It should be entertaining to see Boise St. remain rocksteady at #5 for the rest of the season as teams move up past them then fall behind them then pass them again and so on and so on.
My prediction: The final poll in December Boise St. will still be undefeated and still ranked #5. Which ain’t bad, they can go beat Oklahoma or Texas in another Fiesta Bowl. And everyone can argue about why BSU wasn’t in the BCS championship game even though they win the game on a gimmicky 2 point conversion play with no time remaining.
Jazz
Sandy Underpants – more or less my thoughts exactly. Mandel’s assertion of a credibility problem assumes there is even the thinnest reed of objectivity in the polling process. Mandel himself points out that no one wants to see Boise State slaughtered by Florida in the BCS title game, so Boise State’s status will get “worked out” in more or less the way Sandy describes it.
What’s more interesting is that a very smart, enjoyable writer like Mandel, immersed in the NCAA football culture, still uses words like “credibility” where matters of polling (and arranging to get our collectively-beloved SEC champion into the BCS championship game) are concerned.
Jazz
In a way, Boise is its own worst enemy with its scheduling. Last week’s discussion about the benefit of cupcakes for Florida cuts in exactly the opposite direction for Boise. UC Davis lost 51-0 to middling Fresno State at the open of the season; Boise State almost certainly has to beat UC Davis by at least 51 to stay alive for the championship game.
When Florida beats Charleston Southern by 59, that’s a chance for ESPN to celebrate how teh awesome Florida is. If Boise beats UC Davis by 59, that just gives Boise the minimum credibility to stay in the National Championship conversation. If Florida beat Charleston Southern by 28, fans would have dismissed the result as due to some irrelevant factor. If Boise beats UC Davis by 28, fans will dismiss Boise.
It is simply wrong for Boise, especially in light of the lightweights ahead on their schedule, to think that a single quality win over Oregon, plus the charm of the 2006 Fiesta Bowl, will convince a wary public to put them in the championship game. They need more substance in their schedule. Whose idea was it to schedule UC Davis anyway?
Brendan Loy
UC Davis is actually Boise State’s 13th game — something they can do because they play at Hawaii this year, and the NCAA has some bizarre exception whereby you can play 13 games if you have a game at Hawaii.
It would be far better if Boise only played 12 games. Playing UC Davis is literally worse than playing no one at all. They should seriously just cancel the game.
I wonder how many quality programs would have scheduled Boise State, though. There is nothing in it for them. Boise is good enough to beat BCS schools, so it isn’t a schedule padding win. And if they lose, it is still looked down upon by the pollsters. See: Oregon, which should be ranked above Cal, but is probably being punnished for a loss to a non-BCS opponent.
I can’t tell you how many ways I loath the BCS.
David K.
and the NCAA has some bizarre exception whereby you can play 13 games if you have a game at Hawaii.
Nothing bizarre about it, its tough getting schools to play Hawaii, this allows them to do so and get a thirteenth game (and therefore some extra money, although not a whole lot with the costs) out of it.
Interestingly, the last time Boise State played UC Davis, Chris Petersen was QB for UC Davis.
Jazz
Michael,
If Petersen’s nostalgic sentimentality is behind this game, then Brendan’s point at #6 is nade stronger still. If Boise State is playing this self-defeating game out of some sense of obligation on Petersen’s part to his alma mater, what do you think will happen when the score is 35-0 midway through the third quarter?
Here’s what should happen: Petersen leaves in his starters, throws more fuel on the fire, and scores 5 more touchdowns.
But if Petersen is motivated by sentimentality, my hunch is that Petersen will pull his starters…really not what he should do to serve Boise State’s interests.
This reminds me of the series of tOSU and Youngstown State, where Tressel was playing the Penguins every year for a while because he was the old coach there. Not sure if they are still doing that.
C. Bassett
Boise State usually doesn’t take advantage of the extra home game allowed in the years that they travel to Hawaii, but like a lot of schools right now they’re looking at bringing in some extra money any way they can. It’s just a sign of the times. They made the decision to schedule the extra game late, so their options for opponents were even more limited.
Petersen would pull his starters early regardless of the opponent. That’s just his style(unlike his predecessor, Dan Hawkins, who had no issue with keeping the starters in through most of the 4th quarter against hapless opponents). He’s not going to let Kellen Moore get Tebowed in pursuit of early October style points.
I think the game against UC Davis is going to hurt them much, much less than their conference games against Hawaii, Utah State, Nevada and New Mexico State. At least two of those games will be nationally televised on ESPN, while the UC Davis game will be nothing more than a glanced at box score for most voters.
It’s the conference that kills them. And they know that. Boise State has made no secret of the fact that they desperately want out of the WAC and an invite into the Mountain West. They aren’t really so self defeating. They take what they can get for OOC games(they just hate scheduling one-and-dones with BCS teams, but they’re more open to those now), and they want a tougher conference schedule facing the likes of BYU, TCU and Utah on a yearly basis.
Brendan Loy
Interestingly, Boise State has a home-and-home series with Utah scheduled in 2011-2012, and consecutive home-and-homes with BYU in 2012-2015. So even if they don’t join the Mountain West, they’re adding some games against the cream of the MWC’s crop to their schedule.
(Unfortunately, no matter how much respect the MWC gets, in relative non-BCS terms, Boise probably gets less mileage out of a win over BYU or Utah than Houston does from its win over Texas Tech, a Big 12 team that isn’t expected to compete for the division title this year.)
Do you think they care?
Does anybody really care? About time?
It should be entertaining to see Boise St. remain rocksteady at #5 for the rest of the season as teams move up past them then fall behind them then pass them again and so on and so on.
My prediction: The final poll in December Boise St. will still be undefeated and still ranked #5. Which ain’t bad, they can go beat Oklahoma or Texas in another Fiesta Bowl. And everyone can argue about why BSU wasn’t in the BCS championship game even though they win the game on a gimmicky 2 point conversion play with no time remaining.
Sandy Underpants – more or less my thoughts exactly. Mandel’s assertion of a credibility problem assumes there is even the thinnest reed of objectivity in the polling process. Mandel himself points out that no one wants to see Boise State slaughtered by Florida in the BCS title game, so Boise State’s status will get “worked out” in more or less the way Sandy describes it.
What’s more interesting is that a very smart, enjoyable writer like Mandel, immersed in the NCAA football culture, still uses words like “credibility” where matters of polling (and arranging to get our collectively-beloved SEC champion into the BCS championship game) are concerned.
In a way, Boise is its own worst enemy with its scheduling. Last week’s discussion about the benefit of cupcakes for Florida cuts in exactly the opposite direction for Boise. UC Davis lost 51-0 to middling Fresno State at the open of the season; Boise State almost certainly has to beat UC Davis by at least 51 to stay alive for the championship game.
When Florida beats Charleston Southern by 59, that’s a chance for ESPN to celebrate how teh awesome Florida is. If Boise beats UC Davis by 59, that just gives Boise the minimum credibility to stay in the National Championship conversation. If Florida beat Charleston Southern by 28, fans would have dismissed the result as due to some irrelevant factor. If Boise beats UC Davis by 28, fans will dismiss Boise.
It is simply wrong for Boise, especially in light of the lightweights ahead on their schedule, to think that a single quality win over Oregon, plus the charm of the 2006 Fiesta Bowl, will convince a wary public to put them in the championship game. They need more substance in their schedule. Whose idea was it to schedule UC Davis anyway?
UC Davis is actually Boise State’s 13th game — something they can do because they play at Hawaii this year, and the NCAA has some bizarre exception whereby you can play 13 games if you have a game at Hawaii.
It would be far better if Boise only played 12 games. Playing UC Davis is literally worse than playing no one at all. They should seriously just cancel the game.
I wonder how many quality programs would have scheduled Boise State, though. There is nothing in it for them. Boise is good enough to beat BCS schools, so it isn’t a schedule padding win. And if they lose, it is still looked down upon by the pollsters. See: Oregon, which should be ranked above Cal, but is probably being punnished for a loss to a non-BCS opponent.
I can’t tell you how many ways I loath the BCS.
and the NCAA has some bizarre exception whereby you can play 13 games if you have a game at Hawaii.
Nothing bizarre about it, its tough getting schools to play Hawaii, this allows them to do so and get a thirteenth game (and therefore some extra money, although not a whole lot with the costs) out of it.
Boise State may have scheduled UC Davis for sentimental reasons. UC Davis is where Chris Petersen played in college and started his coaching career.
Interestingly, the last time Boise State played UC Davis, Chris Petersen was QB for UC Davis.
Michael,
If Petersen’s nostalgic sentimentality is behind this game, then Brendan’s point at #6 is nade stronger still. If Boise State is playing this self-defeating game out of some sense of obligation on Petersen’s part to his alma mater, what do you think will happen when the score is 35-0 midway through the third quarter?
Here’s what should happen: Petersen leaves in his starters, throws more fuel on the fire, and scores 5 more touchdowns.
But if Petersen is motivated by sentimentality, my hunch is that Petersen will pull his starters…really not what he should do to serve Boise State’s interests.
This reminds me of the series of tOSU and Youngstown State, where Tressel was playing the Penguins every year for a while because he was the old coach there. Not sure if they are still doing that.
Boise State usually doesn’t take advantage of the extra home game allowed in the years that they travel to Hawaii, but like a lot of schools right now they’re looking at bringing in some extra money any way they can. It’s just a sign of the times. They made the decision to schedule the extra game late, so their options for opponents were even more limited.
Petersen would pull his starters early regardless of the opponent. That’s just his style(unlike his predecessor, Dan Hawkins, who had no issue with keeping the starters in through most of the 4th quarter against hapless opponents). He’s not going to let Kellen Moore get Tebowed in pursuit of early October style points.
I think the game against UC Davis is going to hurt them much, much less than their conference games against Hawaii, Utah State, Nevada and New Mexico State. At least two of those games will be nationally televised on ESPN, while the UC Davis game will be nothing more than a glanced at box score for most voters.
It’s the conference that kills them. And they know that. Boise State has made no secret of the fact that they desperately want out of the WAC and an invite into the Mountain West. They aren’t really so self defeating. They take what they can get for OOC games(they just hate scheduling one-and-dones with BCS teams, but they’re more open to those now), and they want a tougher conference schedule facing the likes of BYU, TCU and Utah on a yearly basis.
Interestingly, Boise State has a home-and-home series with Utah scheduled in 2011-2012, and consecutive home-and-homes with BYU in 2012-2015. So even if they don’t join the Mountain West, they’re adding some games against the cream of the MWC’s crop to their schedule.
(Unfortunately, no matter how much respect the MWC gets, in relative non-BCS terms, Boise probably gets less mileage out of a win over BYU or Utah than Houston does from its win over Texas Tech, a Big 12 team that isn’t expected to compete for the division title this year.)