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A Look at Fresno and Boise

Something is wrong with the rankings…………………..by Trevor Freeman

As a longtime college football follower I have been waiting for a non-BCS team to buck the system and get into the national title picture.  The deck has always been stacked against these teams as the BCS schools generally avoid playing these folks.  However, after Boise State rocked Oregon State on Friday night and it was followed up by Fresno State opening a can of whupp a$$ on Kansas State Saturday afternoon, I finally thought that we had something going.  Then the polls came out and anger arose.  I have been waiting for years to lash out at these writers and coaches for the way they vote and this Sunday that perfect opportunity arose.  Both the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll and Associated Press Poll have Fresno State and Boise State grossly underrated (see below).

        ESPN/USA Today    Associated Press

Fresno State    #20            #19

Boise State     #23            #23

Is this some kind of perverse joke?  Do these people really believe there are 18-19 better teams than the Fresno State Bulldogs?  Do the people who vote in these things even watch college football?  I do not want to start bringing up East Coast Bias in the media, but let the record show that West Coast teams are the ones who continually get screwed in these polls.  However, I think this goes deeper than an East Coast bias.  I believe this goes to the whole BCS system and the money involved with it.  There is nobody affiliated with a BCS conference that wants to see a Fresno State get into a BCS bowl and take a share of the money.  Therefore don’t you have to question that 59% of the voters in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll are from BCS conferences?  It is common knowledge that most of the times the actual coaches do not even fill out these polls; it is some member of the staff or a person in the athletic department who does it.

I have Fresno State ranked as twelfth best team in the nation and Boise State as the nineteenth.  To be quite honest, I have thought about ranking Fresno State as high as #7.  That’s how good they have looked this year.  To walk into Husky Stadium and beat Washington 35-16 and then the following week crush Kansas State 45-21 is a testament to Pat Hill and the wonderful job his staff has done down there.  The backtracking being done is extraordinary.  To hear people talk now, Kansas State was never that good to begin with.  They are being called a “middle of the road” BCS team.  Gimme a break.  Say it like it is.  Kansas State was the defending Big 12 champion, returning a Heisman candidate in Darren Sproles and they got taken behind the woodshed by a great Bulldog team.

The only team left on Fresno’s schedule that can beat them is the other team whose ranking I take issue with.  There are not 22 better teams than Boise State.  Oregon State gave LSU all they wanted in Death Valley and would have won if they had a serviceable kicker.  On Friday night, Boise State not only beat that same Oregon State team, they embarrassed them.  53-34. The game was not as close as the score indicated.  Do you remember watching that LSU-Oregon State game?  Oregon State outhit LSU.  Boise State outhit Oregon State.  On the season, Boise is averaging 59 points a game.  As a huge college football fan I am personally embarrassed for the sport when I see Boise State being ranked #23.  The Broncos are at least a top twenty ballclub, probably a fringe top 15 team right now.

One of these two teams will run the table this season.  I think it will be Fresno State because they have a bye week going into the Boise State game.  If one of these two teams goes unbeaten it will be an injustice if they miss playing in a BCS bowl game.  Especially if it is Fresno State that gets the shaft, because of the way they dominated their nonconference slate.

If you have any questions or concerns please contact me at [email protected]      

2 replies on “A Look at Fresno and Boise”

Fresno and Boise i totally agree.  I am writing a story similar to yours.  I agree with all your points.  Great job.

Boise State all the way! I had Boise State to run the table since before the season (and USC).

FSU has now lost so I am still alive…

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