CORSO'S COMMENTS QUESTIONED
Let’s get one thing straight, Lee Corso. The Boise State Broncos belong with ALL the teams in ALL the AQ conferences. I am getting perturbed when I hear this ESPN College Gameday analyst say that he is impressed by the Broncos, but because of the fact that their strength of schedule isn’t comparable to the BCS conferences, they are not worthy of serious consideration to be in THE championship game.
By reason of the fact that teams in BCS conferences play each other every year gives credence to the argument that they play a tougher schedule. But take a look at the non-conference games those ranked BCS teams play:
Alabama-North Texas State (0-3), Kent State (0-3); Penn State (2-1): later in the year 1-AA Georgia Southern second to last game of the season;
LSU-FCS 1-AA Division Northwestern State (1-2); later in the year Western Kentucky, currently (0-3)
Florida State-Louisiana-Monroe, Sun Belt Conference(1-2); Charleston Southern FCS 1-AA, (0-3)
Stanford-San Jose State (0-3); Duke (1-2)
Wisconsin-UNLV (1-2); Oregon State (0-2); Northern Illinois (1-2)
Oklahoma State-Louisiana-Lafayette (2-1); Tulsa (1-2); Arizona (1-2)
Texas A&M- SMU (2-1); Idaho (1-2)
South Carolina- East Carolina (0-2); Georgia (1-2); Navy (2-1)
Oklahoma- Tulsa (1-2); Florida State (2-1)
None of these non-conference schedules supports the “strength of schedule” theory. Three of the top five FBS ranked teams in the country (Alabama, LSU, and Florida State) have either played an FCS team or will play an FCS team sometime this year.
Why don’t one of these top ranked teams ever schedule Boise State? I will tell you. First, in their eyes, they don’t have to. The Broncos are in a non-AQ conference. The non-conference strength of schedule of top ranked teams includes at least one other BCS conference school, such as Oklahoma-Florida State; Wisconsin-Oregon State; Stanford-Duke; Alabama-Penn State so far this year. This seems to justify the strength of schedule argument in spite of the fact that their other non-conference games come from other non-AQ or FCS schools, comparably weak by comparison.
Secondly, I think BCS schools are afraid to play Boise State. As even pro-BCS analyst Lee Corso said, “They impress me”. Of the other four top ranked teams before yesterday’s games, Oklahoma is 54-15 from 2006-10; Alabama 49-17; LSU 51-15; and Florida State 40-26. Boise State during that same period 61-5. Weaker conference schedule? Sure. There is no question that these other teams come from more balanced conferences than Boise State. However, Boise State has proven that they can play with teams like Oklahoma and Oregon, who, by the way, they have beaten twice in the past 5 years, once at Oregon.
So the arguments go on. My own personal feeling is that the BCS schools don’t want a team like Boise State on their non-conference schedule because they might lose to them early in the year and spoil any chance they might have for the BCS championship. They want to keep their non-conference schedules a bit cushy. They know how good the Broncos really are. Oh, they’ll play them in a bowl game, when the regular season is finished. By then their status as a team in a BCS conference has already assured them that Boise State will not be national champions.
Consider these two facts about Boise State. In their Fiesta Bowl victory against Oklahoma, they did something most teams would not have done. They went for two points in the first overtime period. It was not required for them to do that. They could have been content with the touchdown and extra point to match Oklahoma. A team from an “non-elite” conference would have played it safe and go into a second overtime. Not Boise State. It was a modified version of the old Statue of Liberty play that got them the two point conversion to win that game. But it was not the play that impresses me the most. It was the fact that they went for two points when failure to get that conversion would have given the victory to Oklahoma and thus continue the argument.
That was a big risk for Coach Chris Petersen. Looking back, he held the future of all great non-AQ schools to be considered for the BCS championship game on that one play. While the staunch stuffed shirts still have the edge, great non-AQ teams like Boise State are still talked about.
Finally, Boise State’s last two victories against Virginia Tech and Georgia came on the road. Yes, the places they played were considered neutral sites. However, those sites were conveniently located near the home bases for both Tech and Georgia. So they were road games and the Broncos did not crumble under crowd pressure in either location.
In the win over Virginia Tech, Tech led with 1:47 to play in the fourth quarter. Boise State had possession on their own 44 yard line. Kellen Moore and company proceeded to drive 56 yards in 5 plays to score the game winning touchdown. In Tech's next set of downs with just over a minute left, Tyrod Taylor threw 3 incompletions and was sacked. The Bronco defense held true under pressure to insure the win.
The irony? Virgina Tech went on to win 11 games and the ACC Conference championship.
In the future, Mr Corso, stop patronizing a seemingly unqualified team simply because they don't belong to your BCS.
Tomorrow--BYU’s debacle against Utah.
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