Originally Posted by
5am6oody72
Word
IDAHO? Really though, IDAHO?
Is Idaho not Boise States rival?
Originally Posted by 5am6oody72
they'd also have to play in a real conference and get tested most weeks instead of coasting through cupcake schedules.
You mean like playing 2-7 Portland State, 4-5 Arizona State, 1-9 Washington State, and 3-6 Washington?? That is Oregons schedule. That sure is a week in and week out grind. Or how about Ohio State, they play killer 3-6 Marshall, 4-5 Indiana, etc...Lets get real. I dont like schedule smack talk, I think its stupid, but dont sit here and preach to me about week in and week out when there is soft teams on everyones schedule. EVERYONE
Originally Posted by 5am6oody72
gave them the same advantages other programs have they'd still go undefeated every year in the PAC 10 or Big 12 like they do in the WAC and MWC.
Who said they would go undefeated every year? I dont think they will. TCU wont go undefeated next year. I have no problem saying though that I think TCU would win the Big XII, Big Ten, ACC, and Big East this year. I think they could have won those conferences last year also. Its all speculation though so it really doesnt matter.
Idaho is not a competitive rival to Boise. They might not like each other but when was the last time Idaho beat Boise? Seeing as how Boise has never even lost a WAC game at home since they joined after 2000 they don't really have too many "rivals" in their conference. That stat right there is evidence enough for me that their conference schedule is a joke and they aren't tested like they would be in most other conferences.
And 4-5 ASU and 3-6 Washington are not great teams but they are more of a test than New Mexico State, Louisiana Tech, San Jose State, Idaho, Utah State, and Wyoming that Boise gets to beat up on. Granted Washington didn't have Jake Locker, but when they did they beat a fairly good USC team (albeit with an awful defense), Oregon State, and Syracuse (not great but they are a decent team). That's more than ANY of the teams I just named from Boise's schedule can say, and we're talking about a weak spot in Oregon's schedule. ASU was a hiccup away from beating Wisconsin and played a couple of other teams close. They are not that bad AT ALL.
The difference between these middling PAC 10 teams and the !%#*%@ WAC teams is that the PAC 10 teams may not win consistently, but they still have enough overall talent on the roster that every once in awhile they will actually beat a really good team. How many times has a team like USC or Oregon lost to a mediocre PAC 10 team after starting out 8-0? Or same for the top team in any other conference? You brought up how OSU plays a 4-5 Indiana? You mean the same one that almost upset Iowa last week? Now how many times has that happened with Boise and TCU? It never happens because the conferences are too top heavy and the one or two teams that are actually good don't ever get tested. You even saw Stanford upset USC twice when their program was in the dumps. Say what you will about USC's choke jobs but that's evidence that you can't sleepwalk through conference games; you can't barely show up and then beat a UC Davis 34-16 like Boise did last year. In a real conference if you play that poorly (even against a team like Washington or ASU) you will catch an L. Honestly how can you say that even the toughest WAC or MWC road game provides the same challenge as going into the Horseshoe or Death Valley? Those types of tough games don't even exist within the MAC or MWC, AND they don't even have a conference championship game.
Every team has soft teams on their schedule, but Boise's and TCU's (to a lesser extent) schedules have more of those soft teams. I don't disagree with you that TCU could win the ACC or Big East this year. Since my team is out of the MNC race and I can take the blinders off, I'd argue that an undefeated ACC (or Big East) team would be far less deserving of a title shot than one from any of the other conferences, because the ACC and Big East suck right now.
Also if you're going to say that TCU and Boise could win ___ Conference, how many teams from those conferences could win the MWC or WAC? Oregon State isn't a premier team in the PAC 10 and they gave both TCU and Boise (the best teams in their conferences) a pretty good run for their money. Those teams may have monetary and recruiting advantages, but they also have to play tougher schedules and have more competition than TCU and Boise do.
If there were an 8 team playoff then teams from the non AQ conferences would be forced to at least play two HIGH quality opponents in order to make it to the MNC. That way they'd still get a fair shot but wouldn't be able to feast on cupcake conference schedules and automatically get a shot at a title.
