oVo wrote:I like Boise State, they have a fabulous track record in Bowl games,
but not the regular season schedule to convince the football world
that they are "the best" team out there. As I've said before, they
are a really good team that can keep it close with any college team
out there. All they lack is the quality opposition to establish just
how good they actually are. On any given day a good team can win
and a great team can fall. So it goes.
The way this year has gone it's impossible to say who the best team
might be and the BCS Rankings and bowl games will not solve this
question. A playoff wouldn't do it either, since that would only leave
the survivor of pairings as champion and there would still be teams
that never had to play each other. All teams match up differently and
the luck of the draw would still be a factor. A playoff could establish
an undisputed champion and still not prove who "the best" team is.
That's just how this game goes. Boise State was probably the better
team last week and Nevada still prevailed in the end. Alabama just
might be the best all around team, but has lost close games to LSU,
South Carolina and Auburn.
Every top ten team has escaped a few games this season with the
narrowest of victories and there are three loss programs that can
compete with and potentially beat any of the top ranked teams.
I can't see Boise State playing Auburn's schedule and remaining
unbeaten, but we'd all have a better idea of just how good they are.
Iowa, TCU and Ohio State all have extremely tough defenses and of the
three only TCU has managed to remain unbeaten. TCU doesn't face the
same competition that the other two do, but none of these teams can
be taken lightly by any opponent regardless of the rankings.
I agree with this 100%. Also, just to add, Auburn fans, of all people, have a good idea of what BSU/TCU fans are feeling. Auburn got left out back in 2004, and Auburn doesn't receive the national respect that Alabama, Ohio State, Southern Cal, Florida, or a few other big name teams receive. It's been a fun season to be an Auburn fan and to see the sports writers saying every week how Auburn was likely to fall to that week's opponent.
(Auburn didn't have a defense in game 1 and MSU would take advantage of that; Clemson was a better team than MSU, who Auburn barely squeaked by - that wasn't going to happen with Clemson; South Carolina was probably beatable; ULM should be no problem; Kentucky was a trap game - they beat Auburn last year and they'll do so again; Arkansas is way too good - With Mallet as QB and Auburn's shoddy pass defense, there's no way Auburn wins this one; LSU is one of the best defenses in the nation - they'll shut down Cam Newton and their offense should be good enough against Auburn's defense to get the win; Ole Miss is a trap game - Auburn's come off of 3 close wins and are getting worn out, plus Masoli should be able to take apart the Auburn defense; scrimmage game against Chattanooga - no problem; UGA is a huge rival, and they're playing their best football of the season, plus all those allegations about Cam Newton will have the team down and depressed - they'll finally lose this week; Ok, they beat everyone else, but there's just no way they can beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa - that team is God's gift to football and is coached by the son of God himself - Auburn may be pretty good, but not good enough to win that one.)
Anyway, I have watched BSU and TCU play this season, and I think they're solid teams (personally, I think TCU may be a slightly better team, albeit less flashy and not quite as fast in scoring). I think they would both match up well against other top 10 teams in BCS bowl games. But to be honest, there's not a great deal of difference between the top 10-15 teams. I think any one of them could win against most of the others on a given week. The difference is how they got to where they are. Auburn has unquestionably played a much harder schedule than either TCU or BSU (and Oregon for that matter). They've beaten 5 ranked opponents so far this season, and a win on Saturday would make it 6.
Also, you might take a look at the Legends Coaches Poll:
http://www.legendschannel.com/
It's made up of 19 former top college football coaches (including several hall of fame winners). Unlike the polls used in the BCS rankings, these guys will watch the relevant games and will get together on a conference call to argue about the relative merits of one team over another. They publish their individual ballots (sometimes with commentary on why they voted the way they did) unlike the anonymous polls the BCS uses. I'd love to see it as part of the BCS equation.