Sorry, Boise State.
It’s nothing personable, believe me. You won’t find juvenile territorial or cultural shots coming from this spot.
I have nothing against the blue field. Frankly, I like that somebody is a little different, and a blue field is definitely different.
Sort of matches opponents’ moods when they leave there, yes? Paint their locker rooms green and you’d have a nice “sad and jealous” thing going.
I have nothing against the city of Boise or state of Utah. The city is among the more civilized, smart, frisky and forward-thinking municipalities in our nation, which puts it very much in the minority.
And between the city and the state – neither of which I’ve visited – one sure can’t complain about a lack of beauty and natural resources.
I have nothing against the program.
Chris Petersen inspires man-crushes. Anybody who watched any part of the Oklahoma game gets chills, and may start yelling at the TV when the final few minutes are shown, from The Plays to The Proposal.
It’s a superb game of football played in the city of trees.
And as a normal human, I love the underdog. Nothing against Maryland, which is certainly closer to David than Goliath, but it was sad that Navy couldn’t pull it off on Monday.
Make no mistake, the win over Virginia Tech was superb, huge win for the program.
And Kellen Moore solidified a spot in the top 10 of every Heisman voter with that exquisite finish that sealed the deal. Sweet. Moore shouldn’t be drug-tested, he should be blood-tested, because something else is flowing through those veins.
Boise State outrushed Virginia Tech, which controlled the ball more and actually was the lower-penalized team in a big game, which is fairly shocking.
All that said, no, I can’t automatically pencil you in as a team for the BCS national championship game if you win out.
You know why. I’m sorry. I’d say that it’s not you, it’s me, but it’s not just me.
When you’re playing New Mexico State, the Hokies are at North Carolina State. Two days before you play Hawaii, they get Georgia Tech.
Two BCS opponents isn’t the same as 10.
No, we don’t know exactly how good or bad a team is going to be until the season starts. Except that, to a large extent, we do. We know that Wake Forest (at Virginia Tech on Oct. 16) is better than San Jose State (hosts Boise State on Oct. 16).
It’s not all about the record. Tulane went undefeated in 1998, and the world was quiet. Why? Ohhh, who’d they play? If Boise State goes 11-1 aaand Utah goes undefeated, are the Broncs going to give in to the Utes?
No.
People get snotty about the debate, adding to its legitimacy. Put people’s own team into a similar argument, and duck when different logic and evidence come flying in every direction.
If somebody’s favorite team loses only to Alabama by three and Ohio State by five, they will under no circumstances give an undefeated Boise State – with the current opposition - the nod.
Never. They will not. College football fans don’t hand out much credit when their team is involved anywhere near the topic.
They’ll say differently now only if they know their team isn’t in that running. But chat with the folks in Tuscaloosa, Austin, Columbus and South Bend (eh, they always think they’re in the hunt, even at 3-9).
I just have to see this more than once or twice a year. I have to see a team face more equality, face players of similar size and speed and strength on a regular basis.
More than once a month would be a start.
I’m sorry you’re penalized by your conference strength, which leads to the question of whether you’d be up on this level if you’d been in stronger conferences from the start. Conversely, you came up from FCS in only 1996 and have gone only forward, with success the product of quality management, administration and coaching.
Nevertheless, the level of competition has to come into play somewhere. Playing 17 games against BCS conference teams since 2001 isn’t the same as 17 games against BCS conference teams since 2008.
But you get points for the reluctance/refusal of bigger boys to play you more. Certainly you’d swap Toledo this year for a Kansas or Mississippi State or Iowa, right? You’ll play that one-for-none game just to play, ala Pat Hill at Fresno State and his “anybody, anywhere” mentality, yes?
I know.
Then again, just the fact that Boise State is part of the biggest yearly debate in college football is huge. Shoot, people know more about those who live on the Smurf Turf more than they know about programs that have those FBS national championships.
And that’ll have to do until the schedule changes, which may happen sooner than later.
LOUGHDMOUTHINGS
Dear college football coaches,
It's time to begin and/or end a few practices a week with reminders that begin with, "Do not, under any circumstances ..."
And the rest of the admonition will involve a variety of words: steal, hit, agent, grope, drink, fight, beat, suspended license, not yours, obscene, swing at a cop, cheat, leave without paying, punch, disorderly, retaliate, sell, trade, buy, 4 a.m., resisting, credit card of a deceased person, brawl.
Certainly missed a few there.
Come on, A.J. Green, who in their right mind is going to pay that scratch for an Indy Bowl jersey? Wannabe girlfriends, scammers and agents.
But yes, four games is a bit much.
A friend wants Mark Richt to have a regular license check, too, for the Bulldogs. Not a bad idea. ...
Be careful, Buffalo fans. Don't make Chan Gailey come up into the stands Sunday during the season opener.
To those who worry about such attention and reaction (although yes, usually reaction is from uninformed idiots with the social skills and intellect of a drunk rhino): Go to Division II, III, NAIA or high school if you can't handle public observations.
The Joker may have had Gailey in mind when he had that very clenching suggestion for what his town needed. He is one tight dude. ...
Dawgs and Cocks? Good question.
Aaron Murray looked pretty comfortable in his debut, and Georgia actually called a pretty good offensive game. Makes you wonder if the headsets were all plugged in.
The defense is, again, not a surprise. Combine coaching with underutilized talent, and you'll get a good product..
But Stephen Garcia looked might cozy Thursday against Southern Miss. And, man, USCE's wideouts? The two-deep lists eight players at three wideout spots, and five are 6-3 or better.
Georgia's corners? Only two of the five listed crack 6-0, and they're both young.
This is a doozy, what a rivalry game is supposed to be like. One day, records may show it really is a full-fledged rivalry, but we'll be dead and gone. UGA holds a 46-14-2 advantage.
Nevertheless, seven of the last nine meetings have been decided by seven or less. The guess: USCE 27, UGA 24. ...
Smart people didn't watch the Florida-Ohio replay right after eating.
And let's just wait a game or two before dropping the Gators out of any favorite role. If they look that bad against South Florida, then we can furrow our brows a little. ...
New Orleans and Minnesota to open the NFL season? Somebody upstairs - in the NFL offices making out schedules - likes us.
Unfortunately, we'll get 312 camera shots of Favre doing nothing, absolute raving about plays that, well, a possible 28-million buck quarterback of ANY age should make, and assorted other irrelevant mentions. ...
"Friday Night Lights" is on - dammit, I forgot again - daily at 6 p.m. on the Family Channel, No. 67 on Cox Cable. First season started this week.
Ahhh, amen. ...
Quality offering frmo Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times:
Brazilian Elizane Cruz Silva ranks among the world's tallest teen girls — 6 feet 9 and still growing.
She turns 15 on Sept. 27, when a quiet celebration is planned with family, close friends and Geno Auriemma.
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