Boise State, do they deserve a chance?

[G-FORCE]

that was probably obvious to everyone but me...

carry on...

lol ok.

 

[JoJaBuckeye]

Do you Buckeye fans, feel that BSU deserves a shot to play for the National Title?

This is not a yes or no question to me. That is because prior to the Oklahoma game, the only time BSU went up against a big team was when they brought their winning streak to Georgia in 2005. The image we had at that time was their QB, Zabransky, sitting on the sidelines with his head in his hands, completely devastated. Even if you wanted Georgia to win, you begged for the clock to put the Broncos out of their misery. No goddamn way is that NC material or even the image of a worthy opponent.

Post-Oklahoma, sure. They've improved. Zabransky's grown up. They're on top of their game and have proven they can run with the big boys.

Memo to Boise: Next time tee up an Oklahoma or two during the season.

 

[lvbuckeye]

they deserve a shot, and if the unspeakable happens on Monday, i fully expect them to have more than a couple #1 votes in the final AP poll.

 

[kn1f3party]

Whether there should be a playoff is an entirely separate argument. But in either case, your supposition that there will be a playoff says nothing about whether it would be an improvement to have a playoff, much less about whether a team with a demonstrably very weak schedule should be allowed into the D-1A national championship game.

FWIW, a playoff would be an improvement as we wouldn't have arguments about whether or not a team jumped another because of pollsters not approving of a rematch--only to have the team everyone felt was second best embarrassed in their bowl game. I'm not much of a Pro Football fan, but I do know that a lot of things happen during the regular season and there aren't any arguments about who is best once a team wins the Super Bowl. Why is it an improvement? I want to know who the best team is without following 1 thousandths of a point based on some guy in New York thinking, "a rematch wouldn't be any fun." It is ridiculous to measure these teams like that.

Strength of schedule a factor, not a factor--we can't make up our mind on that. If a Boise State runs the tables and wins every game by 60-70 points we would call them poor sports. They can't do much about their schedule. Their conference determines most of their games and teams like USC, Oklahoma, etc. are insane if they do a 1:1. I wouldn't want OSU playing on the smurf turf. At least in the playoff, they can earn that shot at a National Championship rather than worry about what some talking head on the East Coast thinks about Idaho football.

 

[exhawg]

Boise pulled every trick out of the bag to beat a crappy Oklahoma team. It was a great win for them, but if they had to play OSU, Florida, LSU, USC, Louisville, etc in a plus one game they would get crushed.
IMO going for 2 was the only chance that Boise had to beat Ok in OT. They had a better chance of winning on one play from the 3 yard line, than if they had let it go to another OT. Just let their season be what it was without the delusion that they would have a chance to win an NC game. I'm not sure who they lose for next season, but if they go undefeated again I'm sure the pollsters will have them higher so they might actually get a chance at a better BCS game. How about we let Boise play Wisconsin in the Trojan Condoms Screwed Over by the BCS Bowl played in Akron.

 

[BayBuck]

Many of the same arguments, about how messy it would be, were applied to Instant Replay.

I don't see the analogy there, since I'm not really hearing that argument about 'messiness'. To me the argument for Boise State feels more like the one for affirmative action.

 

[G-FORCE]

Boise pulled every trick out of the bag to beat a crappy Oklahoma team. It was a great win for them, but if they had to play OSU, Florida, LSU, USC, Louisville, etc in a plus one game they would get crushed.
IMO going for 2 was the only chance that Boise had to beat Ok in OT. They had a better chance of winning on one play from the 3 yard line, than if they had let it go to another OT. Just let their season be what it was without the delusion that they would have a chance to win an NC game. I'm not sure who they lose for next season, but if they go undefeated again I'm sure the pollsters will have them higher so they might actually get a chance at a better BCS game. How about we let Boise play Wisconsin in the Trojan Condoms Screwed Over by the BCS Bowl played in Akron.

They also dominated them for about 3/4 of the game.

 

[BuckeyeNation27]

Oklahoma beat 0 ranked teams this year.

 

[NightmaresDad]

The problem with all this is, where does it end?

Like after the 2002 season, many media idiots were saying that USC should get a chance to play tOSU. How many NC games does the NC have to win to be the NC? Why should t OSU have to beat FL and Boise St to be NC? Should they then have to beat USC, LSU, and Wisky?

That's why the only viable playoff system I can see is to revert the BCS bowls back to their traditional matchups, and then the 4 winners have a playoff seeded by their ranking.

Would keep posers like ND out of the BCS games too when they don't deserve it.

 

[23Skidoo]

That's why the only viable playoff system I can see is to revert the BCS bowls back to their traditional matchups, and then the 4 winners have a playoff seeded by their ranking.

Would keep posers like ND out of the BCS games too when they don't deserve it.

I'm generally against playoffs ... but that really doesn't sound too bad. It's effectively an 8-team playoff with all the traditional bowls. If BCS rules were kept the same (debatable, since the rules for midmajors were relaxed now that there are 10 slots) that would essentially guarantee any undefeated midmajor gets a shot. Unfortunately, so would ND every year they had 9 wins.

 

[buckeye99]

Yes.

 

[Steve19]

G-Force, seems like we're getting back to this pleading for respect for the mid-majors thing. So, let's examine that from two perspectives.

First, does the 1-point victory over Oklahoma really tell us very much about this team as a NC contender?

Oklahoma was a mediocre team that could have been a contender had they not had the problems in the preseason and lost their QB etc. They lost badly against what proved to be a mediocre Texas team, lost to Oregon, and barely beat the Aggies and Okie St. So, what's the big deal about beating them and running this schedule (click link below)?

Link to Oklahoma schedule and results


Second, do the Boise State victories against other teams really tell us very much about this team as a NC contender?

The Boise State schedule was packed with losers and a few competent teams. I have added the Sagarin team rankings prior to the bowls behind each listing in the schedule below to provide objective evidence for that comment.

Boise State won two games against teams in the Sagarin top 25. Oklahoma and Oregon State. Oregon State, it must be remembered, lost three of their first five games, including one to Washington State (6-6). They lost to Cal by almost the same exact score. Both teams that they beat will be ranked much lower in the final ratings.

Even to the casual observer, there are some incredibly weak teams on this schedule. Six teams are ranked outside the top 100. In comparison, only Illinois is outside the top 100 in the Big Ten (#102). Even lowly Purdue is ranked #54. Most Big Ten teams have an SOS ranked in the top 25. The SEC is the same.

So, previous victories do not suggest that Boise State belongs in a NC game but rather that they just played a very easy schedule of games in a conference that is of similar quality to the MAC.

Link to Boise State schedule and results

DateOpponentWLResultPFPANote
Mon 01/01/07vs Oklahoma112W4342playoff | Glendale AZ | Fiesta Bowl
Sat 11/25/06 at Nevada84W387 #52
Sat 11/18/06 Utah St111W4910 #169
Sat 11/11/06 at San Jose St84W2320 #69
Wed 11/01/06 Fresno St48W4521 #105
Sat 10/21/06 at Idaho48W4226 #136
Sun 10/15/06 at New Mexico St48W4028 #128
Sat 10/07/06 Louisiana Tech310W5514 #158
Sat 09/30/06 at Utah75W363 #58
Sat 09/23/06 Hawaii103W4134 #28
Sat 09/16/06 at Wyoming66W1710 #78
Thu 09/07/06 Oregon St94W4214 #18
Thu 08/31/06 CS Sacramento47W450 #109

No, Boise State don't deserve a shot at the national championship. They would be at least a three-loss team in the Big Ten, perhaps four or five. If Boise State wants a shot, then they have to take the cremepuffs off their schedule and get some real competition.

 

[Best Buckeye]

Not in this lifetime? you could play the bottom 12 teams and be undefeated.
Would that count? NO

 

[milkman21]

I'm generally against playoffs ... but that really doesn't sound too bad. It's effectively an 8-team playoff with all the traditional bowls. If BCS rules were kept the same (debatable, since the rules for midmajors were relaxed now that there are 10 slots) that would essentially guarantee any undefeated midmajor gets a shot. Unfortunately, so would ND every year they had 9 wins.

Is it really fair:

*To make OSU beat Michigan again in order to win the NC?
*To make Michigan beat Wisconsin again in order to win the NC?
*To make Florida beat LSU again in order to win the NC?
*Give USC and LSU a chance at the NC, even though they have 2 losses already?

Why should a quality team have to beat a quality opponent two separate times in order to win the title? Should a team with 2 losses be able to win the title over a top-tier team that had only one (e.g. a USC over an OSU)?That's not how college football works (rare exceptions notwithstanding), and frankly that's not the direction I want it to take.

Pretty much any way you slice it, creating a playoff of any more than 4 teams is going to require at least one rematch, and that's not fair to the team that wins the first time around. The more you convert to a playoff system, the college game is going to start looking like the JV NFL. The regular season will be all about "Clinch your playoff spot... rest your starters... the big games haven't started yet."

I don't want that.

 

[G-FORCE]

G-Force, seems like we're getting back to this pleading for respect for the mid-majors thing. So, let's examine that from two perspectives.

First, does the 1-point victory over Oklahoma really tell us very much about this team as a NC contender?

Oklahoma was a mediocre team that could have been a contender had they not had the problems in the preseason and lost their QB etc. They lost badly against what proved to be a mediocre Texas team, lost to Oregon, and barely beat the Aggies and Okie St. So, what's the big deal about beating them and running this schedule (click link below)?

Link to Oklahoma schedule and results


Second, do the Boise State victories against other teams really tell us very much about this team as a NC contender?

The Boise State schedule was packed with losers and a few competent teams. I have added the Sagarin team rankings prior to the bowls behind each listing in the schedule below to provide objective evidence for that comment.

Boise State won two games against teams in the Sagarin top 25. Oklahoma and Oregon State. Oregon State, it must be remembered, lost three of their first five games, including one to Washington State (6-6). They lost to Cal by almost the same exact score. Both teams that they beat will be ranked much lower in the final ratings.

Even to the casual observer, there are some incredibly weak teams on this schedule. Six teams are ranked outside the top 100. In comparison, only Illinois is outside the top 100 in the Big Ten (#102). Even lowly Purdue is ranked #54. Most Big Ten teams have an SOS ranked in the top 25. The SEC is the same.

So, previous victories do not suggest that Boise State belongs in a NC game but rather that they just played a very easy schedule of games in a conference that is of similar quality to the MAC.

Link to Boise State schedule and results

DateOpponentWLResultPFPANote
Mon 01/01/07vs Oklahoma112W4342playoff | Glendale AZ | Fiesta Bowl
Sat 11/25/06 at Nevada84W387 #52
Sat 11/18/06 Utah St111W4910 #169
Sat 11/11/06 at San Jose St84W2320 #69
Wed 11/01/06 Fresno St48W4521 #105
Sat 10/21/06 at Idaho48W4226 #136
Sun 10/15/06 at New Mexico St48W4028 #128
Sat 10/07/06 Louisiana Tech310W5514 #158
Sat 09/30/06 at Utah75W363 #58
Sat 09/23/06 Hawaii103W4134 #28
Sat 09/16/06 at Wyoming66W1710 #78
Thu 09/07/06 Oregon St94W4214 #18
Thu 08/31/06 CS Sacramento47W450 #109

No, Boise State don't deserve a shot at the national championship. They would be at least a three-loss team in the Big Ten, perhaps four or five. If Boise State wants a shot, then they have to take the cremepuffs off their schedule and get some real competition.

And this is the most stupid thing about college football. It's not even about mid-major respect, it's about common sense. If a mid-major team in baketball has a great year, they not only make the tournament, they could get a #1 seed (see: St. Joe's). In every other sports (college and pro), if you go undefeated, you get a chance to play for the national championship.

It's not about strength of schedule or what their record would be. If you go undefeated, and only 1 other team goes undefeated, you deserve to play them for the title. If you do EVERYTHING you possibly can and win ALL of your games, you at least deserve to be in a playoff with a chance to win it all.

College football postseason is a joke.