Boise State making 4th BCS Run in 5 Years

When a playoff doesn't exist in major college football, you have to rely on the voters. There's no way to prove it on the field, as with every other division in football and every other sport. Boise State is so far undefeated yet again this season. Yet if you look at the polls, the Broncos will once again be snubbed when selections are made for the BCS Bowls.

Boise State once again finds itself in the thick of the hunt for a Bowl Championship Series (BCS) Bowl.  It’s familiar territory for the Broncos—they’re in the Top 15 for the fourth year in the last five.

 Despite that consistency and all the accolades (the best winning percentage in the nation over the last decade, the best home record in the nation, etc.), Boise State has only one BCS Bowl to its credit and zero appearances in the national championship game.  In the one BCS Bowl that Boise State did receive an invitation to, the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, the Broncos defeated Oklahoma 43-42 in what has been called the greatest college football game ever.

Boise State was 11-0 in the regular season of 2004, 12-0 in 2006, 10-1 last season prior to their game with Hawai’i and is now 8-0 heading into this Saturday’s showdown with Utah State.  Utah State just shocked that same Hawai’i team last weekend.  Yet despite that sparkling 41-2 regular season record in the four years, the Broncos have been snubbed.  In 2004, Utah got to go to the Fiesta Bowl even though no team from the Mountain West Conference has ever beaten Boise State (The MWC is 0-11 vs. the Broncos).

This year, it’s déjà vu all over again.  Utah once again is undefeated, same as Boise State, and just narrowly beat TCU 13-10 last night in the final seconds.  TCU also has never beaten Boise State; in fact they lost 34-31 in the 2003 Fort Worth Bowl to the Broncos on their home field. 

Will Utah’s victory over TCU at home be more important to the voters than Boise State’s victory over the Oregon Ducks in Autzen Stadium?  So far, the voters seem to think that TCU is a more powerful opponent than Oregon.  Utah is ranked 8^th in the BCS Standings while Boise State is 10^th.  The nation’s coaches have Utah 9^th and Boise State 10^th in their poll.  The Harris Poll also has Utah 9^th and the Broncos 10^th.  Only the Associated Press Poll (which doesn’t count in the BCS Standings) shows Boise State (9^th) ahead of Utah (10^th).

The burning question remains—should both Utah and Boise State be fortunate enough to win their remaining games, will the Broncos once again be snubbed?  Will Utah once again be the team that gets selected over Boise State?  Or will both undefeated teams get chosen?

It’s definitely something to watch as the season draws to a close.