Dark Horse Title Hopefuls: Undefeated Boise State or Undefeated Clemson?

The BCS national championship game is a competition between the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the BCS polls.  In other words, it is a competition between the two best teams from automatic-qualifying conferences.

Since it's inception in 1998, no team from a non-AQ conference has ever competed in the title game, let alone won it.  Non-AQ teams like Boise State just "Don't get no respect." 

So now, a conundrum develops.  

Like Butler in college basketball, Boise State is heralded as the prime representative for the "little guys" of college football all over the country.  Smaller schools, unknown schools, and even big schools that lose their shirt every year in big conferences all cherish and respect Boise State, for Boise State represents them all.

Since quarterback Jared Zabransky and the Broncos turned the college football world upside down when they won in overtime against the heavily favored Oklahoma Sooners in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, Boise State has been on everybody's radar.  

Supporters and critics of Boise State have been bickering for years now, with one group arguing as to why Boise State should play for the BCS Championship while the other denounces Boise State as "undeserving."

Some love the perennial underdogs while others hate them as picky upstarts.  

Supporters say that Boise State could beat any team on any given day.  I agree with this.  

Nay-sayers say Boise State doesn't deserve squat because they don't prove the previous argument week in and week out.  I also agree with this.  

Would it be too bold of a claim to say that Boise State would support an underdog if they, themselves, could not play for the title?

Well, the 2011 season just happens to have just such an underdog in the Clemson Tigers from the ACC.  

The ACC is widely considered the second-weakest AQ conference, just ahead of the floundering Big East. With the Big East in it's death throes, the ACC looks to become the worst of the AQ conferences.  

At their current rate, the Clemson Tigers are seriously looking to go undefeated.  They must beat a high-octane Georgia Tech, who has already fallen, and then SEC opponent South Carolina, who will likely be without Heisman-hopeful running back Marcus Lattimore.  The Tiger's have a legitimate shot at going undefeated.  

If powerhouses, such as Oklahoma or Alabama, have losses, could the BCS realistically keep an undefeated "little guy" out of the championship?

Well, if that little guy happens to be Boise State, then yes.  Clemson, however, might make for a sticky situation.  

If Clemson and Boise State both go undefeated, which of these two underdogs is more deserving of a title shot?

Is it Boise State, who year-in and year-out just win, win, win?  Is it Boise State, who has had a Heisman-candidate quarterback place in the voting going on three years running?  Is it Boise State, who put the "little guys" on the map?

Unfortunately, that answer is no.

The sad (or happy, depending on your opinion of the Boise States of the world) fact is that Clemson is from an automatic qualifying conference, and an undefeated non-AQ school will never get the nod over an undefeated AQ school.

At least not in the BCS era.  

So, fans of Boise State and all the "little guys," keep pushing for a playoff system and be happy with a major bowl game when you get a bid, or get out of the way.  

There is nothing wrong with settling for the Rose Bowl, which Boise State didn't seem content with in 2010.  That's probably why Nevada beat them.