BCS Rankings: Boise State Gets Big Boost from Georgia's Win over Florida

Thanks to the tangled web that the BCS has woven across the college football landscape in 2011, Boise State will see its case for the national championship strengthened even as Kellen Moore and the Broncos sit idle during their bye week.

How is that, you ask?

Simple: Georgia beat Florida in the 88th (or 89th) edition of the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.

Strange as it may seem, it actually makes quite a bit of sense. You may recall that Boise State, now at No. 4 in the BCS rankings, picked apart No. 22 Georgia at the Georgia Dome on the opening weekend of the season. In one fell swoop, the Broncos proved that they could hang with the SEC, albeit against a team that, after losing at home to No. 13 South Carolina the very next Saturday, looked to be several sizable steps behind No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Alabama in the conference pecking order.

Lo and behold, the Bulldogs have won their last six games, moving to 6-2 overall and 5-1 in league play—good enough for first place in the SEC East.

Well, a tie anyway. UGA will need South Carolina to lose to either No. 10 Arkansas or Florida in the next two weeks to grab hold of the division. The Gamecocks have been lucky to succeed as they have to this point and figure to lose at least one of those games, especially after a weak 14-3 win over Tennessee in their first game without the services of injured running back Marcus Lattimore.

Should that happen, and the Dawgs emerge victorious against No. 23 Auburn and Kentucky, then they, and not USC, would advance to the SEC Championship Game against either LSU or Bama.

That might be enough to push an undefeated Boise State squad into the BCS National Championship Game in New Orleans. An SEC title for Georgia would improve the Broncos' chances even more, especially among the almighty BCS computers.

In either case, Chris Petersen's club would still need some help from the pollsters, who have shown their bias against the Broncos' weak schedule more as the season has drawn on.

And, of course, some assistance from the opponents of all the other undefeated and one-loss teams still within earshot of a trip to New Orleans to compete for the national title.