Is Boise State worth a top 5 ranking?

Where should Boise State REALLY be ranked?

Is this REALLY the 5th best team in the nation?

And that’s what the top 25 is supposed to do, indicate the top teams, IN ORDER. That means whoever is the #1 team (in this case Florida at the moment) means they are the BEST team in the nation. There is debate about whether Texas or Alabama are the second best, and it dips a bit from there.

Last night on ESPN Boise State beat Tulsa 28-21. So the debate begins, is this really a top 5 team?

To me, to be a great team you have to have a schedule that indicates that you beat some quality teams. And lately many average non-BCS schools have been scheduling cupcakes out of the BCS conferences so they can say they “beat” teams out of the BCS conferences.

Folks, just because you beat Vanderbilt out of the SEC does not mean you get much more credibility for beating a BCS conference team. Just because you beat Duke from the ACC does not give you credibility for beating a BCS conference team. Now, you beat Virginia tech or LSU, THEN we are talking.

The heavy criticism on Boise State is that they shy away from doing what Fresno State commonly does…schedule anybody, anywhere at anytime. Last year the only real games on Boise State’s schedule was Oregon and Southern Miss, and to their credit they won both. But a perfect record out of the weak WAC does not make them a top 5 contender.

The same applies this year. Boise State, to their great credit, did beat Oregon…on their smurf turf, so that indeed is a quality win. Ok, fine…what have you done lately? The game last night was against a Tulsa team that is one of the best of the Conference USA, but Tulsa is still an average team. And does it look like they are pretty touchable this year? Lots of close games, even against average and below average opponents.

If you ask me if Boise State is better than USC, that answer is NO. If you asked me if they were better than Ohio State, I say NO. And the same if paired against Penn State, LSU, Iowa and Virginia Tech. Boise State does not play big time games week in and week out, but only schedule one big game a year. I mean, let’s be honest, they didn’t HAVE to schedule UC Davis or Miami Ohio, did they? The WAC conference schedule is weak enough, you didn’t bolster the schedule by putting them on.

Granted, the win over Oregon looks great now, but look at what happened after that game: Boise State goes on to play a sub par schedule, although still winning. Oregon goes on and knocks off top 20 Utah, and top 6 California…back to back.

To me, Oregon is the better team, at this point than Boise State. Why? Because the level of competition is far greater on Oregon’s side than Boise State. Yeah, I know Boise State beat Oregon, at home, but Oregon beat two ranked teams…at home.

I just can’t see Boise State as a top 5 team, they have not beaten enough teams to earn such a high mark. Top 10, maybe. There is no more quality games on their schedule, so the only way they are going to get respect is if more teams lose to give the Broncos some level of security. There are many one-loss teams that are better than Boise State, there might be a couple of 2 loss teams that can match up with Boise State.

But you can’t blame Boise State players…blame the AD. If you REALLY want to start an argument about Boise State and the BCS, schedule tougher teams. Drop UC Davis and pop in Missouri. Change Miami Oh for Wisconsin. Exchange Tulsa for Arkansas. These may not be the cream of the crop for their conferences, but they are no easy wins either. You do that, and sweep, then nobody can argue that Boise State deserves strong consideration for a BCS if they go perfect.

Or at least force more conversations for a playoff… which I am not in favor of.