Fourth and inches … (game week of Nov 7, 2009)

By Todd Erickson  |   Saturday, November 07, 2009  |  Comments( 10 )

College Football
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Boise State's PR campaign lands Yahoo sportswriter Dan Wetzel hook, line and sinker … In his most recent column, Wetzel mimics recent claims by Boise State athletic director Gene Bleymaier that “nobody” is willing to schedule Boise State in 2011. Really? Funny how neither Wetzel nor Bleymaier actually name any teams that won’t schedule the Broncos.

That’s because it’s a ploy to help the Broncos get into a BCS bowl game this year. Boise State was hoping their one-BCS-game-per-season formula would assure them of getting into the big money game this year but TCU is on track to secure the coveted automatic invite with a much more difficult non-conference and conference schedule.

BSU is facing the cold, hard fact that their formula won’t work when other non-BCS teams like TCU, BYU, Utah, and Houston are willing to schedule 2 or 3 games against BCS opponents each year.

The PR firm the Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson hired recently to help promote Boise State’s BCS bowl game chances for this season have a strategy to influence pollsters and sportswriters, making them think other teams are scared to play Boise “anytime, anywhere.”

They hope the response from the human voters is going to be, “Really? Well, we’ll show them and make sure Boise ends up getting to play an Alabama or Texas in a BCS bowl. That’ll show ‘em if they don’t want to play them during the regular season.”

This is the PR tactic that duped Yahoo’s Wetzel. Why he didn't get the names of all the teams that have allegedly turned down the Broncos and list them in his column is mind boggling, to say the least.

So, let's take this bogus claim by Boise State, put it under the microscope, and see what we can find out:

1. The biggest red flag Boise State’s claim is bogus is they won’t name the teams who refuse to schedule them. If it was true, then they should have no problem naming the teams who won't play them. If you don’t think that Georgia wouldn’t welcome having the Broncos come back for a reprise of the 45-14 beat down the Bulldogs handed them back in 2005, think again.

2. There are other dangerous non-BCS teams that have been having a difficult time filling their non-conference schedules for 2011. For instance, BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe has said he was having the same difficulties filling spots for both 2010 and 2011 because the Cougars were unwilling to contract 2 away games for 1 home game. BYU wants a straight up 1 for 1 or 2 for 2 deal. Holmoe said the only team he’ll consider in a 2 for 1 deal, or an away game with no return home game would be against Notre Dame. Interestingly, both BYU and Utah have scheduled Boise State for a 4-year period between 2012 and 2015.

3. Several other teams that “major BCS programs” would be equally scared of scheduling have not had any difficulty filling their schedules. Just to name a few, consider Utah, which has Oregon, Pitt, Iowa State (and Boise State) on their 2011 non-conference schedule. Tulsa has Oklahoma and Oklahoma State booked. Fresno State has Nebraska, Colorado and Mississippi set. Air Force has Florida State and Wake Forest, and Troy is locked into Clemson and Arkansas.

4. This brings up another important point. Ask any athletic director about their non-conference scheduling philosophy and you can be sure they’ll point out that regional or instate opponents are high on the list, as well as areas that are important for recruiting. So, is it any wonder why Florida has Florida State, Florida Atlantic and Alabama-Birmingham on their 2011 non-conference schedule? Nebraska has Fresno State, Washington and Wyoming on their 2011 schedule because they recruit heavily in those states. Idaho is probably one of the least important states for recruiting among major national programs, so it’s easy to understand why Ohio State has Toledo, Akron and the Miami Hurricanes on their 2011 schedule, or USC has Minnesota, Syracuse and Notre Dame.

5. And finally, consider the fact that teams from BCS conferences already have more difficult schedules with their in-conference opponents, whereas Boise State has an incredibly weak conference schedule. When you are stuck in a league playing the likes of New Mexico State, Idaho, San Jose State, and Louisiana Tech every year, you’d better bolster your schedule with as many big boys as possible if you want to maintain media respect and a reasonable strength-of-schedule.

Boise State is the only non-BCS team that has not scheduled more than one BCS opponent per year on a consistent basis. In fact, the Broncos have only scheduled two BCS opponents in a season on four occasions, and they went 0-2 each of those seasons.

Conversely, BCS teams play 8 or 9 conference games each year against a solid line-up of well-established programs that can be tough in any given year. Sure, there are a couple easy games in every BCS conference schedule, but nothing like the gravy train Boise State gets with their WAC foes. There just isn’t a lot of motivation for a BCS team to fill up their schedule with a team from a state you don’t recruit in that will, arguably, give you a run for your money. It doesn’t make a lot of sense on their part.

Still, BCS teams aren’t shy about playing a tough non-conference game like BSU every now and then to complement their conference schedules. If they were, then why are they scheduling equally or more dangerous non-BCS opponents like TCU, Houston, Utah, BYU, and Fresno State?

By the way, why isn't Boise State talking to BYU about a game in 2011? The Broncos already have Utah scheduled and it turns out BYU is still looking for a couple non-conference games in 2011. You can be sure the Cougars would welcome inviting the Broncos to Lavell Edwards Stadium to fill one of those spots.

Heisman Trophy Top 5: No changes in my order from last week. Tim Tebow, Florida; Colt McCoy, Texas; Mark Ingram, Alabama; Jimmy Clausen, Notre Dame; and, Toby Gerhart, Stanford.

Conference Power Meter: 1. SEC. 2. Big XII. 3. Pac-10. 4. Big Ten 5. ACC 6. MWC. 7. Big East. 8. C-USA. 9. WAC. 10. Sun Belt.

College football time capsule … On November 15, 1890, Minnesota and Wisconsin squared off for the first time in what has become the most-played series in college football history. The Gophers beat the Badgers 63-0 in Minneapolis. The two teams have played for "Paul Bunyan's Axe" 119 times. (Courtesy of The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame).

This week’s crazy 8 picks…

No. 25 Brigham Young at Wyoming. Laramie has been a tough place to play and the Cowboys are much improved from last season. Just ask Texas, which struggled at Laramie and trailed at halftime before pulling away, or Utah, which barely got by the Pokes last week. Still, BYU is coming off a bye week and an embarrassing loss to TCU. Cougars roll in this one.
Northwestern at No. 4 Iowa. The Hawkeyes have lost at home to Northwestern the last two times they have played and 3 out of the last 4 games. A visit to Ohio State looms in the shadows next week. The perfect trap game for Iowa with a team that knows how to execute the trap. Wildcats pull an upset here.
No. 20 Oklahoma at Nebraska. Remember when this game used to be the highlight contest the day after Thanksgiving? Maybe it will become important again if the Sooners get relocated to the Big 12’s Northern Division in the future. For the time being, Oklahoma is still the better program and the better team this year.
No. 9 LSU at No. 3 Alabama. This is the best game of the week and the most difficult one to call. Have to give the edge to the home team in this one.
No. 15 Ohio State at No. 11 Penn State. The stadium will be rocking with the former top prep hero in the state (Terrelle Pryor) who rejected JoePa and the Nittany Lions for Ohio State. Penn State will prevail at home.
No. 7 Oregon at Stanford. It’s difficult to imagine anyone in the Pac-10 knocking off Oregon the way the Ducks have been playing lately. If it happens, I think it will be Arizona doing the job in Tucson in a couple weeks.
Wake Forest at No. 10 Georgia Tech. The Wramblin’ Wreck from Georgia Tech will keep on rolling toward the ACC title game when the Demon Deacons come to Atlanta this weekend.
Navy at No. 19 Notre Dame. The Midshipmen don’t have to worry about the decades long hex against the Fighting Irish anymore, but they do have to consider that Michael Floyd is back in the lineup. Coupled with Golden Tate and QB Jimmy Clausen, Notre Dame will continue their march toward BCS qualification with a close win.

Last week: 6-2 Season: 35-27
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About Todd Erickson

Todd Erickson is a member of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and pens the RealFootball365 Top 25 college football power rankings and "Fourth and inches..." weekly columns from August thru January. He is currently working on the second edition of Road to the Rose Bowl ...
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CommentsComments: 10  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
EliteBlue&Orange;		11:56 PM
11/07/2009
Just signed up to say you know jack shit about college football. People are sick of people like you. Thinking you know everything ...
No.2
EliteBlue&Orange;		12:10 AM
11/08/2009
BSU Can beat any team at any stadium, and yes Bsu can lose to top teams to but more likely they would win. You tell me why teams ...
No.3
Big Tex		01:26 PM
11/08/2009
How interesting that you choose to mention Ohio State paying San Jose to play them. Isn't San Jose on Boise's schedule. Your ...
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