Boise State Football: BCS Conference Teams the Broncos Should Replace

Us Bronco fans sit in our living rooms or at our computers and watch as the college football world passes Boise State.

There are BCS conferences expanding and then collapsing and other BCS-busters getting their shot in the BCS, and all while we sit idly by and wish for an invite. I don't know how many articles I've read about how the Bronco AD is talking to the PAC-12 or the Big 12 or where Boise State belongs when the super-conferences come. 

The bottom line is that the BCS is for great teams with great fan bases and great stadiums. But, for some reason, terrible teams with terrible fan bases and mediocre stadiums also belong in the BCS picture. I call them "the knock around guys." Those teams and their shortcomings are allowed just because they will never ever pose a threat to the BCS powers.

So what is Boise State? 

Well, they are a great team with a good fan base and a mediocre stadium. If Boise State was just some dinky little team from Boise who could win six or seven games but lose when they needed to against the BCS powerhouse teams, they would be in. But there is no way this team, with their 34,000 fan stadium and blue turf, is going to get an invite because Boise State does one thing better than any other mid major. 

They topple the so-called "big boys."

With that being said, if this were a perfect system where teams are dropped or added with respect to their performance in BCS conferences, Boise State should be in the PAC-12, Big 12, or some other BCS conference already. But who would they have replaced?

Here is a breakdown of which teams the Broncos should replace and why.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Washington State

Washington State has been the perennial loser in the PAC-10—and now PAC-12—as they have not been to a bowl in seven years. But that is not the only reason Boise State should replace them.

Boise State has a 3-1 record over the last five years against the PAC-10, including defeating the Oregon ducks the year they won the PAC-10. Also, the Cougars have lost to teams like SMU and San Diego State over the past few years.

Currently, Washington State's stadium only holds 36,000 fans, a mere 2,000 more than Bronco Stadium, and Boise State is expanding its home field over the next three years to hold 50,000. When others call Boise State a middle of no where town that barely has an airport, just remember Pullman, Washington. The home of the Washington State Cougars is just 1/20th the size of the Boise Metro area.

Colorado

Colorado's fall is more recent, but it is no doubt continuing.

I do believe that in spite of the Buffaloes being from a bigger city and having more money than Boise State, the Broncos would have made the conference better. Colorado's addition just gives Oregon, USC, Arizona State and Stanford a chance to beat up on another in-conference foe.

This season the Buffaloes' only win thus far came against Mountain West bottom feeder Colorado State, and it looks like that will remain their only win the rest of the season. In the past five years, Colorado has lost to teams like Toledo, Colorado State, Washington State and 1-AA's Montana State, leading to an average of eight losses per year.

Even in rebuild years, Boise State would handle those teams. 

Oregon State

Currently at 0-4, the Beavers have had a tough year, opening the season with a loss to Sacramento State, a team known more for its baseball than football.

They actually started last season off ranked but fell fast as they racked up seven losses by the end of the year. That includes a loss to Boise State, and as a matter of fact, Oregon State is 2-3 against Boise State since the Broncos joined 1-A play 15 years ago. On top of that, Boise State is actually 5-2 against PAC-12 teams from Oregon.

And if that is not enough, Oregon State has not been to a BCS bowl in 10 years and have averaged over five losses a season in that same period. Finally, much like Washington State, the Beavers have no argument over market size since Corvallis, Oregon, is one-sixth the size of the Boise Metro area. And once the renovations are complete, Bronco Stadium will hold 4,000 more fans than the Beavers' Stadium. 

Indiana

At 1-4 for the season, the Hoosiers have been a punching bag for the Big 10 ever since the Big 10 was created. Having already lost to Ball State and future WAC team North Texas this year, their only win has come from defeating a 2-3 South Carolina State, a 1-AA school.

Indiana has been to one bowl in the past 17 years, and they haven't won a bowl in nearly 20, when they defeated Baylor in the 1991 Copper Bowl. Just for a point of reference, Boise state has been to more bowls in the last decade than Indiana has in its school history, and Boise State has only been a 1-A team for 15 years.

Interestingly enough, Indiana has not had a coach with a winning record since Bo McMillan from 1934-1947. The overall team winning percentage is sitting at .425. For the record, Boise State has won an FBS leading 111 games in the past 10 years, and Chris Petersen, at 66-5, has lost less games in the last six seasons than the Hoosiers will lose in their first six games this year. 

Baylor

Up until they were blessed with Robert Griffin III, Baylor has sat at or near the bottom of the Big 12 for a very long time. For all intents and purposes, Baylor is only in the Big 12 because the school and alumni have some powerful friends in Texas. Also, this season isn't over, and we may see Baylor slip and slide back to the bottom again. And don't think it's just fellow Big 12 conference members beating up on Baylor, as such "powerhouses" like Connecticut, Army, and Washington State.

Even if they are successful this year, their last bowl win was the in John Hancock Bowl against Arizona in the year Bill Clinton was elected. They have been to two bowls since, but both were losses. Also, the city where the Bears call home is a little over one-third the size of Boise Metro area. So once again we find out that the Boise market may not be hindering the Broncos after all.

Finally, many people complain that Boise State just doesn't produce NFL players. Currently, there are 19 former Broncos in the NFL, while Baylor only has 11.

TCU

I know they are not in a BCS conference yet, but whether they're in the Big 12 or Big East doesn't matter—they will land in an AQ conference next year. Unless the Big East loses AQ status. It's not that TCU is a bad football team—and I believe they do deserve a BCS invite—it's just that Boise State is better and deserved it more. 

They are virtually the same type of team other than the fact that BSU is the darling of ESPN. Both are BCS-busters fighting the system, and there's even a small rivalry brewing between the two. Right now Boise State leads the series 2-1 and also has more BCS bowl wins than TCU. Granted, one of the BCS bowl wins was over TCU. 

We'll see if my comments gain even more justification when TCU travels to Boise on Nov. 12th. After watching TCU fall to SMU, my guess would be yes.

Syracuse

With the Big East collapsing as we speak, this may be a moot point.

There really are a few teams that Boise State could oust from their current place in the Big East, but Syracuse is the one that has the honor of being the worst team, having lost to such illustrious teams as Akron and Minnesota over the past few years.

Averaging over seven losses per season for the last 10 years and being 1-1 in their bowls since 2002, the Orange—along with a pretty lousy Rutgers team—are always lingering near the basement of an already weak Big East. They also managed less than a 40,000 attendance over the past 10 years.

The final nail in the coffin for Syracuse, when comparing them to Boise, is that the city is only one-fourth the size of Boise metro.

Vanderbilt

First off, Kellen Moore has won more bowls than Vanderbilt. Yes, that's right—the Commodores have only won two bowls...ever. Oh, and they tied one. Their current bowl record is 2-1-1.

They played in a bowl two years ago and beat Boston College, but up until that point the last bowl they played in was when the movie E.T. came out. Their last bowl win before 2008? Let's just say that Bill Haley and the Comets could have debuted their new single "Rock Around the Clock" for the halftime show.

Even in the mighty SEC, Boise State could do better, as the Commodores have averaged between eight and nine losses a season in the past 10 years. Forget the last 10 years and Vanderbilt has only had four winning seasons in the last 50 years! Their stadium holds a mere 39,790, which actually surprised me, so it can't be a money/fanbase issue with the conference. 

Why is this team in the SEC?!?! They don't even have an athletic department or athletic director. It's actually sickening what the SEC does to Vanderbilt every year, and Boise State would obviously do more for the SEC.

Duke

Duke hasn't won a bowl in nearly 40 years—shoot, they haven't even been to a bowl in 16 years, which is also the last time this team was ranked. Speaking of rankings, the last time this team finished in the top 25 was in 1962. Racking up losses to Army, Richmond twice, and Vanderbilt, it's easy to see why Duke is on this list.

The Blue Devils are the only team on this list who currently have a stadium smaller than Boise State's, and they don't even fill it, so that can't be a factor. Raleight-Durham is also about the same size as the Boise metro area. I will give you that Duke is great for basketball, much better than Boise State, but come on—keep Duke basketball in the ACC and move Duke football to C-USA.

Boise State would destroy Duke, even in their down years.