thing: We don't care much for Boise State.The reason? Its cupcake schedule.
This is an important season for the non-BCS teams. As fans, we don't want just any team representing us in a BCS bowl. We want a proven team like Utah was last year. The Utes beat Oregon State, TCU and BYU on their way to an impressive Sugar Bowl win over Alabama.
We don't want a team that got fat off a debilitated schedule.
Is Boise State's record impressive? Absolutely. The Broncos very rarely lose games. The only problem is they rarely schedule actual games.
BSU's only legitimate competition came from a home game against the Oregon Ducks in the first game of the season. Both teams played like garbage (which is one of the reasons week one is typically an upset-fertile day on the schedule), and a lot has changed since then. Simply put, Oregon would crush BSU if the teams played again.
Obviously, that's speculation, but I feel as Boise State is simply the beneficiary of the top teams losing. Has there really been a game that's warranted its position in the polls?
Score - Team - Current Record
48-0 Miami (OH) 0-7
51-34 @ Fresno St. 3-3
49-14 @ Bowling Green 3-4
34-16 UC Davis FCS team
28-21 Tulsa 4-3
None of those games really "wow" anyone, yet BSU has continuously been voted up to the #4 spot, causing some Bronco fans to clamor for a shot at the national championship game. But with BSU's schedule bereft of even semi-difficult games, any team in the top 10 that wins the rest of its game would deserve that spot over Boise State. The schedules simply do not compare.
Some might suggest MWC fans are simply jealous of Boise State.
That's true. We are jealous. Jealous of BSU's cakewalk schedule. Jealous that BSU doesn't have to play against legitimate competition to gain national acclaim. Jealous that the toughest game the Broncos have on their way to a BCS game is Tulsa, a team Oklahoma beat 45-0.
If Boise State does win out (and since the WAC has no other decent teams, it's a very good possibility), The MWC has one hope remaining: TCU.
As a BYU fan, it's impossible for me to cheer against the Cougars. However, if TCU does beat BYU, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. I would much rather have TCU in a BCS game than Boise St., and with wins over BYU, Utah and some out of conference road games against BCS-conference schools, TCU would likely leapfrog the Broncos.
First off...I simply can't understand why BYU fans B!!ch so much about the BCS system when they don't do their part to get there. Win your games, don't choke 3 times a year and then you can complain about BCS. Example of teams that prove they should be there: BSU, Utah, Hawaii(That was a poor rep. for the non BCS conf's),TCU might do it. But until you can win in the regular season quit finding excueses to pis and moan about why the MWC is getting bent over.
ReplyDeleteThe system sucks but crying about it year after year isn't going to gain much respect for the non BCS conf. I would be happy if any non BCS team was in the Championship.
Second the MWC has only three teams that can really compete with the BCS opponents. (BYU,Utah,TCU). The rest of that conf. is piss poor just like 8 of 9 teams in the WAC. That dosen't gain much respect either. More than the WAC...perhaps, but it still doesn't impress the sytem much.
Fact of the matter is I believe the BCS is about money. The majority of the U.S. population outside of the intermoutain region could care less about the teams in the MWC, WAC, etc. Less people means less money.
Lets just keep breaking the system and sooner or later hopefully it will change.
MWC needs BSU in their conference. It's the only way they get BCS AQ status. Having 4 top 25 teams on a perpetual basis would get you to the promised land. That being an autoimatic bid to the big shows.
ReplyDeleteLast time I checked MWC teams have a difficult time winning against BSU save the 1 point TCU win. You better learn to love them if you want to improve your conference. It looks like your theory that MWC teams are superior to BSU will be tested starting in 2012.
Do their part to get there? "Win your games" is easily said by a team that wins 2 difficult games in the last four seasons; the rest are all cream puffs. It seems as though scheduling nobodies is what you have to do to "do your part." What I am afraid of is a team like Boise St. will go to the championship game and get creamed by Florida. Not that any other team wouldn't have had the same result, but it would do more damage to the non-BCS effort. Voters would think twice before bring a non-BCS team to the championship game.
ReplyDeleteSo three teams compared to one? Yeah, what is the MWC complaining about?
I will agree the BCS is about money - first and foremost. That is what ultimately keeps the MWC out.
Im a fan of byu. I also wanna see bsu bust the bcs... or any team for that matter. The bcs IS all about money and nothing else.
ReplyDeleteBut im sick of so money mountain west fans comparing themselves with the wac. Honestly come on. They only do it cause they are in the same general category, and they can't compare themselves to any other big conferences because they would get wasted.
So really is it worth all of this b!@ching because neither of you are a legitament conference... get over it.
Boise States so called cream puff schedule, is a product of us being so successful. A few years back my Broncos would have taken a pay day and gone on the road to a BCS school and got beat bad. BSU is not in the "pay day" category anymore. Teams dont want to schedule a home and home with us because they have a real big chance of losing. Both on the road, and at home. We dont lose at home.
ReplyDeleteTEAMS ARE SCARED TO PLAY BOISE STATE! Whether they admit it or not, they are.
And TCU fan, dont even try to tell me that that Virginia and Clemson are top tier ACC schools. You know they arent. Dont get me wrong though, going on the road and winning anyhere is a big thing. Oregon has a big chance of winning the Pac 10.
Oklahoma played Tulsa at home in Norman. It is such a big difference playing at home than playing on the road so that is a horrlble argument.
Lastly, it is not an easy thing to just move to a new conference. It just doesnt happen over night. And I dont want BSU to go to the Mountain West. You have the worst TV deal in the history of sports. I would rather play on ESPN than The Mountain or Versus.
So seriously TCU and BYU fan... stop your whining!
A couple things:
ReplyDeleteYes, the BCS is all about money. This isn't new and shouldn't be a surprising development to followers of college football.
While teams may not want to schedule a home and home with Boise, I wouldn't say that Boise has been particularly aggressive in their scheduling of non-conference opponents. If BSU had tried and failed to schedule more difficult non-conference games (read: on the road) then you would think that they would say so when they get slammed for having a weak schedule (note: This is what Hawaii did when they played in a BCS bowl, they made it very clear that Michigan had backed out of an agreement to play them). There are some good teams that aren't afraid of playing a tough non-conference opponent, but Boise avoids them. The current system doesn't reward taking a chance with a non-conference opponent nearly as much as it does for dodging people in non-conference and running the table for a sure fire BCS bowl game.
If TCU runs the table they are more deserving of a BCS bowl as they will have won a superior conference and played far more difficult road games. While Virginia and Clemson look to be average ACC teams, don't discount how hard it is to travel halfway across the country to play teams.
Hiring a PR firm won't change Boise St.'s weak, WEAK schedule. As long as TCU wins out, no BCS for BSU.
ReplyDeletewell put argument... i get the feeling too like oregon would love to schedule boise again. not sure it would be too close for boise, and not sure byron hout would be so smug either. if they met again, i say oregon wins by three touchdowns as a minimum. have been thinking boise's overrated all year long.
ReplyDelete