Boise State vs TCU in New Orleans Bowl

2008 New Orleans Bowl

Boise State vs. TCU

Now this ought to be good!

The New Orleans Bowl will feature two very good programs, and in my opinion one of the best matchups outside the BCS. Undefeated Boise State vs. TCU out of the Mountain West, with two losses.

Before I begin, I want to say that I STILL think Boise State should not have taken this game. The non-BCS conferences always whine about how they are not getting respect from the BCS conferences…well, why don’t you PLAY one in a bowl? TCU is a great team, I will not argue that, but refresh my memory of which conference they come from…and ask yourself if that is a BCS conference or not?

Anyway, this is still a great matchup, who has the advantage? Let’s look at some resumes:

Boise State comes from the WAC, and have been the only team worth talking about from the entire conference. Their season started against Idaho State and continued when they defeated Bowling Green and then shocked people with a win over #17 Oregon.

It was then that people started looking at the chances of the Broncos busting into the BCS, but the season was still very young. The Broncos of Boise State gave up only 17 points the next three games, winning over Louisiana Tech, Southern Miss and Hawaii, pulling their record to 6-0.

Three more conference games were no match for Boise State, crushing San Jose State, New Mexico State and Utah State, and anybody else with a “state” in their name. At 9-0 there were serious talks about whether this team could, or should get into the BCS. But there were some major factors. One, Utah was still undefeated, and two, the strength of schedule counted against them. Sure they beat Oregon, but is that ALL you beat?

As if trying to impress voters by running up the score, Boise State continued to crush foes, putting over 145 points in the final three games over Idaho, Nevada and Fresno State. A perfect 12-0...but alas, no room for them in the BCS.

Almost half the teams that Boise State beat will be in a bowl, and they beat them all…but what they cannot shake is that the strength of schedule was incredibly low, and what certainly kept them from jumping over Utah.

So what of TCU; are they any better?

Wasn’t it several years ago when MWC and WAC were actually one conference, a SUPER conference? Perhaps if they had never broken up, they could be in the conversation for a BCS Championship. As it stands, TCU represents the Mountain West, finishing second, behind undefeated Utah.

TCU started out very hot, scoring over 120 points in their first three games, although it was against New Mexico, Stephen F Austin and Stanford. There were early talks that this MIGHT be the team to watch out for, and the Horned Frogs continued to stoke the fires by beating SMU 48-7

The big test was against Oklahoma…and the test ended with the Sooners winning by 25 points.

With National Title hopes smashed, TCU still had a chance at a BCS bowl if they won out. They defeated San Diego State and Colorado State before a big game vs. BYU. This was a HUGE game because it could potentially decide who would get that BCS bowl. In the end, it was TCU, proving how great they were by beating BYU 32-7.

So that BCS bowl hope was still alive as they continue to mow down conference foes Wyoming and UNLV. Then came the big game vs. Utah…a major game that had all the implications on it for national exposure and prominence. In a surprisingly low scoring game, TCU lost by only 3 points… but it might as well been 30.

With BCS bowl hopes dashed, they could only finish as best they could, beating a good Air Force team to end the season. Five teams TCU has faced will see post season, losing only to undefeated Utah and potential National Champion Oklahoma… not a bad two to lose to.

So, who wins?

On strength of conferences, I would rank the MWC as the best conference outside the BCS conferences. I might put the WAC second, just slightly ahead of Conference USA. That means that I think TCU’s record is better by competition than Boise State, but not by much.

The BEST team Boise State has faced this year was Oregon…the BEST team TCU faced was Oklahoma AND UTAH. And here is something else… outside of Oklahoma, NOBODY has scored more than 14 against TCU. This team gives up about 10 points a game, a pretty good defense that has seen very tough competition.

Even though Boise State has a great offense, their defense can be exposed. A narrow win over Nevada could have been a sign of a weakness, but this Boise State team has scored bunches of points over their foes.

I personally think TCU has the advantage because of strength of schedule, and has played tougher opponents than Boise State. A number of Boise State’s wins were against below par teams, but who can question the fact that they DID win those games? I mean, that is what you are supposed to do, right?

This will be a classic game, one that I just cannot miss. I think TCU wins this, but I wonder if it will be a shootout or a close game. Both teams are good in defense, but we are going to see true colors if they play to the level of their past schedule. I got TCU by 10 points.

BYU vs Arizona Pioneer Bowl

2008 Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl

BYU vs. Arizona

You know, it must be pretty hard to sell tickets for a football game in LAS VEGAS…

I mean, I could think of 500 other things I could do instead of going to a college bowl game, but that is just me.

Anyway, this year’s Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl is kinda interesting. It puts together a Pac-10 team against a Mountain West team, which is actually a pretty interesting matchup.

From the Mountain West, we have BYU, who once was talked about a possible undefeated season, which has fallen slightly from grace, and Arizona, from the BCS Conference of the Pac-10. What are their credentials, and who shall win? Let’s look at some resumes.

The MWC has 5 teams that qualified for a bowl, and BYU is the third best out of the conference. In fact, they had a very good year, making noise as a possible undefeated team, and even a chance of forcing the BCS’s hand to put them in a National Championship if they had gone undefeated.

Their 6-2 record is blemished by only TCU and Utah, who are very good teams. Their first win over Northern Iowa was nothing to really put stock into, but then wins over not one, but TWO Pac-10 teams raised interest. When BYU beat Washington and UCLA, there was serious talk that this team was a force to be reckoned with…

Who knew how those same two Pac-10 teams would fall in the gutter?

A shutout on conference foe Wyoming, a win over Utah State from the WAC and another win over New Mexico gave this team a 6-0 start, and the sports media starting singing praises. It was quite possible that BYU was going to certainly be in a BCS bowl, and maybe, just maybe, challenge for a National Title.

Then the dream ended at TCU.

A 32-7 pounding proved that although BYU was good, they were not great enough to remain undefeated, and from there fell from grace. There would be no chance for a national championship for them, and now there was a race to see which non-BCS team would be the one to get that valuable BCS bowl bid. With TCU losing to Oklahoma, and BYU losing to TCU, it seemed that they had to fight to get that BCS spot.

BYU added three more wins, all over lesser foes like UNLV, San Diego State and Colorado State, before facing Air Force and beating them, leaving that last game of so much importance…against Utah. But it was not to be.

Four teams that was on BYU’s schedule will be in a bowl, and the Cougar’s record against them was 2-2. About par for the course, although I give BYU more credit than that.

From the Pac-10, we have Arizona, who was the least of the conference’s teams to qualify for a bowl. At 7-5, the Wildcats went 5-4 in conference play. Two quick wins over Idaho and Toledo were quickly forgotten when Arizona lost to New Mexico.

Three games in, and they were already in trouble.

And as if taking a cue from BYU, they also played UCLA and Washington, defeating them both. Even at 4-1, it wasn’t that impressive. It got worse when they faced and lost to Stanford and fell to 4-2.

Arizona needed a “signature win” to get back on pace, and they found it with a great win over then ranked California. The win put them at 5-2, just one win shy of qualifying for a bowl. But that would have to wait another week, as they lost to USC, only by one possession. There was still signs that this team could still get it together, and they showed it the next game, beating Washington State.

But the season didn’t end so well via the state of Oregon, as Arizona lost to both Oregon and Oregon State back to back. The Wildcats were able to salvage the season in a final win over Arizona State and limped into the post season.

Four teams on that schedule will be in post season, and Arizona’s record against them is 1-3, beating only California, although a good win.

So, who is better?

Well, for BOTH teams, beating UCLA or Washington means nothing since both of those squads stink this year (sadly spoken as a Bruin fan). But I have to wonder if BYU is more battle tested against strong foes than Arizona. Take away California, who else has Arizona beaten of quality? We know BYU lost to Utah and TCU, and has not defeated a ranked foe this year.

This is almost an even fight, but I can’t help but think the game favors BYU, who is quite familiar with the Pac-10. I think BYU wins this by two touchdowns…but we shall see.