Yeah, I know this blog is intended specifically not to cover FBS or D-I basketball, but sometimes I just have to get something off my chest and my potential audiences in other venues aren’t the appropriate ones.\u00a0 At least this audience is, even if the venue may not be.<\/p>\n
What am I irked about this morning?\u00a0 Well, I’m still irked about the fact that Bill Snyder didn’t leave Chris Cosh standing on the runway in Waco, but this is something of more national interest.\u00a0 Generally, “The Narrative” as crammed down our throats by the Worldwide Leader; specifically, the fact that I think that if they were going to stick us with one for the season, they picked the wrong one.<\/p>\n
As you can probably imagine, your conclusion fueled by the fact that I write a blog about college sports teams that most people not only don’t care about but have barely heard of, I am not unsympathetic to the plight of the non-AQ team.\u00a0 I would like to see Boise State, or TCU, or even North Texas for that matter, have a fair and transparent path to potentially competing for a national championship.\u00a0 I support a playoff, so long as said playoff includes the champions of all eleven FBS conferences.\u00a0 I root for the BCS to implode, and I think going unbeaten is a remarkable accomplishment in this day and age no matter what schedule you may be playing.<\/p>\n
And I will freely admit, I have zero problem whatsoever with an attempt to provide a BCS-busting narrative in general.\u00a0 Indeed, I think it’s only fair for the national media to pay heed to any potential national championship team, and if that team happens to be an “outsider” then it’s difficult to complain about the media covering them as<\/em> outsiders.\u00a0 Their status as “lesser citizens” not only should be discussed, but must<\/em> be if anything’s to be done about the inherent financial unfairness of the system.<\/p>\n That said, I think ESPN has completely screwed the pooch this season with their slavish devotion to the idea of Boise State as potential national champion.\u00a0 It’s not that I think they’re undeserving.\u00a0 It’s that in the midst of their rampant attempts to fellate blue and orange horses, they’re all but ignoring something far more obvious:<\/p>\n Boise State is not the best potential candidate to bust the BCS title game.\u00a0 Texas Christian is.<\/p>\n Let’s look at this objectively.\u00a0 Both teams have beaten Oregon State, so we can dismiss that.\u00a0\u00a0 They also both beat Wyoming, by exactly the same 45-point margin; Boise allowed the Cowboys to score while TCU didn’t, but TCU got to play them at home while Boise didn’t.\u00a0 Wash.\u00a0 Boise’s got the Virginia Tech win, which is nice, but TCU’s got an utter humiliation of the first-place team in the Big 12 South to point to.\u00a0 (Seriously, I realize that Baylor is not Auburn or anything, but shouldn’t TCU be getting some props for that game at this point?)<\/p>\n They both have stinkers on the schedule, of course.\u00a0 But really, is there anything to separate “Toledo, San Jose State, New Mexico State, Louisiana Tech, and Utah State” from “Tennessee Tech, Colorado State, UNLV, and New Mexico”?\u00a0 Well, yes, there is; for one, TCU’s list is shorter by one.\u00a0 For another, Colorado State may not be as bad as they appear; while they did lose to Miami (OH) and Colorado, their other three losses have been to Air Force, Utah, and Nevada.\u00a0 Hell, virtually every team we’ve discussed here other than our protagonists and San Diego State would lose all three of those games.\u00a0 Boise’s list of patsies, however, is every bit as bad as they appear, Utah State’s inexplicable almost-victory against Oklahoma and rivalry win over BYU notwithstanding.<\/p>\n Boise still has Hawaii, Fresno State, and Nevada to play.\u00a0 (Also Idaho, who’s not great or anything, but I don’t think having Idaho on one’s schedule is a particular embarrassment.\u00a0 They’re a decent football team.)\u00a0 Now, on the one hand, I think this is actually something which will work in Boise’s favor in the end, at least as regards their profile against other BCS conference candidates.\u00a0 But, presuming Boise goes undefeated, there’s one simple fact which cannot be ignored: by the time Boise gets done beating all these guys, they may be 12-0 without a single win over a currently<\/em> ranked team as of the end of the season.<\/p>\n TCU, on the other hand, has a win already over Air Force.\u00a0 They have San Diego State pending.\u00a0 These two teams are, essentially, Fresno State and Hawaii, and I may be insulting the MWC teams by saying so.\u00a0 BYU, despite their record, is probably no worse than Idaho.\u00a0 They’ve also got a win over a pretty good SMU team.<\/p>\n Which leaves the giant elephant in the room waiting to be addressed.\u00a0 Boise State does not have a huge marquee OMG matchup remaining on their schedule.\u00a0 Although I have defended their remaining games as not particularly hurtful<\/em> to their candidacy, the fact remains that they are not particularly helpful<\/em>, either.\u00a0 TCU, on the other hand, is going to have to get past the current #8 team in the BCS if they want to finish unbeaten.<\/p>\n That’s what it really boils down to. Boise’s resume is not particularly better than TCU’s, and TCU has a giant cannonball waiting to be loaded.\u00a0 Don’t misunderstand me; I am not trying to argue that, today, TCU should be ranked ahead of Boise.\u00a0 The rankings are “correct”, at the moment.\u00a0 My issue with the narrative is simple: shouldn’t the talking heads be recognizing the impact the Utah game (assuming TCU wins, of course) is going to have on TCU’s resume — both in the polls and the computers?\u00a0 They’ve decided they’re going to hitch their wagons to the Broncos, and I think they feel that trying to trumpet TCU’s opportunity works against their interests.<\/p>\n And we all know why.\u00a0 All you have to do is look at the TV schedule for the rest of the season, where you will see something truly eye-opening.\u00a0 TCU does not appear on any Disney-owned television outlet.\u00a0 Not just for the rest of the season; ALL season.\u00a0 Boise, on the other hand, will be appearing on ESPN2 three times before their appearance on the Mothership November 26.<\/p>\n Seems pretty obvious to me.\u00a0 The WWL is directly and insidiously manipulating the narrative for its own benefit.\u00a0 And it sickens me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yeah, I know this blog is intended specifically not to cover FBS or D-I basketball, but sometimes I just have to get something off my chest and my potential audiences in other venues aren’t the appropriate ones.\u00a0 At least this audience is, even if the venue may not be. 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