General

Boise State: No BCS Title For You, Period

Oct 15, 2009, 4:21 PM UTC

â†µIn the aftermath of Boise State's thumping opening-week victory overâ†µOregon and Oregon's post-debacle renaissance, a steady drumbeat has beenâ†µtaken up by the commentariat suggesting that Boise's place in the topâ†µfive is a birthright and that the natural winnowing process of the SEC, whichâ†µhad three of the four teams in front of Boise, meant that any Texas lossâ†µmeant Boise State would be playing for the national title. They'dâ†µachieved this status by beating a single okay-to-good Pac-10 team.* â†µ

â†µâ†µHere’s Stewart Mandel aâ†µcouple weeks ago:â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥However, there’s very little precedent for voters suddenlyâ†µâ‡¥downgrading a team without cause. ... The Broncos may get docked aâ†µâ‡¥coupleâ†µâ‡¥of “style points” should they endure an undue scare against aâ†µâ‡¥San Jose State or Idaho, but realistically, the only way they could failâ†µâ‡¥to make up three spots in 10 weeks is if the voters start vaultingâ†µâ‡¥other, more “deserving” teams above them following a big winâ†µâ‡¥or two. ...â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥[T]he pollsters have set a precedent by ranking Boise this high thisâ†µâ‡¥soon. If they suddenly turn around at the end of the season andâ†µâ‡¥blatantly manipulate the rankings to exclude the Broncos, the BCS isâ†µâ‡¥going to have yet another credibility issue on its hands.â†µâ†µâ†µIf you’re anything like me, those scare quotes aroundâ†µ“deserving” have you hopping up and down on your hat. Thereâ†µis, of course, a huge precedent that happened all of three years ago:â†µone-loss, idle Michigan getting jumped by one-loss Florida after USCâ†µlost to UCLA and Florida beat Arkansas. How did that work outâ†µagain? â†µ

â†µâ†µAnd here’s Clay Travis yesterday:â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥With four undefeated teams ranked above them, three of whom were fromâ†µâ‡¥the SEC and would play against one another, Boise stood a very realâ†µâ‡¥possibility of advancing up the poll ranks. With each step up the pollâ†µâ‡¥rung, Boise would make history, spiting the powers-that-be of the BCSâ†µâ‡¥along the way.â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥And how couldn’t they advance? After all, pollsters don’tâ†µâ‡¥typically allow a team who is winning and undefeated to be passed by aâ†µâ‡¥team with more losses than they have.â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥Only the glass ceiling was upon us.â†µâ†µâ†µMaybe it’s not fair to jump on these folks the day after Boise’sâ†µescaped a mid-week game against Tulsa by the skin of their potato, butâ†µthe argument here is explicitly “it does not matter who they playâ†µor how well they do against them, as long as they win,” so ifâ†µthey’d like to complain they’re welcome to change their argument. â†µ

â†µ

â†µWhich, to be clear, is very, very stupid. Mindbogglingly so (emphasisâ†µmine):â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥[H]ow can you justify a one-loss team passing an undefeated team?â†µâ‡¥What’s more how can you justify multiple one-loss teams passing Boise asâ†µâ‡¥the coaches’ have done? Close your eyes and recite the arguments againstâ†µâ‡¥Boise State: they don’t belong up here because they haven’t been hereâ†µâ‡¥before, the people around them aren’t as good, they aren’t as talentedâ†µâ‡¥as the others are, they only got to where they have because the peopleâ†µâ‡¥they compete against are weaker; aren’t those the exact sameâ†µâ‡¥rationales that excluded women and minorities from climbing all the wayâ†µâ‡¥to the top? â†µâ†µâ†µAnd now this intermission so I can beat my head against the wall andâ†µscream “no, no, no!”â†µ

â†µ

â†µâ†µ

â†µâ†µNo ... no ... NOOOOO ... COBRAS ... ah we’re back. No, the argumentsâ†µagainst Boise State are not the same ones used to exclude women and minoritiesâ†µfrom positions of authority. Women do not have a dismal record againstâ†µBCS conferences. Minorities have not padded their record against theâ†µworst teams in the MAC, taken on one BCS opponent and been declaredâ†µlegitimate national title contenders. Sure, if there wereâ†µabsolutely no reason to believe Boise State wasn’t as talented as itsâ†µprivileged brethren, then this would be equivalent, but that is not the case. “Talent” doesn’t have anything to do with it. Thatâ†µscare-quoted “deserves” does. College football already suffersâ†µfrom a vast overrating of the loss column relative to all other factors,â†µand shooting Boise State into the title game after it played one gameâ†µagainst a team that would be over .500 in a BCS conference would onceâ†µand forever destroy the idea that a good non-conference schedule isâ†µworth anything. That a good schedule, period, is worth anything.â†µ

â†µâ†µDeserve has everything to do with it. It must in this stupid system.â†µThere are not slots to give away to potential Cinderellas. The BCSâ†µrealpolitik demands that the two teams that have proven themselves bestâ†µagainst what looks like tough competition get the slots. Do weâ†µknow? No. College football doesn’t have enough information, so we’reâ†µforced to make wild meandering guesses. It’s a dumb system, I’ll grantâ†µthat. â†µ

â†µâ†µBut it’s the system. Give any big BCS contender Boise’s schedule andâ†µthey’d traipse through a merry field of cupcakes, laying waste. Bunniesâ†µgoing up in tactical nuclear strikes, that sort of thing. Stick Boiseâ†µState in the Pac-10 or SEC and they come out of it with something lessâ†µthan a national championship resume. This, surely, is not in dispute.â†µNothing else matters. â†µ

â†µâ†µOf course it’s not fair. It’s life. â†µ

â†µâ†µ*(All this would be much less annoying if Oregon hadn’t won its nextâ†µgame against 1-5 Purdue thanks to two return touchdowns.)â†µ

â†µ

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

See More: