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First,
it’s not a legitimate means of assessment because the Broncos can’t do anything about it. They’re in the conference they’re in, and have to play those opponents. Assessing the Broncos by looking at the other teams is a bit like judging my job performance, or setting my pay, by saying my co-workers are slugs. I can’t affect their performance. It’s also a bit of an ism (racism, ageism, sexism, etc). It’s discrimination based on something the Broncos did not choose and cannot do anything about. (Well, at one point they may have chosen to join the WAC, but it was a constrained choice. It’s not like they can just join the PAC 10 any time they want/IdaBlue. More here.
Question: Does Boise State fans have a right to gripe that the BCS matched them against also-undefeated TCU in the Fiesta Bowl (a contest ESPN rates as the second best bowl game this year)?
D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.
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Cabbage Boy on December 10 at 2:07 p.m.
ha! they could schedule a few more cupcakes for their non-conference schedule. That would help.
One legit win doesn’t make for a good argument.
idawa on December 10 at 2:26 p.m.
I agree with CB - BSU does have more control over the non-conf schedule and they don’t use it to make many statements. Next year they do have OSU, but they also have Wyoming and Toledo… just saying.
Of course, it might be that they have a dogged desire for one and ones - of course that is convenient excuse to avoid playing any big names that might otherwise be willing to try out BSU in their house.
It appears, despite all the feigned indignation, BSU is more than happy with the BCS system - they are getting shots at the big money with their current strategy without having to risk a playoff and they don’t seem to have any real desire to silence doubters. Of course, I think this a reflection of Coach P. A man that knows what he has and is satisfied. He is more than happy with life at the moment with no great aspirations for a national championship notch in his career belt … BSU fans may want something bigger but I think the Football program is more than happy with the status quo. I’m certain, like every year, we will hear the over excited fans slobbering over themselves with speculation that BSU is going to step up to a better suited conference, but the next year, like every year, we will find them happy and fat in the WAC.
Cabbage Boy on December 10 at 2:53 p.m.
Well said Idawa. They will take on teams like Oregon and the lot if they come to Boise. But as you keenly point out, they do very well running the table and getting a decent bowl bid. They know not to mess up a good thing. The fans are another matter.
Charles_Dixon on December 10 at 2:56 p.m.
BSU fans—like their football program—have everything they want when it comes to national recognition. As has been said above, they get to claim to be a national powerhouse while at the same time refusing to schedule games with more than one difficult team per year. They get to claim that no one will play them when in reality there is an asterisk at the end of that statement, and at the bottom of the page you see:
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* By saying “none of the big boys will play us,” we mean that none of them will schedule a home-and-home series with us wherein that big team will have to come to Boise and play on blue turf on national TV in front of a crowd of 30,000 people who think they’re the only dedicated football fans in the world.”
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The WAC Commissioner/BSU Head Cheerleader claims that BSU tries to schedule the big boys and no one will play them, but when pressed about that the BSU Athletic Director has to contradict those statements and say BSU really hasn’t tried that hard to find a big time opponent to play other than the home-and-home scenario.
BSU fans get to 1) brag about their dominance of the WAC this decade and 2) complain about the quality of the other WAC teams, while at the same time fully knowing that if they were in the Mountain West Conference or some other conference they wouldn’t be nearly as successful.
BSU fans can claim they want a shot at a national championship comfortably knowing they’ll never get that chance and be exposed in a title game against an Alabama, Texas, or Florida team.
In other words, BSU is perfectly happy having it both ways.
To be honest, I think the reason BSU fans are so unhappy about being matched up against TCU is their realization that TCU is probably a much better team than it was last year (when it beat BSU) while at the same time BSU is probably not as good as it was last year.
MatthewRoot on December 10 at 3:00 p.m.
CB demonstrates that good ol’ North Dakota common sense again. A stronger non-conference schedule would help their case.
That said, Boise State and TCU should have been matched against Florida or Cincinnati. A sports commentator (Frank Deford, I think) said that the BcS matched Boise against the TCU Horny Toads exactly because the BcS powers-that-be did not want either of those teams to beat a BcS conference powerhouse, and remain undefeated in so doing. That would really show that Emperor had no clothes.
Laughing on December 10 at 3:02 p.m.
Dixon makes great points. I would only emphasis that if they would do away with the blue turf and not make them a carnival side show they might get more respect. Having TV commentators joke about them, running around in their blue uniforms and blending in with the blue turf does not help their cause.
Sisyphus on December 10 at 3:04 p.m.
From what I’ve seen TCU is a helluva lot more pissed about not being in the big game than Boise is. Frankly, doesn’t Boise have a score to settle with them? I’m not sure what the hubub is all about. It seems a good match up to me.
JIMMYMAC on December 10 at 3:09 p.m.
JIMMYMAC on December 06 at 10:40 p.m.
This TCU vs BSU stunt is complete crap. Pure and simple. None of the powers that be want to see either of these teams beat one of their protected darlings. There is so much chatter out there about the non bsc schools having no legitimate chance against the big boys. All year long that has been the song and dance from both sides. Now, pitting them against each other gives neither team the chance they deserve to put up or shut up. Before the announcement, I thought the BSC was an 8 out of 10 on the scam chart. It is nothing but a fraud.
I’m right on this and do not want to hear otherwise.
eagleeye on December 10 at 3:59 p.m.
So Jimmy, what do you think the matchups should be?
poolman on December 10 at 4:05 p.m.
JM – Nice! - It’s been a while since I’ve seen a self quote. I agreed the first time and still agree.
If you look at the matchups in the BCS bowls, they couldn’t be any worse (other than the two being played in Pasadena). Cincinnati will likely be playing with a lame duck coach. For Florida, a win over Cincinnati is a yawner – middle of the road SEC teams would crush Cincinnati, Georgia Tech vs. Iowa - WHAT? And then you have TCU vs. BSU (2), as in (who) cares.
Now, if the winner of the Rose played the winner of the Fiesta, and the winner of the other Rose played the winner of the Sugar (forget about the Orange), with the winner of those two games playing each other for a title - then we would have some legitimate excitement and claim to a championship.
eagleeye – IMO - BSU should be playing Florida in the Fiesta. Rose is correct, Orange is correct, Cincinnati should be playing TCU in the Sugar.
MatthewRoot on December 10 at 4:16 p.m.
The SECs traditional tie-in with the Sugar pretty much means that Florida has to go there, put the Smurf-Turfers in the Sugar, and Cincinnati in the Fiesta with the Horned Toads.
eagleeye on December 10 at 4:25 p.m.
Some reasonable arguments. I happen to think that the best two teams in the country are Alabama and Texas. Put TCU or BSU playing the schedule of those teams and they each have a few losses.
JamesBond on December 10 at 4:28 p.m.
This is an awesome matchup and bowl game. Everyone I know is jacked up about it! TCU is the real deal!
OutofStaterTater on December 10 at 4:33 p.m.
Making BSU play TCU was the BCS’ way of sort of giving the Broncos what they wanted, while still giving them the shaft. They get the payout of a BCS bowl, but they don’t get to “prove themselves against the big boys.” So in that sense, they have a right to gripe a little.
Personally, I think they ought to shut it and be happy to be where they are. I don’t think ANYBODY who plays a I-AA/FCS team - and that means Florida, Texas, BSU, Cincinnati, or anybody else - should be allowed to play for the national title. There is no excuse for any “big time” program to schedule such a cupcake. When BSU played UC Davis, an FCS program, they lost any credibility in the national title argument. Let alone that they only beat UC Davis by a touchdown or so. Scheduling FCS teams is a weasel maneuver for a national power. For an up-and-coming team or rebuilding program, like Idaho or Washington, I’ll give them a pass if they want to play Eastern Washington or somebody similar - for now. But if they become established powers, then they’d better drop the cupcakes.
jazzyvandal on December 10 at 4:36 p.m.
I agree, the BCS is bs, and I would like a playoff.
However, BSU fans have nothing to gripe about. What more do they want? They have national exposure. They have a high ranking. They are playing in probably in the best BCS bowl next to the national championship game. With the system that is in place, Texas and ‘Bama are the two best teams in the country. Especially with the type of schedules they play. If BSU goes undefeated next year (and wins the Fiesta Bowl) they may be in next year’s title game. Their toughest game is Virginia Tech.
idawa on December 10 at 5:42 p.m.
JV - I agree, if BSU beats both OSU and VT next year and is undefeated, and if those two teams have good seasons as well, BSU might have a shot at the title.
Then again, as a Vandal, I’m happy to know that they will be playing an even better Vandal team in the Dome in 2010, so I don’t think an undefeated season is a foregone conclusion.
JIMMYMAC on December 10 at 9:55 p.m.
EagleEye,
I concur with Poolman….i’d be fine with Cincy vs BSU or TCU or UF vs BSU or TCU but I think you have to give the nod to TCU to battle the other undefeated team just because they beat BSU in bowl competition last year.
2nd self quote!:
JIMMYMAC on December 07 at 12:17 a.m.
I’m hoping it’s a great game too DOTC, but TCU and BSU players and coaches are feeling fairly outraged right now. These two teams played each other in a bowl game last year. I think they deserve a shot at the other automatic qualifiers to put to rest some of the question marks that don’t go answered under the current system.
Emphasis on “These two teams played each other in a bowl game last year.” Brilliant job BSC, just brilliant.
Search the interweb for the Dan Patrick inteview with one of the BCS’s higher ups if you want to hear or read some priceless BCS BS.
BayviewBob on December 10 at 11:58 p.m.
“They will take on teams like Oregon and the lot if they come to Boise.”
They beat Oregon two years in a row!
Once in Eugene and once in Boise!
Try and pay attention.
wheels on December 11 at 6:58 a.m.
BSU finally got in a BCS bowl so they should quit bi&cin.TCU this year is the real deal.Hope they pummel BSU.Laugh if U want but the Vandals ore on their way back.Parity is a funny thing.Akey has brought respect back to U of I football.