Question of the day: Does Boise State’s win mean the Broncos will be in the BCS championship game?
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Reporters from around Tribune Co. tackle the question of the day, then you get a chance to chime in and tell them why they’re wrong. Check back throughout the day for updates.
[Updated at 10:38 a.m.
Teddy Greenstein, Chicago Tribune
America has fallen in love with Boise State, the underdog form Obscuresville with the non-threatening baby-blue-ish uniforms. And that’s a good thing. As long as the Broncos keep winning, it will make for a season of healthy BCS debate.
If the Broncos win out, I’d love to see them get all the consideration in the world for a spot in the BCS title game. But to say a 12-0 Boise State is guaranteed a ticket to Glendale is absurd. And not because the Broncos benefited from three debatable rulings by the officials down the stretch against Virginia Tech (the no-block in the back, the soft late hit and the no-pass interference).
Bottom line, if two or more teams go undefeated, the voters should favor those with the most quality victories. And, on paper, Boise State’s best remaining opponent is 0-1 Oregon State.]
Chris Dufresne, Los Angeles Times
Boise State’s dramatic win over Virginia Tech on Monday night assures the Broncos of nothing. It only allows Boise State to stay in the beauty contest, which is what college football is. It’s incredible the amount of backlash the team is already receiving from people who don’t want to see the Broncos in the national title game.
Boise State will have to do more than finish undefeated. It will have to continue to impress voters week in and week out. It cannot afford a sloppy performance. It doesn’t have the same luxury as Alabama. The Crimson Tide needed two blocked field goals last year to beat a Tennessee team that lost at home to UCLA, but that was just a blip.
This is the price Boise State pays for playing in a conference it’s leaving, the WAC. Boise State will have to go undefeated and then have to hope the champion/champions of major conferences suffer one or two losses.
What Boise State did Monday night is no guarantee. It was just an announcement to the world, by the Broncos, that they’re not going away just because you want them to.
Dave Fairbank, Newport News
In a word, no. Nice start, but no guarantees. The Broncos still must run the table, which includes beating Oregon State on Sept. 25 and winning impressively throughout.
Because there’s a beauty-contest component to reaching the BCS title game, the relative strength of the Western Athletic Conference -- or weakness, if you prefer -- demands that the Broncos not slog through the league.
There are also several factors out of their control. Boise State needs some level of cannibalism at the top of the BCS league food chain. Virginia Tech and Oregon State, assuming Boise State wins that game, must have good seasons to bolster the Broncos’ credibility among pollsters and computers.
An undefeated Boise State is likely the third wheel should two BCS league teams go unbeaten, and might be left behind a fortunate one-loss team. Way of the world.