Boise State: The Great Pretenders

Ok people, I just can't take this anymore.

No. 5 Boise State beat Tulsa last night to move to 6-0 on the season. They're about halfway done with their schedule, they're undefeated, and they're ranked 5th (AP) in the nation. After watching the highlights of last night's victory over (dramatic music) Tulsa, those formidable, daunting opponents from Oklahoma, I'm still not convinced that Boise State is the real deal. I'm still not convinced that, faced with an opponent like Florida, Texas, Alabama, Iowa or LSU, that these guys would emerge victorious. I'm still not convinced that, if faced with the schedules of those aforementioned teams, Boise State would win even half its games.

Let's examine the opponents of Boise State this year, and their records and schedules as well. Perhaps we'll come up with some sort of, oh, I want to call it "Schedule Strength", against which to measure Boise State's sparkling 6-0 record. Genius idea, I know; you can thank me later. So the (what are they called again? Blue um... Blue Horses?... Aqua Velvet Knights?... Ultramarine Trojans?...) Broncos opened up the season ranked (preseason) no. 14, which we all know is based on absolutely nothing but opinions and paper, and has nothing to do with actually playing the game of football. They beat then-(16) Oregon (again a preseason ranking based on nothing) at home 19-8. Oregon has gone on to win all of its subsequent games, beating the likes of Purdue, then-(18) Utah, then-(6) Cal, Washington St, and UCLA, to run their record to 5-1. Not bad, but we must remember that Utah is now ranked 24th and Cal is not ranked at all. It's safe to say that Oregon has had a moderately soft schedule thus far, and remains to be tested against (6) USC later this year - its only formidable opponent. Suffice it to say then that Boise State's victory at home in the opener over Oregon was not the big deal that everyone likes to think it is, especially considering the fact that preseason rankings are horseshit. Stop shaking your heads and admit it - you know better.

The following week the Broncos took on Miami (OH) and won 48-0. Whoa Nelly, Keith Jackson would've said. And what about Miami (OH)'s record? Right now they're a (dis)respectable 0-6, in the basement of the Mid American Conference, having lost their other games to Kentucky (2-3, unranked), Western Michigan (3-3, unranked), Kent State (2-4, unranked), Cincinnati (5-0, no. 10), and Northwestern (4-2, unranked). Let's pause for a moment and make a quick point: Cincinnati's 5-0 record and no. 10 ranking come after they've beaten Rutgers, Southeastern Missouri State (I think I just peed a little), Oregon State, Fresno State, and of course Miami (OH). What a holy terror of a schedule for Cincinnati, ladies and gentlemen. I mean, if anyone deserves a top-ten ranking... ok, ok, sarcasm be damned. Back to Boise State. We see then that the victory over Miami (OH) was nothing special; the Broncos demolished a team that has been demolished by everyone else it's played. Big deal.

Moving on to week 3, the Blue Ballers handed Fresno State a loss, but not until Fresno put up 34 points on them. Fresno State is currently 2-3, unranked, and has beaten the likes of UC Davis and Hawaii, while losing to Wisconsin, Cincinnati, and of course Boise State. Again, Fresno State is simply another unimpressive opponent. And they managed to score 34 points on the supposed no. 5 team in the country.

Boise State's next opponent would be Bowling Green, those fearsome Falcons of northwest Ohio, who have compiled a record thus far of 2-4, with wins against Troy (who? are they a sub-division of USC?) and Kent State, and losses to Missouri, Marshall, and Ohio University. Oh, and Boise State beat them as well... like a rented mule.

October 3 saw Boise State beat UC Davis. I sincerely had no idea until this season that UC Davis even existed, let alone had a football program. UC Davis has also lost to Fresno State and Montana, while beating Western Oregon and South Dakota to complile a record of 2-3 this year. UC Davis actually gave the Broncos a tough time for the first couple of quarters in this contest, which doesn't bode well for Boise State's case as a top-10 (or even top-25) team.

Finally we have last night's game against Tulsa. Boise State won 28-21 when Tulsa's wide receiver dropped a pass at mid-field on 4th down with less than a minute to play and Tulsa driving. Tulsa has a record now of 4-2, with wins over Tulane, New Mexico, Sam Houston State, and Rice, and losses to then-(12) Oklahoma, and now Boise State. As you can see, just like the rest of Boise State's opponents, we have a team whose wins came over weak teams.

To quickly review, Boise State's 6-0 record has come by beating preseason (16) Oregon (5-1), Miami (OH) (0-6), Fresno State (2-3), Bowling Green (2-4), UC Davis (2-3), and Tulsa (4-2). Their opponents' combined record thus far is 15-19, with 1/3 of those victories coming from one team. Their opponents' losses have come at the hands of traditionally weak, bottom-dwelling teams from mid-major conferences. Their opponents themselves, with the exception of Oregon, are from consistently weak mid-major conferences. Their remaining schedule looks like this: Hawaii (2-3), San Jose State (1-4), Louisiana Tech (2-3), Idaho (5-1, against more weak teams), Utah State (1-4), Nevada (2-3), and New Mexico State (3-3).

All alliances aside, we must admit one thing at this point: Boise State is in no way deserving of its top-5 ranking. It's not even deserving of a top-20 ranking. When teams beat up on perennial losers in order to compile a winning or undefeated record, and end up nationally ranked in the top 25, there is a problem. I won't go into the issues with the human polls in this article, but I will make the point: those of you coaches and sports writers out there voting these blood-sucker, bottom-feeding teams like Boise State into the top-25 are either ignorant of the concept of schedule strength or are just blatantly ignoring it; you obviously haven't a clue about what makes a team good, let alone great, and deserving of a high national ranking. Put down your ballots, go to Barnes & Noble, and read a book on logic. Many will argue that a win is a win, and an undefeated record is simply perfect. But we must ask ourselves, as true logical thinkers and fans of the college game, who exactly are teams like Boise State playing and beating? And who are those teams playing, with their losing records? A win is not simply a win. It does matter in the college game who you play and who you beat. Schedule strength, in my opinion, is of utmost importance in conjunction with a team's record. For that matter, if it's not, we may as well have Idaho (5-1), Tulsa (4-2), Notre Dame (4-1), and Marshall (4-2) ranked in the top-10 as well.

Ah, but you so slyly ask, who have those guys played? Nobody. Just like Boise State.