So hey, remember Boise State?
They’ve been really good for a long time. In fact, they have the most wins and best winning percentage of any team since 2000. In all of college football. They’re 169-31 since the turn of the century, good for 82 percent wins.
At some point, the CFB Playoff committee isn’t going to be able to avoid it forever. The much-needed losses for that group by a mid major program so they don’t go unbeaten and force a tough decision always seem to happen.
But it’s time to remember Boise State, because they’re coming in hot, high, and right under the chin, and there appear to be perilous chances to stop them (aside from the pressure of going unbeaten) along with the sudden resurgence of an opponent they’ve already beaten to only pad their profile.
What’s unique about these Broncos thus far is that they look like a complete team. Yeah, Brett Rypien and the offense are humming to the tune of 30+ per game in every game but one, but if you recall, they got out early against Washington State in week two and had to hang on, while the 21-10 tilt over Utah State was much more of a defensive tilt than an offensive one.
Why is that important?
Well, it means they can win a lot of different ways, which is important in these things, because if you’re a mid major, you’re already up against it so winning 50-40 or 17-12 every week just gets people criticizing HOW you win. Which is stupid.
If you look at the remainder of the schedule, the ole “well, they didn’t play anyone (you hope?)!?” is the only argument. They’ll be favored heavily in all, and BYU has some decent skins on the wall, including over Arizona and Michigan State. They visit BSU in a week and a half.
If you don’t want BSU in a playoff, you may plan your seance for Nov. 24 before they visit Air Force, who’s been a thorn in their side the last few seasons.
Why you’d want them out of the playoffs is beyond me, and I hope you have to answer for a reasonable take on that thought, which means they have to win out.
In the BCS era, you could have made a plausible argument (thought it wouldn’t have been iron-clad then, either). If they go unbeaten without four unbeaten Power 5 conference champs, they belong in, lock, stock, and barrel. This is why this playoff stuff was created, to give more teams a chance.
If you hated the concept (which I did and still sort of do), at least you could bend your mindset to agree that the one good thing this format would do would be to get teams like Boise State a shot if they do the right things, which is going unbeaten.
That’ll be no small task. The pressure rachets up the second anyone sees their name in any sort of playoff talk, and with the weekly ratings dog and pony show ESPN pumps out there for ratings, it’s inevitable that cloud of media pressure will envelope Boise weekly as they keep winning.
When the smoke clears, if they win, it looks like they’ll have done it with a good skin on the wall, too. Washington State looked like just a slight home win over a team that was on the way down, losing to an FCS team in Week 1. Since Boise got up big on them, Wazzu nearly came back and has gone on a tear since then, capped off by a 42-16 thrashing at Stanford.
Right now, they look like the second best team in the Pac 12. That win cannot be ignored if this all keeps up, especially if Wazzu goes on to win the conference.
The overall point, though, is that with Houston losing last weekend to Navy, and considering the road ahead for the Broncos relative to their strength, this might be the eureka moment regarding Group of 5 schools that the CFB Playoff committee has hoped it wouldn’t have to face.
There are a lot of “if’s” to be vetted out over the next two months, but don’t forget about Boise State, and don’t forget that this system was meant to be more inclusive. The time is coming, and it might be this year.
