More obstacles to BCS for Boise State
By now I'm sure your head is spinning trying to figure out a way Boise State can get to the BCS. I know mine is.
The easiest way remains for Boise State to win its final three games and for Utah to lose to either San Diego State or BYU. That would give the Broncos an automatic berth in the BCS as the top-rated team (in the top 12 of the BCS standings) from a non-BCS conference.
Easy.
The long-shot way is for Boise State to be selected as an at-large selection. Most experts, including BCS analyst Jerry Palm, believe that Boise State will not be selected as an at-large pick unless they are the only team available.
First some math:
There are 5 BCS bowls, which means 10 spots.
The champions of the six BCS conferences earn automatic berths, leaving four spots.
In this scenario, Utah would get the non-BCS spot as the highest-rated team (in the top 12) from a non-BCS league, leaving three at-large spots.
The Big 12 and SEC are assured of getting a second team in, leaving one spot. No one conference can have any more than two teams in the BCS.
Boise State could claim that remaining spot as long as there are no at-large teams — in order to be picked, teams have to be ranked in the top 14 and have at least nine wins — available from the Pac-10, Big Ten, ACC or Big East.
How likely is that?
Well, it seems to be getting less likely by the week. Let's run through the conferences one-by-one:
Pac-10: USC (No. 6 BCS) is all but assured of finishing in the top 14 unless the Trojans suffered two losses. That's fine. But what Boise State fans must root for is Oregon State to not win the Pac-10. If the Beavers win the Pac-10 (remember they have the tiebreaker with USC), then USC gets the at-large spot that Boise State covets.
Big Ten: Penn State (No. 8 BCS) and Ohio State (No. 11 BCS) are currently in the top 14. Losses by either would likely knock them out, so root for both to lose. The problem is Michigan State (No. 15) is lurking. The Spartans have just one game remaining (vs. Penn State). A victory against Penn State puts Michigan State in the top 14 and makes the Spartans co-Big Ten champs with Ohio State (provided the Buckeyes win out). In that scenario, Ohio State goes to the Rose Bowl and Michigan State likely claims the last at-large spot.
ACC: Here's one I just discovered. North Carolina (No. 16 BCS) could foul things up for Boise State. The Tar Heels have three winnable games remaining. If they go 3-0, they are likely to be in the top 14 by the end of the season. Division foe Virginia Tech is tied with the Heels atop the division right now. VT holds the tiebreaker. So it's possible for North Carolina to finish 10-2 and in the top 14 of the BCS, but not play in the ACC Championship Game. The winner of that game earns an automatic berth and North Carolina would likely claim the last at-large spot.
Big East: It is almost impossible for the league to get a team that doesn't win the conference championship into the top 14. Pittsburgh (No. 21 BCS) and Cincinnati (No. 22 BCS) must play each other. West Virginia (unranked in the BCS) is currently tied with those two for the league lead. West Virginia still must play Pitt. No matter who comes out of the league scrum, the conference is not going to get two teams in the BCS.
So Boise State needs a lot of help if it is to snag an at-large bid to the BCS. Now you can debate whether Michigan State or North Carolina deserve to be selected ahead of an undefeated Boise State team, but what is undeniable is that the Broncos face an uphill battle to get into the BCS.
Basically Boise State fans need to root for Utah to lose.
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Big East????
It baffles me that the Big East gets an automatic bid to a BCS game.
For all those people who knock BSU's schedule, and even their CONFERENCE schedule and the teams they play, take a look at the Big East! Pitt is the highest rated team from that conference, and they lost to Bowling Green. Nobody in that conference is a powerhouse of any kind, however they still get an automatic bid. WEAK!!!!
Bowling green goes down
8/30/08 BG smacks PITT 27-17. 9/13/08 BSU smacks BG 20-7. BG played Minn. between the two games so they should have been a better team by the time they played Boise and now Pitt gets an auto bid into a BCS game if they win their conference? On the Pitt website it announces Pitt is BCS eligible. there is no justice if Pitt goes to the BCS and Boise is left out.
How about the ACC?
They're no great shakes this year, either. See, that's the problem - historically, most of the BCS conferences are power players. But from year to year, there's no telling when a conference or two is going to struggle along, skewing the bowl picture. So #19 Florida State is going to a BCS bowl game. #16 North Carolina might go, too.
But look at which teams are leading their conferences - good gravy, if some of those teams keep going, we're looking at yet another BCS season of mediocrity. Other than the national championship, the other games are going to be snoozers.
I can see Boise State ending the season at around number 8, maybe 7, going to a non-BCS bowl, winning, then finishing at something like number 9 or 10 in the last poll.
Hey, maybe one of the first executive orders Obama issues can be to establish a playoff system!
H-Bowl
It's looking more and more like Boise in December unless BYU can pull off a win in SLC.
Get another great Bowl
It would be great to get into one of the BCS bowl's but what about another great Bowl such as when an undefeated 2004 Bronco team went to play Louisville in the Liberty Bowl. It's not so bad that this Bronco team not make it to the big show b/c the seniors have the Fiesta under their belt and the up and coming underclassmen might loose that blue colored work ethic like some say the 2007 team did. This young Bronco team has a great future ahead of them and I'm sure they will be in the BCS soon, maybe not this year.
Poinsettia Bowl
Is the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego still an option? A game vs BYU or TCU would be better than playing a not so good ACC team in the Boise "TruckStop" Bowl.
Anti-trust law suit
The NCAA and the BCS need to be challenged in court or in the Congress. This is patently unfair and everyone knows it. Someone needs to step in and force both the NCAA and the BCS to play fair. It won't happen but that is my opinion.
Insert logic here
Bluephan,
Nice logic. 8/28/08 - Stanford beats OSU. 9/25/08 - OSU beats USC. Therefore, Stanford is automatically better than USC and should therefore go to the nation championship, right?
Not what he's saying
He's saying that it would be unfair for a 3 loss Pitt team to be guaranteed a BCS slot over an undefeated BSU. Even more of an insult that Pitt lost at home to a team that BSU defeated.
Saturday
Well, we'll have to wait until saturday to see if your statement is true DonkBater. As of right now USC is top of the PAC at 6-1 with that loss to OSU and OSU is at 5-1 with that loss to Stan but Stan is at 4-3 with multiple losses, the CFB world is a-lot of fun to follow with all the twist and turns you just never know what might happen. I see your argument against my post, DonkBater, but I didn't mention any team in the PAC at all, Bate those Donks! Bate em, arrogant Bater. Here's one I like from a tri-delt at U of I that's a good friend of mine and he loves wearing the shirt on UI vs. BSU game day even though it's been washed 1000 times. Buck those Fronco's! I'm surprised it didn't say Duck those Fonkey's. It's all good fun but the fact is BSU is going to smack the sissy Vangals.
"He" is a tri-delt???
Quote: "Here's one I like from a tri-delt at U of I that's a good friend of mine and he loves wearing the shirt on UI vs. BSU game day even though it's been washed 1000 times."
Last time I checked, sororities didn't let men join their houses. I know my fraternity sure as heck didn't let any women join. Might want to get your "facts" straight to carry any credibility! Either that, or learn to type.
How bout
check my posts before printing. Missed one little letter and it changes the whole meaning. Sorry. Thanks for pointing that out.
Quit Crying
Look, BSU is a fun and exciting team to watch. Having come from the Pac 10, I've made a nice conversion to the Bronc's. At the end of the day we're a WAC team...that's right a WAC team. As long as we remain in the WAC and Bleymeir makes the schedule, we're going to hear this same nonsense every year. The talk is like we're a BCS team...guess what, we're not. We won a few games this year that was purely due to the inferiority of the team we played. Sorry guys, we're not there yet. But I'd love to see us get there, we got the right coaches and an excellent program. Let's hope we can get into the Mountain West Conference.
U of I's ∆∆∆
Yeah - maybe you didn't know. To boost attention up at U of I, they're letting guys join sororities! (Of course I am kidding. take a joke)
This way they can claim they lost a football game because they were playing their cheerleaders. (The ones with adam's apples.)
How the heck...
Where did those triangles come from? :> -sideways chicken.
ha ha ha
love that sideways chicken! This is an old page, so who knows if you will see this (I was bored!) THe triangles are compliments of my Mac - Mac keyboards can do really funky stuff if you push the correct combinations of stuff. *And remember - Windows 95 is Macinstosh 87!* (OK - that was great joke 13 years ago ha ha ha)
GOOOO BRONCOS!!!!!!!