Five Reasons Why TCU Deserves More BCS Consideration Than Boise State
In the preseason one non-BCS program was getting a ton of publicity. That particular team had every starter back at every position. It had a Heisman candidate at quarterback and visions of playing in the BCS Championship Game in January.
That team was Boise State.
After experiencing its highest preseason ranking to date, Boise State defeated Virginia Tech on Labor Day evening. The media promptly went even crazier over this team. National champion head coaches were speaking out against the Broncos' lack of a real schedule. The sports talk radio shows were beside themselves.
Boise State was all the rage.
All the while, little TCU played on national TV two nights before the Boise State game, and beat one of the Pac-10's best teams—on a neutral field—with little fanfare.
Less than a week later, that same Virginia Tech team lost—at home—to James Madison of the FCS division. Suddenly, Boise State's big win wasn't so big anymore.
Meanwhile, TCU sits in the top 10 virtually untouched, little talked about, with zero hype. Yet, the Horned Frogs could end up with a BCS nod while Boise State gets left out in the cold.
Here are just a few of the reasons why TCU deserves BCS consideration more than Boise State.
TCU's Schedule Is Tougher
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Boise State will be feasting on Idaho and San Jose State, while TCU plays BYU and Utah.
Obviously, tougher conferences lead to tougher schedules. TCU plays in the Mountain West which is only slightly tougher than the WAC, where Boise State plays.
Both teams play Oregon State. TCU has already beat the Beavers and Boise State gets them next week. TCU hosts BYU and Air Force in back-to-back weeks. Two weeks later the Horned Frogs go on the road to play Utah, who will probably be ranked near the top 10.
Boise State's biggest roadblock, other than Oregon State, will come when it hosts Fresno State before going on the road to play Nevada. The Broncos will be favored overwhelmingly in both games.
TCU’s Big Win Is More Impressive
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It was the biggest game of opening weekend. It was supposed to be Boise State’s coming-out party. And, at least on paper and in the media, it was. The Broncos took it to the projected ACC champion, Virginia Tech, early and often, on a neutral field. Virginia Tech did rally to take the lead. As a matter of fact, it took a questionable penalty call against Virginia Tech to get Boise State into position to score the go-ahead touchdown with a minute remaining in the game.
The following week, the ACC’s four best teams, Virginia Tech included, went winless while being outscored 132-82 by two top-10 teams, an FCS team and a major conference team that lost to an FCS team in week one.
TCU beat a top-tier Pac-10 team, by more than a touchdown, in the first week on a neutral field. Since then, the Pac-10’s best went on the road to a hostile SEC environment, and handed a proud, tradition-rich, albeit struggling Tennessee program its worst loss in the history of one of the nation’s largest stadiums.
The computer chips are stacked against the Broncos should they win the remainder of their games.
Boise State Will Lose a Game
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Boise State certainly has what most top-10 programs would deem an easy schedule. It will host Oregon State in a couple of weeks, but the Broncos likely won’t be challenged again until mid-November when Fresno State comes to town. And even that might not be a huge challenge for the talented Broncos.
However, the Broncos must travel to Nevada the following week to take on the nation’s top-ranked offense. Nevada’s quarterback, Colin Kaepernick has a QB rating of 161 through two games.
Given the fact that Boise State gave up 30 points to a Virginia Tech that could barely muster half that total against James Madison, Nevada’s offense could have a field day against the Broncos. That would definitely spell the end of Boise State’s BCS bowl hopes for 2010.
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TCU's Defense Is One Of The Nation's Best
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Speaking of defense, there’s no debating which of these two teams has the better defensive unit. After two games, TCU is currently ranked No. 2 in the nation in total defense. Sure, one of those games was against Tennessee Tech, but the first incredible defensive effort came against James and Jacquizz Rodgers of Oregon State.
TCU held the high flying Beavers to 255 net offensive yards in that game.
It’s fairly obvious that Boise State will miss its former defensive coordinator, Justin Wilcox, who is now at Tennessee. Boise State gave up over 300 yards to a Virginia Tech team that probably wouldn’t beat Oregon State on a neutral field.
TCU will face stiff challenges from Baylor’s revamped offense, as well as, the always tough BYU, Air Force, and Utah offenses, but if it can hold two legitimate Heisman contenders in check, it can hold anyone those teams will throw out there.
TCU Is Just Better Than Boise State
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Before the season began, I wrote in my season preview that Boise State was getting all the hype, but TCU had the better opportunity to actually make some national noise this year.
Bottom line: TCU has the better team, the better schedule, and the better opportunity to crash the BCS party in January.
Andy Dalton is every bit the quarterback that Kellen Moore is. Head coach Gary Patterson won National Coach of the Year last season. TCU has a complete team that is not only loaded with tremendous athletes; it actually has a defensive scheme that can stop big-time athletes in its biggest games.
Boise State has a rising talent at head coach as well. Chris Petersen has gained plenty of respect and his accomplishments cannot be ignored. His team is loaded with tremendous, experienced athletes, as well. But the lack of quality opponents when compared to TCU cannot be ignored. Neither can the Broncos' defensive regression.
The two teams have met in bowl games at the end of each of the past two seasons. TCU won the first game in the ‘08 Poinsettia bowl in San Diego while Boise State beat Horned Frogs in last season’s Fiesta Bowl.
The teams will likely not face each other this year, but the outcome of such a matchup will be clear to everyone when Boise State is playing in San Diego in December, while TCU enjoys a Sugar Bowl appearance in January.
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