Boise's Kellen Moore would be a starting QB in any program
College football is in full swing and once again the debate about “real” conferences and Top 25 rankings is fully under way. I was driving home the last week and heard an XM DJ yakking up the current number three-FBS NCAA ranking that Boise State finds themselves in and how “if Boise played in the Pac-10 or another major conference they wouldn’t go undefeated”.
This guy, who didn’t identify himself because, well he is on XM along with 500 other DJs so how could I not know his name, also went on to say that they’re not playing good competition in their home conference, the WAC, and therefore weren’t really a top 5 team. If you’ve learned anything over the past several years it’s that anyone can win on any given day. As our own Don Martelli says repeatedly, it’s why they line up to play on Sunday (or in this case Thursday, Friday or Saturday and sometimes Monday or Wednesday).
The first week of the season saw two FCS schools, North Dakota and South Dakota State, upset “big conference” schools Kansas and Minnesota of the Big 12 and Big Ten, respectively. This past week Michigan, who lost to FCS champion Appalachian State two years ago, squeaked by FCS-ranked UMass by a score of 42-37 and Nevada, from the same “weak” conference as Boise, beat up on top Pac-10 team California. Even projected SEC power Ole Miss, with former Oregon QB Jeremiah Masoli, took a loss to FCS Jacksonville State in week one. Every week we’re watching teams that just a decade ago that had no business making these games close pull out victories against supposed “power” conferences.
Let’s take a look at these supposed “power” conferences, too. While the SEC, ACC and Big Ten put more players in the pros, all of the teams playing have the same playing field in terms of player eligibility. Unlike NCAA basketball, where players can bolt for the pros after one year, NCAA football players are required to have three years of time served before moving on to the NFL. Even with that, would you really have the nerve to suggest that, as sports radio talking heads say, a Boise State would finish in the middle of the SEC? Really? Understanding that Florida, Alabama et al take on a few patsies throughout the year and every conference has bottom feeders. Here’s Alabama’s 2009, National Championship schedule. Ok fine, you see a lot of “ranked” teams on that list. And you see patsies as well. North Texas? Boise would hand them a 70 point loss. Chattanooga? Really? As Ed Lover would say, “C’mon, Son”.
Let’s look at how the SEC did in Bowl Games: Kentucky lost to ACC’s Clemson. Georgia beat offensively-challenged Texas A&M. Penn State beat LSU. UConn beat South Carolina. Ole Miss beat OK State. Arkansas beat perennial powerhouse ECU (rolls eyes). VA Tech beat Tennessee. Auburn barely beat Big Ten pushover Northwestern in OT. Florida beat Cincinnati and Alabama won the national title. That’s 5-3 in bowl games, which isn’t a convincing argument considering the competition (ECU and Northwestern, Really?). There isn’t a team on that list that I don’t think Boise couldn’t have beaten, regular season or not.
All of that being said, do I think Boise would go undefeated in a “power” conference? Maybe not, but they’d certainly be in the top one or two spots. They’re recruiting good talent and their coaching is superb. It’s a tough argument to say that they don’t belong because they play against “weaker” schools than the other conferences. When’s the last time Indiana, Vandy, Syracuse, Washington State, K-State, Kentucky, Virginia or the other half of the schools in every major conference posed a real threat to the top dogs? It’s been a while, realistically. Can any of those teams step up and have the game of their life? Sure, and so can Idaho. The talent pool across the country isn’t spread that thin, folks.
Thanks to parody in college sports, it’s time for this debate to end. It only continues the stereotype that the power conferences get the best talent, the best coaches and have the best payroll.
Don’t disagree with you that Boise’s a good team, but…
Without a playoff, our only choice is to crown a national champion based on their complete body of work. It’s like hiring someone for a job – if one candidate’s resume lists a long track record of success at Fortune 50 companies (Alabama, Ohio State, USC …) and the other candidate’s lists “cashier at Wal-Mart and 3rd shift drive thru supervisor at Taco Bell (Boise), you’re going to hire candidate one. That’s not to say that candidate two doesn’t have the potential to be better than candidate one, but in lieu of head-to-head competition what do we have to go on other than past body of work? I say nothing. So, IMO, without a playoff, Boise, TCU and the rest of the non-BCS schools can’t be in the equation. That’s the decision those players make when they decide to go to school there.
Final thought… if Boise wants to be in the conversation, then they need to go above and beyond with their non-conference schedule. Nebraska – well respected national power – just approached Boise to schedule a two game home-and-home series. Accepting would have done untold good for Boise’s BCS hopes. What does Boise do? They demand $1 million from Nebraska as payment for scheduling the series. You don’t ask Nebraska for $1 million, you say “thank you” and get on the bus to Lincoln. Boise isn’t doing themselves any favors with crap like this.
I think the body of work argument is based on a lot of hype. Realistically Boise has beaten their ranked opponents and won their bowl games to earn their spot at the table. The realignment should help get some of the crap conference play discussion out of the way. That being said, teams like Indiana that barely get into a bowl and then lose to a fourth place SEC school might as well rescind their spot for a third place WAC team; I’d take Fresno State over a mid-ranked “big conference” school in a bowl game any day.
Speaking of Fresno and their “any one, any where” mentality – I can’t disagree with your logic, however revenue, which is why Nebraska bolted for the Big Ten, isn’t out of the question. If Boise can get a bigger payday playing against a Rutgers or Syracuse because it’s a bigger market and the payday is better then so be it. It doesn’t help their argument but to your point until there’s a playoff there’ll be pointless blog posts like this one.
Thanks for commenting!