Ladies and gentlemen, it's time to jump on the bandwagon of the BCS busters.
I'm talking about Boise State, TCU, and Utah crashing the BCS party this year.
All three.
First, let's start with Boise State. I have been arguing for their merit in the national championship game for years, and I will continue to do so until they get their due. They beat a good Virginia Tech team in the opener on the road. Before you all go "but VaTech lost to James Madison...FCS James Madison!," just remember that James Madison isn't a terrible team. They are currently rated 37th in the Sagarin ratings (an unbiased, stats driven rating) for all Division I teams. What does this mean? It means that VTech lost to a pretty good team. Basically, not as damaging as people think. Which further means that the win for Boise is still a good win. They also have a chance to beat Oregon State this week, which will pad their resume. Also, Boise State has played the 29th hardest schedule so far, which is the toughest out of any team in the top 25 so far. Still skeptical? Well then you aren't looking at the facts. Moving on...
TCU has beaten two good teams from BCS conferences in Oregon State and Baylor (PS, kudos to Oregon State for manning up and scheduling some tough games). Utah has beaten a good team in Pittsburgh. These two teams play each other on November 6th, and both teams have a great chance in being undefeated when they meet. With our current perceptions, the loser will be automatically kicked out of the BCS and the winner will still fight for a spot.
Why does it have to be like that? If two teams from a BCS conference were to meet that late in the season, with both being undefeated, the winner would likely be headed to the national championship game and the loser would still go to a BCS bowl. This should apply to these two teams as well. If TCU finishes 12-0 and Utah finishes 11-1 with their only loss to TCU, then why should Utah be excluded from the BCS talk?
Unfortunately, NCAA sports is more about perception and politics, and less about the actual teams and play. The media and public fuel this fire, and it's the reason it may never change completely.
Don't fuel the fire people, but allow the sport to grow and evolve.
And that includes allowing the "little guys" into the party.
They turned 21 a long time ago.
If they don't play THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY, then they don't deserve a BCS shot. Everyone knows that THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY is the gate keeper to the BCS, and Jim Tressel is the key master.
ReplyDeleteGhostbusters and Buckeye football. Eat it.
Although it is tough to debate Ghostbusters, I'm gonna have to side with Brian on this one. I guess I just don't get why Boise State is such a big deal to some people. If your team is so much better than them, play them! As I understand it, colleges largely determine their own schedule and Boise State has been begging for some sweet Big Conference action, and no one is taking them up on it. If they don't matter so much, just play 'em! Oh...and uh. Peter Venkmen told me to post that.
ReplyDeleteTell Boise St to stop playing in a Weiner Conference and we will stop treating them like a Weiner team
ReplyDeleteBoise is moving into the MWC, which is a better conference than the Big East and the ACC. Not to mention that Boise has beaten almost every big name school they have played. Not their fault that the big name schools make weiner schedules and refuse to play them. But its ok for THE Ohio State to have the worst non conference schedules year in and year out (yes, I realize that they played Miami this year: that was the exeption, not the rule). It's ok for every other big time program to beat up on terrible schools, but not for Boise, TCU, and Utah to do it? Plus, you act like every conference game they play is a pushover. This is simply just not true - there are many teams in their conferences that are better than the likes of Minnesota, Indiana, and Illinois. Stop hating, start participating.
ReplyDeleteBig name schools refuse to play them because Boise wants a return home game. I'm sorry, but an Ohio State is not going to Boise to play in front of 25 thousand people for no money on a Blue Weiner Field.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'm going to run through the Non-Conference schools Ohio State has played the past few years and will play in the next few years. University of Miami 2x's, USC 2x's, Texas 2x's, Cal 2x's, Your beloved but vastly overrated every year Va Tech 2x's, Oklahoma 2x's, Tennessee 2x's. Adding in an annual conference slate of Penn St, Wisconsin, Iowa, scUM, and soon to be Nebraska makes the assertion of a weak schedule way off base. Miami the Exception? C'mon, we don't back down from a tough non conference game. Boise doesn't compare to any of these programs that Ohio State plays every year making up half their schedule.
Finally, I'm convinced Boise is content playing the victim in all this. They know their conference is what keeps them from seriously contending for a National Championship. If they were serious about winning they would leave and play a good schedule as an independent. (Simliar to what Fla. St did when they became a big time program) But, ultimately it's easier to play the victim, beat up on Weiner teams, and bitch and moan about not being liked by the real programs.
1) pre season rankings mean nothing. Having said this V Tech is over rated I don't care what the mighty unbiased Sagarin rating say pre season ranking doesn't mean anything.
ReplyDelete2) James Madison is over rated, last year they went 6-5 no bowl, pure stats don't tell the whole story
3) Oregon State, isn't even undefeated they lost to an over rated TCU who has beaten Tennessee Tech and Baylor. worthless
4) The BCS is political for the viewers own good. Recall if you will the 2008 Sugar Bowl what happened when a record breaking unstoppable WAC team went up against a semi par BCS team? 41-10 (boring game, they let the little by play and it was exactly as everyone thought)
5) Let's look at the WAC's powerhouse that Boise will be playing in. Last year OSU got to play one of the mighty WAC schools 45-0 against New Mexico State (again a boring game no one wants to watch)
6) Don't call Ohio State's schedule weak if you can say James Madison is a really good team based on nothing but pre season stuff then surly you agree that Marshall taking #23WVU into OT means something.
7) Do I want Boise State in the national Championship? absolutely! I'd take a WAC team over an SEC team any day much rather see OSU vs BSU than Bama
8) the real story of the week is here:
http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/27683/ohio-mascot-planned-attack-on-brutus
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAdam, in rebuttal to point 4 - yea people would hate to see big teams blow out non BCS teams kind of like when Utah crushed Pittsburgh 35-7 in 2004, or when Utah beat a team that many thought should play in the national championship game (Alabama) 31-17, or when vastly overrated Boise beat Oklahoma 43-42 in the most thrilling game I've ever seen.
ReplyDeleteAnd you can reference OSU beating New Mexico State all you want, but each conference has its share of terrible teams. Do you honestly think Boise couldn't beat Indiana 45-0? Even the mighty and unstoppable SEC has Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, Mississipi State, etc. I know they each have their good years, but they aren't considered good teams a majority of the time. What is it saying that Hawaii (from the WAC) played USC better than Minnesota (from the Big 10) did? I will be the first to admit that the WAC clearly isn't on the level of the Big 10, but does that mean Boise is a bad team? Of course not. I hope this entire thing comes full circle and Boise plays OSU for the title, with Boise winning. Then we can come back to this little blog and I can do a little bit of "I told you so." (Of course, if this blows up in my face I'm deleting the whole thing.)
Oh and Brandon, Bronco Stadium holds 33,000. Still think OSU doesn't want to hit that money market? Doubt it.
102,329 capacity "The Shoe"
ReplyDeletevs.
33,610 capacity "The Blue"
The difference between the big ten having a few weak teams and the wac having bad teams....all the teams in the wac besides boise are terrible. Boise needs to prove they can play w the big boys..............week in and week out not just once or twice a season. Then maybe we will stop hating on them. Oregon (4) better than boise, stanford(?) better than boise, auburn (10) better than boise, iowa (17) better than boise. Undeserving of the little #3 beside their name.
ReplyDeleteStop playing garbage teams week in and week out and maybe someone will listen. Until then park the wagon ..