NCAA Kickoff Weekend

[ReasonablySober]

Hell, go to 16 and include all the conferences. I like this plan.

[MikeIsGood]

I don't understand the people upset about Boise State getting a BCS bid. They are a very good team and can beat anyone in the nation. Yes, their conference is weak (no weaker than the Big East though), but I can't fault them their schedule. Their out of conference schedule would look like Alabama, Ohio State, USC, Texas every year if those teams wanted a piece. They don't. VaTech was the first legit team to give them a game, and guess what? Boise State ended their season in week 1. No one wants that.

Your real problem is with the automatic bids for crap conferences like the Big East, ACC (yes they suck), and (gasp) the Pac 10 (this year). This good ol' boy way of doling out bowl games/monies is fairly pathetic.

Here in lies the problem: Those teams serve to gain nothing by playing Boise State. Boise State knows this. So they can "try" to schedule all of the elite teams in college football, but they know it will never get agreed to. So of course why not "try" to schedule those teams. It makes you look good.

In the end, they end up playing teams good enough for them to beat and give them some nice exposure (Virginia Tech, Oregon State, Oregon last year), but they also know they don't have to go through a typical BCS conference schedule, and will win their games after they get those 'tough ones' out of the way.

I'm not saying they're a bad team that couldn't beat great-to-elite level teams, as they've proven they can, but they go through their schedule unscathed after starting the season ranked #3, and now they're in national championship talk. Not just BCS bowl game, but national championship game. That's not fair to the teams that have to go through an SEC or B10 schedule where there's tough conference play that leads to more opportunity to be upset.

[PkrsBcksGphsMqt]

I don't understand the people upset about Boise State getting a BCS bid. They are a very good team and can beat anyone in the nation. Yes, their conference is weak (no weaker than the Big East though), but I can't fault them their schedule. Their out of conference schedule would look like Alabama, Ohio State, USC, Texas every year if those teams wanted a piece. They don't. VaTech was the first legit team to give them a game, and guess what? Boise State ended their season in week 1. No one wants that.

Your real problem is with the automatic bids for crap conferences like the Big East, ACC (yes they suck), and (gasp) the Pac 10 (this year). This good ol' boy way of doling out bowl games/monies is fairly pathetic.

Here in lies the problem: Those teams serve to gain nothing by playing Boise State. Boise State knows this. So they can "try" to schedule all of the elite teams in college football, but they know it will never get agreed to. So of course why not "try" to schedule those teams. It makes you look good.

In the end, they end up playing teams good enough for them to beat and give them some nice exposure (Virginia Tech, Oregon State, Oregon last year), but they also know they don't have to go through a typical BCS conference schedule, and will win their games after they get those 'tough ones' out of the way.

I'm not saying they're a bad team that couldn't beat great-to-elite level teams, as they've proven they can, but they go through their schedule unscathed after starting the season ranked #3, and now they're in national championship talk. Not just BCS bowl game, but national championship game. That's not fair to the teams that have to go through an SEC or B10 schedule where there's tough conference play that leads to more opportunity to be upset.

I agree with all of this and that's why I'm hoping Boise goes all the way and wins it. Then all of the big conferences are going to start complaining and arguing exactly what you just laid out. Then I'm hoping the next step is a playoff. Something like that 16 team playoff posted above would be awesome.

[ReasonablySober]

It won't change anything, just like nothing changed when Auburn went 13-0 or when USC and LSU "split" the Championship in 2004. All you can count on is months of annoying debate over who should really be in the game and whether Boise deserves it.

The BCS is here for a while, at least until 2015.

[PkrsBcksGphsMqt]

It won't change anything, just like nothing changed when Auburn went 13-0 or when USC and LSU "split" the Championship in 2004. All you can count on is months of annoying debate over who should really be in the game and whether Boise deserves it.

The BCS is here for a while, at least until 2015.

I realize it's here for the foreseeable future. The more often people question the results of the BCS, the more likely a playoff will happen at some point.

[midranger]

Listen, if you want you team to make it over Boise State, just win all your games. No one is taking an undefeated team from a **** conference over an undefeated team from a good conference, even if they beat one good team. That said, Boise State is a heck of a football team. Your problem is with the bowl system as a whole rather than an upstart football program languishing away in a terrible conference.

[ReasonablySober]

Listen, if you want you team to make it over Boise State, just win all your games. No one is taking an undefeated team from a **** conference over an undefeated team from a good conference, even if they beat one good team. That said, Boise State is a heck of a football team. Your problem is with the bowl system as a whole rather than an upstart football program languishing away in a terrible conference.

Well that's the issue. I don't think the question will be whether Boise gets in over an undefeated Florida or Bama or Texas or Oklahoma or Ohio State. It's whether they get in over a one-loss team from one of the big conferences. I would vote no.

[MikeIsGood]

Listen, if you want you team to make it over Boise State, just win all your games. No one is taking an undefeated team from a **** conference over an undefeated team from a good conference, even if they beat one good team. That said, Boise State is a heck of a football team. Your problem is with the bowl system as a whole rather than an upstart football program languishing away in a terrible conference.

So if you want to make it in over Boise State, do a task that is much easier for Boise State to do than for you (almost any BCS team) to do. Right.

Alabama drops only one game, to say Georgia. Ohio State drops one to Iowa. Each played respectable OOC (Alabama vs. PSU, OSU vs. Miami), and way, way stronger in conference schedules. But Boise State went undefeated and might lead in the BCS standings because of it. Do they get into the MNC because they beat Virginia Tech, Oregon State, and a bunch of cupcakes?

Doesn't matter whose "fault" it is; that doesn't change me not wanting to see Boise State in the national championship game.

[Ayt]

I hope Boise wins it 3 years in a row or something crazy like that.

[emunney]

There's something to be said for surviving a tough schedule where you have to actually have to play a real team almost every week. It's much easier to manage your resources when you really only have two games on the opposite ends of your schedule. The teams that come out of that maelstrom, though, are really **** good teams and better for the experience, imo. Boise St. clearly has a good program, and it's incredible what they've been able to do, but there would be no way I'd bet on them vs. someone coming out of a major conference who had already beaten 5-6 really good teams.

For what it's worth, I wouldn't mind seeing them get in the championship game. Let's see what happens. If they get killed, it'll be a while before the they can build that kind of national confidence in them again. Mainly I just want to get it over with: can they play or can they not?

Also, why didn't they move into an actually good conference? If you're going to make a move, make a **** move.

[Bernman]

Also, why didn't they move into an actually good conference?

Revenue generating potential for the prospective conference, academic competitiveness, athletic program weakness outside of football, etc. You know, minor factors like that. It's not as if they can just join a major conference on their own volition. Other AD's and University Presidents have to be amenable to the proposal also.

You can't blame Boise State's football program for the ineptitude of the collective athletic program or the state they habituate. Their accomplishments in spite of those obstacles have been quite remarkable.

All you can judge them based on is how well they handle the schedule afforded to them. If BSU are being pussies and avoiding playing even more marquee OOC opponents (their schedule is solid as is), well, I guess then demerit them and leave them in the Poinsettia Bowl. But to my knowledge they've tried and just aren't getting the opportunities, so major teams should be punished, and BSU rewarded, if they go undefeated with what they have available. They can't possibly do better, and neither can we with the system that's currently available.

Make them prove they aren't worthy before they are judged not to be. I like their chances to at least be competitive, which is better than we can say for the Buckeyes their previous two experiences. Just look at BSU's fixtures since '06 in all but the down year in '07. They've played Oklahoma (neutral), TCU twice (neutral), Va Tech ("neutral), Oregon twice (home/road), and Oregon State (home). That's a 7-game pseudo conference schedule (Oregon State will make it 8 this year) that's tougher than anybody will likely play in college football this season, and they lost 1 game, and it was by one point. That's a pretty good gauge that Boise State in a year they go undefeated is a viable option for the national championship game in this current subjective system. Obviously I'd prefer a playoff, but.....

[emunney]

Other sports? Who cares about other sports? Why should the football program allow their lesser programs to hold them back? They already wrestle in the PAC-12.

If it's academic requirements that are the problem, then I have zero empathy for them. That's an internal decision that directly affects the types of athletes they can bring in to include guys that big conference schools can't touch.

[PkrsBcksGphsMqt]

Boise State is moving to a new conference, they are moving to the Mountain West next year.

Otherwise Bernman is right. When I went to school at Gonzaga last year people would tell me the academics at Boise State are a joke, they compared it to a community college. There is very little about Boise State that is attractive to the major conferences, other than football. Mountain West is about the best they could hope for at this point.

[Bernman]

Other sports? Who cares about other sports? Why should the football program allow their lesser programs to hold them back? They already wrestle in the PAC-12.

Prospective conferences care. Ultimately, if they're going to expand, so many two sport schools can offer a better overall package. And EVERY program in EVERY major football conference also competes in the same basketball league.

If it's academic requirements that are the problem, then I have zero empathy for them. That's an internal decision that directly affects the types of athletes they can bring in to include guys that big conference schools can't touch.

I don't disagree, but in regards to the point about academics, I was responding to your question of why they can't just join another conference, not is it unfair that they're being excluded from the MNC. Lower academic standards are a blessing and a curse, really. They are going to lose out on plenty of recruits who don't think a Boise State education would be a good fallback option in case they can't play professionally, or have other plans in life. It may be a recruiting factor that plays somewhat to their advantage, but it's out-weighed by their in-state talent base being so weak, their recruiting budget or lack thereof, etc.

[El Duderino]

There's something to be said for surviving a tough schedule where you have to actually have to play a real team almost every week. It's much easier to manage your resources when you really only have two games on the opposite ends of your schedule. The teams that come out of that maelstrom, though, are really **** good teams and better for the experience, imo. Boise St. clearly has a good program, and it's incredible what they've been able to do, but there would be no way I'd bet on them vs. someone coming out of a major conference who had already beaten 5-6 really good teams.

For what it's worth, I wouldn't mind seeing them get in the championship game. Let's see what happens. If they get killed, it'll be a while before the they can build that kind of national confidence in them again. Mainly I just want to get it over with: can they play or can they not?

While i highly question that Boise could go undefeated if they had to go through a Big Ten or SEC schedule, i wouldn't be overly surprised if they got to the national championship game this year and won the game or came very close to winning it. You're only talking about one game on a neutral field and Boise is a good football team.

Them winning the NCG this year still wouldn't mean IMO that they deserved the berth simply because they were able to avoid the true grind of a much tougher conference schedule. In a tough conference you can be a very good football team, but just have one poor week, have a few bad breaks against a tough team, or other stuff that makes it so difficult to win a tough conference and a conference title game.

Boise on the other hand while they are likely good enough to compete at the very least in a tougher conference, their soft schedule allows for much more margin of error from week to week.