By Chadd Cripe
ccripe@idahostatesman.com
If the Boise State football team gets left out of the Bowl Championship Series, the Broncos’ best bowl opportunity appears to be a game against Navy in the Texas Bowl.
The Texas Bowl is Dec. 31 in Houston.
The Texas Bowl has contracts with Navy and the Big 12. If Oklahoma State gets a BCS berth instead of Boise State and Kansas loses to Missouri, the Big 12 won’t fill its spot.
Navy is 8-3 this year with losses to Ohio State, Pittsburgh and Temple. The Midshipmen should finish 10-3. Their last two games are against Hawaii and Army.
The other likely opportunity for the Broncos is to play Central Michigan in the GMAC Bowl on Jan. 6 in Mobile, Ala. Central Michigan is expected to win the Mid-American Conference.
The only other expected at-large openings are in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl in Detroit (formerly the Motor City Bowl) and the Humanitarian Bowl in Boise. The opponent in Detroit likely would be a MAC team; in Boise, it’s likely the Idaho Vandals.
There is a small chance a deal could be worked out to place Boise State in the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco against a Pac-10 team. It’s also possible the Broncos could play Houston in the Hawaii Bowl if Houston doesn’t win Conference USA. Neither of those situations seem likely.
As for the BCS, the Broncos could land in the Fiesta, Orange or Sugar. All three games are expected to have representatives at the Boise State-Nevada game Friday, including the Orange Bowl executive director.
The Fiesta is the Broncos’ likely destination if Oklahoma State loses to Oklahoma and Georgia Tech wins the ACC.
The Orange is the Broncos’ likely destination if Oklahoma State loses to Oklahoma and Clemson wins the ACC.
The Broncos could end up in the Sugar if the Fiesta wants TCU and the Orange doesn’t want Boise State. The Sugar has the last pick.
Keep in mind, Texas probably has to win the Big 12 for a spot to be open for the Broncos.
Here are our projections for this week, which assume Oklahoma extends its 28-game home winning streak by beating Oklahoma State on Saturday. The only change this week — UCLA in the Humanitarian Bowl.
BCS bowls:
BCS National Championship Game (No. 1 vs. No. 2): Florida vs. Texas
Rose Bowl (Pac-10 vs. Big Ten): Oregon vs. Ohio State
Sugar Bowl (1st pick vs. 5th pick): Alabama vs. Cincinnati
Fiesta Bowl (2nd pick vs. 4th pick): Iowa vs. Boise State
Orange Bowl (ACC vs. 3rd pick): Georgia Tech vs. TCU
WAC bowls:
Humanitarian: Idaho vs. UCLA
New Mexico: Nevada vs. Wyoming
Hawaii: Fresno State vs. SMU
•••
A couple leftover notes from the my reporting for the Titus Young feature:
— Wide receivers coach Brent Pease, who has received some criticism for chewing out Young on the sideline at Hawaii: “He’s obviously popped my fuse a couple times. I definitely apologize for some of that. But he’s got to learn … You have to act like you’ve been there before.”
— Quarterback Kellen Moore said Young comes to him before each game with a list of plays and explains why he will be open on each of them. “For the most part, he’s just out there having fun,” Moore said.
— Safety Jason Robinson, a high school friend of Young, plans to talk to him about the celebration penalties. “I understand what he’s been through — it’s got to feel crazy when you get in the end zone,” Robinson said. “I’m going to work on getting him right on that.”
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Titus
Only a Wide Receiver goes to his QB and tells him all the plays he will be open on. I love it! As for Pease: I think what bothered Pease the most in that Hawaii game was the fact Titus didnt seem too interested in what Pease was jabbering about (after the hang loose sign) and just shrugged it off. Pease did blow a few fuses after that too. I dont think Kellen and the guys care all that much. As long as Titus doesnt get the penalties when it matters seems to be more important to them.
BSU NAVY
Please- no bcs bid play the bruins again show what you can do playing bcs conference teams shut up bsu or get off the pot players for bsu deserve a vacation reward the players and play the bruins the bruins welcome the challenge id goes to the islands they deserve a vacation
I say go Texas Bowl
Playing Navy would be a great choice for Boise State in the long run. We could completely destroy a 10 win team, would would be a massive PR coup after getting shafted by the BCS. Boise State could finish 4th (higher than when they won the Fiesta Bowl) and start next year in the top 5 with a respectable schedule and a better team.
Completely destroy Navy???
While I would agree that the Texas bowl would be a good one for Boise State mainly because of the recruiting potential I do not agree with your comment "We could completely destroy a 10 win team" -- Navy lost to Ohio State (by 4) in Columbus, they lost to Pitt in Pittsburgh and yes, they had a surprising loss to Temple but they also have beaten Notre Dame in South Bend and Louisiana Tech (by 18). They rush for an average of nearly 300 yards per game -- they are no push over that BSU can be confident of a game where they 'destroy' a 10 win team.
Oh boy! Here we go again!
Here we go again. Cripe? You still hanging with your Broncos in the Fiesta? Wow. You draw up all these scenarios of 'likely destinations' but one needs a calulator to keep up! How about just saying that the Broncos are cooked if Oklahoma doesn't beat Oklahoma State and Georgia Tech wins the ACC? Isn't that about it? The Orange and Sugar having representatives at the Boise State Nevada game is also not something to exactly write home about -- aren't they just looking for a weekend trip at this point? Do you really think that anything that happens this weekend in Boise will sway their opinions of the Broncos? How about that lack of a sell out? That might! The Orange and Sugar are LONG shots. Just say it! Boise St. fans traveling to Miami or New Orleans? Not 25,000 of them. No way. Remember, it's all about the money Chad. BSU just won't travel that well to either of those cities. Phoenix, yes. At least you can drive to Phoenix.
As for the H-Bowl? UCLA better beat the Trojans this week. Pray for that otherwise the good ol' H-Bowl is going to be stuck with some second tier program and they'll have trouble selling even 10,000 tickets. Gee, did I mention that BSU is having trouble selling out the biggest home game of the year? How do they think they can sell out -- or even get close to selling out -- at Idaho vs. second tier program?
Titus Young? He'll never learn. Surprised he didn't catch a little lip from the coaches on his unsportsman like against Utah State. What was that all about? Now it's okay for him to jack around and pull off that stuff? Guess they need him. How many warnings does he get? No story on that one I noticed.
Hey Truth, me again
BSU and Oklahoma State both played a bowl in San Diego last year.
Who brought more fans? BSU or Oklahoma State?
Who a higher TV rating? the BSU game or the Oklahoma St. game.
Once answered please explain your insistence that OSU would bring more "butts" and would have more "eyes" than BSU
Oh, and
It was guesstimated that of the "25,000" Boise fans at the Fiesta bowl, 2,500 actually drove (and as far as I know, no one walked).
BOI - PHX = $285
BOI - MSY = $363
BOI - MIA = $464
(Round trip airfare on Jan. 4th)
So you are saying there is "No way" people in Boise would spend an extra $78 to go to New Orleans, or an extra $179 to go to Miami? (FYI, nothing like South Beach in January, have not been back to N.O. since Katrina but a fantastic city, and Phoenix, I have a place Mesa, love the place)
Really "Truth", you make a whole lot of statements that just don't hold water.
So people will spend an
So people will spend an extra $78 or $179 on airfare, but they wont spend the $65 it might take to sell out a game in their own backyard? Kinda sad.
For $77 you could have seen the EAGLES, for Pete's sake.
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Like a midair collision with a tugboat
Genius
"Do you really think that anything that happens this weekend in Boise will sway their opinions of the Broncos?"
Have you read Nevada's stat sheet? If you were a "truth teller" you would be at least capable of making a sound comment based upon fact. You know that Nevada has the most prolific trio of rushers, ever, right? The consensus by broadcasters, sports writers and the like is that The Wolf Pack is the hottest team in America right now. But they must be idiots. right? There is a reason they are the first team in FBS history to have 3-1,000 yd backs. The organizers for those bowl games obviously see the importance of this game. If they didn't, they would have stayed home.
weisbooger and CrapTeller
Weisberg is still on crack. Can anyone understand what he is writing? And CrapTeller, what do you mean "jack around and pull off that stuff"? I saw him point one finger up. Yeah, that is a penalty, but come on, is that really excessive. You should see your wifes display when I'm done with her. Now that is excessive.
Holy !!!!!!
nice!
Fiesta Bowl!
That is where we are going!
In the end where we're going is green and we won't notice.
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Like a midair collision with a tugboat
Question on your bowl projections
I think you are pretty much right on about the BCS bowls if OK beats OK St and BSU wins out. However, the only way UCLA ends up in the H-bowl is if Bowling Green loses this weekend. Given that they are favored by 8.5, I'm surprised that you are projecting that.
Also, why would the WAC match Nevada with Wyoming when they could match them with SMU? I would think the second place team in the WAC would have earned the trip to Hawaii.
Anything might happen...
A squirrel might decide your nose is unnecessary and bite it off, maybe a DRASTIC might but it's true that it COULD HAPPEN.
Stay cheery.
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Like a midair collision with a tugboat
BSU
IS going to a BCS if they win out. period.
Truth teller, Nevada is NOT the biggest game of the year. It was Oregon and it was a HUGE sellout that prompted BSU to change the way student ticktes are sold.
Statesman wants you to think every week is the bigggest game. It isn't. An unranked Nevada...... Gonna get smacked. The team that played us the best this year? UC davis.
It's More Than Being Undefeated...
Congratulations to Boise State on what looks like another successful undefeated season. As a Boise State fan (when they are not playing my Oregon Ducks), I have some observations on how all of this talk about which bowl the Broncos will end up with could be simplified. It's obvious to this on-looker that the wins just aren't enough to get the Broncos the serious consideration they deserve. Here's is my list of suggestions on how to fix this.
1. Let's find a way to get Boise State to join the Pac-10 conference. We now have a new commissioner after years of status-quo, so the timing might be perfect. Adding BSU and say, Fresno State would get us to the PAC-12, with the potential for a North (WA, WAST, OR, ORST, STAN, BSU) South (FSU, CAL, UCLA, USC, AZ, AZST) and it would be a win-win for all sides. It gets Boise better competition, recognition, bigger television contracts and ultimately better bowls. We would have to revisit the rule that all PAC-10 teams would have to play each other during the season, since it wouldn't work. How about if the PAC-12 North teams play each other (so that's 5 games) and then we schedule teams like Akron, Troy, Coastal Carolina, Chattanooga, Florida International, Eastern Washington, Central New Mexico State with our other 7 games. All of the PAC-12 teams would have better records, like perennial top-10 Ohio State. I figure that if this year's undefeated teams, such as Alabama and Florida who are ranked ahead of Boise State can play these kind of "patsies" late in the season, so why shouldn't we. Wins count don't they?
2. Let's figure out how we can get Boise State some better competition to eliminate all of the talk about schedule weakness. Being part of the PAC-12 would help. Being able to attract home & away contracts is an economic deal more than it's a "people don't want to play Boise State deal killer". Boise State needs to have a larger (50,000 seat stadium) and better facilities. They also would need to fill this stadium and sell-out season tickets. I like the idea of selling "shares" of BSU stock and you can count me in on a share, if you apply my funds to #3.
3. Go mainstream and lose the Blue turf. Before you discount this thought completely, hear me out. I understand the need to reinforce the school colors and the interest in being unique. Being the only kid in school with the purple mohawk is cool the first year but eventually gets old. When everybody knows to call the field "Smurf Turf" and migratory birds are landing on the field because they think that it's a lake, it's time to to conform. I've watched enough games on TV to see that the nap of the blue turf or the angle of TV, just doesn't help sell the Broncos, when the reflection off the field makes it difficult to see the players of the plays.
Sign me up for a BSU share to help the Broncos go mainstream!
He's So Wrong - He's A Coot - He's A Hoot
sloDUXSUX:
Your suggestions # 1 and # 2, logically contradict each other.
The premise of your # 1 is 'Pac 12' teams would have better records by only playing 5 other divisional 'PAC 12' teams and filling in the other seasonal games with 'patsies', thereby increasing the strength of their 'winning' records.
The current PAC 10 teams. already play 9 patsies, each season (each other).
The premise of your # 2 is BSU would benefit by being a member of the 'PAC 12' and have better 'competition'.
BSU has beaten the PAC 10 Top Dog (coot) 2 years in a row. Assuming, the Top Dog (mud hen) truley represents the zenith of the PAC 10 competetive parabola; it would logically follow that PAC 10 teams pretty much suck and don't really offer a 'step up' competition wise, for BSU.
As far as your # 3. Well, it' just plain stupid. The blue field is unique to BSU. How does the angle of the TV or the nap of the blue turf, hurt the viewership of the game? It was raining during the Nevada game. There was water on the field. Even a green field, covered with water, will be a little shiny on TV due to the reflection of the stadium lights off the water on a flat surface. What do you prefer? A green field with green uniformed Coots running around?
As far as the purple mowhawk thing goes. We all know what happened when Delila cut off Samson's hair.
Sorry, the blue turf stays.
PS - Nice try Omilkey.
Wish you actually knew the story of Samson...
He was a ladies man and kind of a big muscle bully and his enemies knew he was crazy for Delilah (did it ever say SHE dug him)? She was paid a FORTUNE in those days to basically be a MOLE and expose his weaknesses (other than her). Once the locks were off, end of story.
Is this the original version of why athletes have superstitions about making whoopie during a streak?
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Like a midair collision with a tugboat
Mainstream?
Have you looked at your uniforms lately..............
Stay in the WAC Then...
Okay, I tried to present a rationale as crazy as it sounded in favor of Boise State to change the course of their BCS bowl quandry. I clearly said that I was a Bronco fan but also a Duck supporter but if you want to make this an us vs them argument and go after the Ducks with comments about their unis, I can go there with you...
My blog post was very much in favor of Boise State and complementary, except for the "mainstream" comments. I wish that Boise State had a better option as it relates to the BCS but it's a flawed system at best. My blog post was not meant to be a negative against the Bronco's but to put a funny twist on college game scheduling and highlight what I believe to be a injustice as it relates to the Broncos.
Rather than attack on the Oregon Ducks, or their uniforms, your energy should be focused on how to come up with a better solution. Most of my arguments you've heard before, so this shouldn't be a surprise. Changing the flaws in the BCS probably aren't going to happen any time soon.
If you played in the PAC-10, SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 or other conferences and were undefeated, there wouldn't be any argument or blog posts on this subject. The Bronco's would rightfully be playing for a National Championship.
I'm obviously wrong about trying to suggest some fun and creative ways to change this situation.
If you don't want to open up your thinking to change, then keep your blue turf and undefeated record and have fun in the Poinsetta Bowl!
Take Care
Okay, see ya.
Also
Check your schedule over the next few years.......Portland State, Montana State, New Mexico (twice), but no Boise State..........lesson learned I guess.
Strength of Schedule...
TFunk,
If you are going into a gun battle, it's best to at least take along a loaded gun. To get into a critique about schedules this year, next year or any year would be a losing battle for you TFunk.
No one will argue that Boise State is an excellent football team and should go to a good bowl. The issue isn't wins and losses but who the team has played and the overall strength of schedule. We could make a similar argument about Ohio State or even Florida and Alabama for that matter. Even though each of these teams scheduled their requisite patsies during their seasons, the strength of their schedules is still above Broncos. When you look at independent rating services, Boise State falls somewhere between #84 to 112 out of 120 FBS teams. Strength of schedule by conference has the Pac-10 leading the WAC. Sorry. Beating a ranked team like Oregon certainly looks good and helps the cause but beating up on the rest of the WAC with only 3 other winning teams (including football powerhouse Idaho), doesn't help. Hey, I'm sure Oregon would trade you their game against Portland State for your Toledo and raise you a Wyoming! The only way to win this argument and get out of this circular discussion about which bowl you will end up in is, elevate the level of your competition. The Virginia Tech game next year will be a good test and certainly improves your case.
The reason that Oregon and Boise State aren't playing again next year was because of a home and away (2 game agreement), which is fairly standard for non-conference opponents. I'm sure it's not because Oregon is scared of playing Boise again. A 19-8 game isn't quite a butt-kicking but a win no less.
Go Broncos!
OK, I'll battle
Since I have Florida numbers in front of me.
The combined record of the SEC opponents for Florida this year is 46-41. Not bad, except when you remove the 17 "gimme" wins vs the likes of Western Kentucky, Memphis, Jackson State, Florida Atlantic, Tennessee Tech, western Carolina, Troy and so on and so on. In fact, if you remove the "gimme" wins from each SEC team, Florida faced one team with a winning record this year (LSU). Everyone is taught to kneel down to the SEC schedule. Other than Florida and Alabama, the SEC is a very weak conference (I keep hearing "Tennessee" would beat BSU. They are 6-5 with wins over {0-11} Western Kentucky and {2-10} Memphis). I have been an advocate of BSU moving on from the WAC, we have moved past the conference. but I'm tired of hearing how tough these other schedules are. Back to Florida............ once you understand the fact that their conference is not really that tough, you then throw in Troy, Charleston Southern, Florida State, and Florida International, and you start to get it. Just look back a couple of weeks. LaTech, 7th from the WAC, put a beat-down on LSU (3rd SEC) before losing by 8. Just because a school has an 80,000 seat stadium, does not make them a great football team.
Sad But True - The Gilding Of The BCS
Excellent post.
A Tip of the ol' Sombrero to you tfunk.
You have provided some great facts.
However, the reality is: FCS Collegiate football is about only 1 thing - Big Money. Those teams and conferences with 'referent power', long standing reputations, and vast alumni donor financial resources, have been and always will be the dominant 'players' on the landscape.
Simply stated: The BCS is rigged to benefit the Big Boys. The Golden Rule: He who has the gold - rules.
Notre Dame is a perfect example. Regardless of how well they actually play or don't play - they will always be reputed as a Top Ten Team, or a team that should be in the Top Ten habitually, based on the perceived history of the team and the Huge Piles of bucks their alumni provide, and the 'schmoozing' their alumni do with media, marketing, and advertising executives, behind the scenes, throughout the year.
Same with Oklahoma, Texas, Nebraska, Penn, Michigan, Bama, USC, and etc.
Every so often legitimately good teams come along and 'rock the boat', Buffalo, Rutgers, Utah, TCU, BSU, and etc. They pose a threat to the established perceptions of Big Money Alumni of Big Schools. These teams are tolerated but, not truley respected. Flash in the pans, poof, gone in a wink.
Behind the scenes are the Big Money alumni of the Big Schools, wining and dining media, marketing, and advertising types, 'networking' to promote a player from their alma mater for the Heisman, or plant the seed of a rumor, or offer a lucrative job in return for a well placed 'plug' in an editorial or cable sports show.
You get the picture.
The BSUs, TCUs, Utahs, Rutgers, and etc., are 'newbies' on the stage. Their survival depends on either HUGE alumni involvement or Congressional involvement to mandate a fair and equitable playoff system.
Until either one of those happen - just accept it and enjoy BSU football games and the entertainment they provide - nothing is going to change.
True VNDL
But I think I will enjoy watching BSU in a BCS bowl for the 2nd time in 4 years
topottyornottopotty
potato2:
Yeah, me too. Am going to wherever the Broncos are playing. Hope it's the Fiesta. I know the way. Was there in Jan 2007. One helluva game.
tfunk told us about 'Mill Street' last week. Sounds good, will check it out this time. Didn't know about it before.
Maybe see ya there?
Stay Blue and Orange,
Go Broncos.
VNDL
Couldn't agree more.
But I
still think the SEC is hugely overrated.......... :)
The SEC Sucks, It Really Does
Hey TFunk,
Thanks for bringing the bullets to the gun battle but you are fighting the wrong fight. I'm not a SEC fan and completely agree with you. The SEC gets way too much press for their end-of-season records and also gets the prime bowls due to their reputation. I think that the PAC-10 is a stronger conference across the board (with the exception of WA. ST) than the SEC. The fact that the PAC-10 requires that each team to play all of their conference opponents, means that the end-of-season records are going to suffer. Even when USC is at the top of their game, they don't get out of the conference with an undefeated record!
I think that you would agree with my primary point, that if you look at the teams above Boise State, they have a lot of patsies in their schedules. It's especially weak that Alabama schedules Chattanooga in week 11 of the season and Florida plays Florida International. It's hard not to cast a critical eye on their undefeated records with these schedules. Unfortunately, the independent analysis points to Boise State having an easy schedule and you're trying to roll a huge rock up the BCS hill to convince people that your schedule is tough. Getting out of the WAC and playing better non-conference games will help your cause. Having both a strong schedule and ending up undefeated, will mean that you won't have to waste time figuring out which bowl you will be playing in.
I'd love to see the Broncos play against Florida. Blue and Orange against Blue and Orange! The Gators might like playing on blue turf.
The PAC 10
Is difficult to assess because as a group the non-con schedule is a little messy, but let's try.
Oregon: By far the best non-con schedule, 2-1 record with a win over a quality non-top 25 Utah, a win over a middle division Big 10 Purdue, and a loss to a top 10 Boise State.
Oregon State:Lost their one non-"gimme" game by 10 to top ten Cincinnati. And they barely got by one "gimme", UNLV 23-20 (the same UNLV that Nevada beat by 35).
USC: 3-0 With a win over a top-ten OSU, one over an mediocre ND, and a "Gimme". The fact that they won their one national game is huge.
Arizona: 2 "gimme" wins and a loss to top-ten Iowa.
Arizona State: 2 "gimme" wins and a loss to a not-so good Georgia team.
UCLA: 1 "gimme" win and 2 wins over decent but middle conference teams.
California: 2 "gimme" wins and a win over the 8th place Big Ten team.
Stanford: 1 "gimme" win and a loss to a middle of the pack ACC team.
Washington: A win vs. the #4 WAC team, loss vs a top twenty LSU, and a loss to mediocre ND.
Washington State: The PAC 10's version of San Jose State.
So as a conference the non-con record is 22-9, again not bad, until you strip away the "Gimme" games (12) and the PAC10 is 10-9 vs the rest of the country, 1-3 vs top ten teams.
The fact that PAC 10 teams beat each other up is no different than any other conference, and has no bearing as to how strong that conference truly is.
With the above said, where do you rate the PAC 10?
And before you throw the WAC back at me, I already believe the conference is weak. I do believe BSU has out grown it and should move on.
Ranking the PAC-10
I respect the fact that you are bringing the facts and are doing your homework. Most people who post, spout off and just don't know what they are talking about. Emotions over facts. All teams schedule some "gimme" games during their seasons and the question is how many of these games a team has in their schedule and what the overall records of the teams that a team plays.
Instead of discounting the PAC-10's record based upon your non-quantitative assessment, I offer up a quantitative method versus the subjective one. I know that you recognize that the WAC conference is weak but this is why I've said all along that the PAC-10 would benefit from including Boise State and that you would also improve your schedule strength. Here's another way of slicing the onion...
Boise State's Schedule
Conference BSC Ranking Win-Loss
P-10 - Oregon 8 9-2
Mid-AM- Miami-OH --- 1-11
WAC - Fresno St --- 7-4
Mid-AM - Bowling Grn --- 7-5
Great West - Cal Davis --- 6-5
Con USA - Tulsa --- 5-7
WAC - Hawaii --- 5-6
WAC - SJ State --- 2-9
WAC - LA Tech --- 3-8
WAC - Idaho --- 7-5
WAC - Utah St --- 4-8
WAC - Nevada --- 8-4
WAC - NM State --- 3-9
1 Ranked Team 59-79 (138 total games)
Winning % .428 against all opponents
WAC Winning % .424
Non-conference opponents from the Mid-American, Great West and Conference USA conferences. Most of these conference don't even show up on the college football radar screen. So pummeling them helps the record but not the case for a National Championship.
Oregon's Schedule
Conference BCS Rank Win-Loss
WAC - Boise St 6 12-0
Big 10 - Purdue --- 5-7
MWC - Utah 21 9-3
P-10 - Cal 22 8-3
P-10 - Wa State --- 1-10
P-10 - UCLA --- 6-5
P-10 - Washington --- 3-7
P-10 - USC 20 7-3
P-10 - Stanford --- 7-4
P-10 - Az State --- 4-8
P-10 - Arizona --- 7-4
P-10 - Oregon St 16 8-3
5 Ranked Teams 77-57 (134 games)
Winning % .575 of all teams played
PAC Winning % .520
Non-conference opponents from the WAC, Big 10 and MWC conferences. At least these conference show up on the college football radar screen. Wins against BCS conferences obviously helps.
To answer your question. I believe that the numbers don't lie and the PAC-10, even with 9 conferences games each year against more winning teams is more difficult than playing 8 WAC-conference games against teams that are .423 %. Also, playing against the Mid-American, Conference USA and Great West is probably not the same as the WAC, Big 10 and Utah in the MWC.
Good blog posts. I appreciate your diligence but it's a tough sell.
I think you missed the point
1.)To truly rate a conference you have to look at how they fare out of their conference. Think of it this way, every conference has the same combined in-conference record, it's always going to be .500 2.) You have to throw the gimme wins out to get a true picture (i.e Arizona beats Northern Arizona, that's a "gimme", yes UC Davis is a "gimme") of how the "Apples" from one conference are doing against "Apples" from the rest of the country.
One parting thought, Let's say (for arguments sake) that next year, the PAC 10 games go exactly as they did this year (same winners, same losers, same in conference records). But next year Oregon goes 3-0 v their non-con schedule, they beat the last place team from the MWC (New Mexico), a un-ranked middle division SEC (Tennessee), and a 1AA Portland State team. Let's further say that everything remains the same in the WAC as well. And BSU goes 4-0 in non-con v 2 top twenty teams (VaTech and OSU), a gimme (Toledo) and a middle of the pack MWC (Wyoming).
Given the above scenario, who would you rank higher?
This should be interesting......
tfunk is wise
nice post.