Why Virginia Tech Cost Boise State a National Championship

The sound you hear tonight in Boise, or lack there of is thousands of Bronco fans starting to hold their collective breaths.

If you thought the debate about Boise State wasn't hot enough, the Virginia Tech Hokies added another element to it today with its choke against James Madison, giving up 14 unanswered points en-route to an embarrassing 21-16 loss.

It was already a bad week for Virginia Tech fans, seeing their team cough up a late lead against the Broncos at FedEx Field. However, the sporting world didn't necessarily look down on the Hokies for their loss, rather, it was the brilliance of Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore and the fact that this was the proof that the Broncos were just that darn good. 

The Hokies won't be that lucky this time around as they became just the second 1-A football team that was ranked to lose to a 1-AA team, the first being the infamous Michigan disaster against Appalachian State three years ago. Now the questions are, "what is wrong with the Hokies?" "Has Frank Beemer reached the end of the line?" "Why did we believe that Virginia Tech was a national title contender?" 

And for every question that is asked about Virginia Tech's legitimacy, it will further damage the perception that Boise State beat a quality opponent. After all, for all the talk about how weak the conference is, how many Western Athletic Conference (WAC) teams lost to a 1-AA team this year?

As Boise State does not have another quality opponent to play against this year, the Hokies loss could very well have destroyed any dream Bronco, and BCS hating fans had of seeing the men of the blue turf play for a national championship.

The sports world can often be a funny one.  Less than a week ago, Boise State was sending thank you notes to Virginia Tech for allowing that game to come to fruition.  After all, it was that game last week that many feel was the final piece of the puzzle to finally take Boise State seriously. Today, Boise State fans may very well start writing hate mail to Blacksburg.

Though it was technically a neutral field, about 80 percent of the fans supported the Hokies. So naturally it made such a win for Boise State even more epic, given that not just any team can go and beat the Hokies on the road...right? Well James Madison disproved that theory today. 

Not only did this hurt the image of Boise State as a title contender, it further damaged the reputation of an ACC Conference most perceive to be very overrated. Between that, the beat down The University of Miami endured at the hands of Ohio State, and Georgia Tech's choke against Kansas, life isn't too good for the conference right now.

However, there is one team that will have a spring in its step tomorrow; TCU.  All of a sudden, the Horned Frogs who are also ranked high in the polls, now have just as much of a chance to be a title game crasher. While most people belittled their non-conference schedule, their contests against Mountain West rivals is unquestionably harder than that of Boise State.  Now that the Bronco non-conference schedule took a significant hit today, TCU could enjoy the benefits of the James Madison shocker.

With only two weeks of the season down, there is a lot of football left to be played.  Boise State could very well lose a game and end the debate altogether. However, if they remain unscathed by the time December comes, the divide of Boise State lovers and haters will be even greater because of today's events. 

*Note*  Photo courtesy of AP