TCU vs. Boise State: Petersen Needs to Coach a BCS School to Win National Title

There's little denying that Chris Petersen has done a fantastic job as the head coach of Boise State. Petersen's record with the Broncos is 69-6 with four WAC titles (in five seasons) and two Fiesta Bowl victories.

He engineered the famous victory over Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. He's presided over three undefeated Bronco seasons.

And yet, there's very little chance he will ever see his current team play for a BCS National Title.

Despite those undefeated seasons, the closest his Broncos have ever come to getting into the National Title Game is a No. 6 ranking at the end of the regular season. One loss teams from virtually any BCS conference apparently will get the position over Boise State for a shot at the crown.

The truth of the matter is, if Chris Petersen ever wants to play in the biggest bowl game of them all, he'll have to do it somewhere other than Boise State.

It's really a sad situation. Boise State left the WAC in an effort to boost the strength of their schedule. The Mountain West, while still not a BCS automatic-qualifying conference, would have boosted the reputation of their slate by adding TCU, BYU and Utah.

Plus, Fresno State, Nevada and Hawaii are all scheduled to start play in the conference in 2012.

However, just as it was looking as though the MWC might finally have enough power to finally gain AQ status into BCS bowls (and increase their likelihood of getting a shot at the National Title), several teams bailed.

TCU first committed to the Big East, but then changed direction and joined the Big 12. Either way, they're no longer the yearly rivalry against a likely ranked opponent that Boise State was counting on.

Utah bolted to the Pac-12 and BYU became an Independent in football.

Also, Fresno State hasn't been as tough as they once were. In fact, this year they're a lowly 3-6 with just a few games left to right the ship.

Hawaii has intermittently been an exciting team, but their WAC allegiances have been as damning to them as it was to Boise State. Nevada alone cannot make up for the losses sustained by the former MWC to help Boise's strength of schedule.

The MWC has met with Conference-USA in talks regarding a merger, but will joining forces with another non-AQ conference do enough to elevate the new league to AQ status?

Now, it appears that Boise State might be headed toward the Big East in an effort to get into a conference that already has AQ status. That's beginning to look like an unfortunate move as well.

The Big East is not-so-slowly collapsing and could very well lose their AQ status within a few years. That is, if they even survive as a viable football conference.

Pitt and Syracuse are both moving to the ACC. West Virginia is off to the Big 12. Connecticut and others are actively looking for a new home.

The best we've heard from the Big East ranges from inviting the service academies and promoting some lesser division programs to potentially merging with a smaller conference.

Everywhere Boise turns, things are in shambles and their prospects of getting into the big dance look no better than they did a year ago.

No doubt, Boise State fans don't want to ever see Petersen go. He's had a clear vision of what he wants, has put the pieces in place and has led his team into the national spotlight.

However, he's gone about as far as he can go here. Unless someone like the Big 12, Big Ten or Pac-12 take a chance on the Broncos in the next round of conference expansion/realignment, they're going to continue to be left in the cold in regard to the BCS Title.

Losing to TCU this week killed any chance the Broncos may have had, remote as they may have been. A one-loss Boise State team will not leapfrog anyone into anything.

Chris Petersen is a tremendous young coach. You probably wouldn't have to look long or hard to find a program in a BCS conference that would love to see what he could do with their resources.

The cold truth is, that's likely the only way Petersen will ever play for anything bigger than what he already has.