Boise State Football: How Soon The Nation Forgets

Well, the BCS almost got everything right this year.

The National Championship Game was a no-brainer, the Rose Bowl was easy too—but one of the three other bowls could have had something (or someone) different.

The Boise State Broncos finished the season 12-0 (the third time in the last five years they have done so), were ranked No. 9 in the final BCS poll, but were left off the slate of BCS matchups.

You all remember those Broncos, don't you?

The team that came out of nowhere, went undefeated, and then shocked the college football world by beating a powerful Oklahoma Sooner squad in the 2006 Fiesta Bowl.

And in beating Oklahoma, they used a hook-and-lateral to tie the game with seconds left in the fourth quarter, and then beat the Sooners and the famed 'Statue of Liberty' play on a two-point conversion in overtime.

Yep, those Broncos.

Their record is spotless once again, but apparently the Broncos' love-fest is no more, as Boise State will face the TCU Horned Frogs in the Poinsettia Bowl on December 23 in San Diego.

Why were the Broncos left off the BCS list?

It most likely is because they only played one Top=50 team, at Oregon, and won by five; the rest was just a "cupcake schedule."

If it was so cupcake, why did the BCS rank them in the Top Ten?

Even if Boise State was granted a BCS bowl, who would get left out?

Utah stays due to its undefeated record, but Cincinnati and Ohio State could be replaced. I would go even further and say take out the Buckeyes, and that's not just my "Badger" self talking.

By doing so, it would pit the Broncos up against yet another Big 12 team, this time facing the Longhorns. If that happened, we would really know if the Broncos were for real.

Utah only faced TCU as top competition, and did play BYU to end the season, but after the Cougars lost to Horned Frogs, they just didn't look the same.

And yet, the BCS would not reward the Broncos.

Ball State was one win away from being 13-0 and a shoe-in for a BCS at-large bid, but fell to Buffalo in the MAC Championship. So why can't Boise State get the same consideration for being 12-0?

Boise State outscored its opponents 473-147, scored an average of 39.4 points per game, and averaged a 27-point margin of victory. Sounds like a good matchup for any "top conference" opponent.

To possibly solve this problem that pops up every year under the BCS, teams need to schedule tougher competition.

Get rid of that "tune-up" game against a Div. 1-AA (or whatever it is now) to start the year, and at least play 12 one A schools. Stop being scared of losing out-of-conference and take your losses if they happen.

The Big 12 should play the SEC in the final nonconference weekend, the Big Ten should play the ACC, or something to that extent.

Then a team is less likely to get punished for its weak nonconference schedule, or because they play in a weak conference.

In today's college football world, the talent pool is leveling off, and any team has a realistic chance of beating any other team, so an undefeated season should carry more weight.

Especially when one loss absolutely kills a team chances of going all the way.

It's a BCS-world now, so I think an undefeated team, who is amongst the Top Ten in the nation, should be rewarded with what it truly deserves.

And that's a trip to a BCS bowl and to a chance to prove that the Fiesta Bowl was no fluke.

If they lose, so what. At least then we'll know.