APNorthern Illinois’ double overtime win over Kent State Friday will make things interesting Sunday night when the final BCS standings are revealed. The Huskies, now looking for a new coach, would need to jump up five spots to No. 16 in the BCS to receive an at-large spot in the Orange Bowl.*
Moving up those five spots would mean jumping Boise State in the process, but the No. 25 Broncos did their own BCS work on Saturday with a 27-21 win over Nevada. Boise State is now locked in a three-way tie atop the Mountain West with Fresno State and San Diego State. All three teams hold a 1-1 record against the other two.
The Broncos are ranked No. 20 in the BCS standings, meaning they would have to jump four spots (instead of NIU’s five) to receive a BCS berth. Both BSU and NIU got help with losses by UCLA and Kent State (No. 16 and No. 17 in the BCS, respectively), and losses by No. 18 Texas against Kansas State and No. 13 Florida State against Georgia Tech would help even more.
That’s a lot to ask, of course. The Broncos’ best win is against 9-3 Fresno State and NIU’s most impressive victory came on Friday against the Golden Flashes. That alone might give the Huskies enough to jump Boise State in the latest BCS rankings since KSU was ranked. But is it enough to get into the top 16? Voting SIDs coaches are hard to predict. It’s a small chance for both teams, and NIU might have the better odds, but Boise isn’t out of the conversation just yet. At least not officially.
(*Louisville, the Big East champion, will not be ranked above either NIU or BSU, so a non-AQ team only needs to finish in the BCS top 16)
They’ll probably play in the MAACO Bowl again. They’ve played in that bowl the last two years.
In Coach Ditka voice – STOP IT ! None of the Kent States, NIU, Boise, etc belong in the conversation this year.
Even Boise fans dont think they belong in the BCS this year. Would like to see NIU sneak in there but its unlikely.
I wonder if NIU losing their coach will hurt their chances of getting to the top 16? If thats the case I think Boise now have a legit chance… They will probably be a top 13 team in the coaches poll and will get top 16 in harris…
Better Boise than an NIU or any of the other non-q bunch, including the Big LEast.
Boise in the BCS this year would be an absolute disgrace. They lost to an average Michigan State and San Diego freakin State. Not to mention several of their other games have been way to close for a supposed BCS team against mediocre MWC teams.
They’ve barely deserved to go as an undefeated team let alone with two losses.
Forget it. They’re not better than UCLA. UCLA should not drop from #16 after they way they played against Stanford.
Nonetheless if Nebraska loses tonight its gonna be interesting to see if any of them gets to the top 16… But let me tell you, NIU will get crushed in a BCS game, even more so without their coach… Boise on the other hand its always well prepared for the big game… Even in loses, they give the fans a heart-attack type of game!!!
@jintzforever
As opposed to Louisville?
The truth is if Wisconsin continues to manhandle Nebraska the Big Ten doesn’t deserve to have a BCS game either. Boise St would be at least as interesting vs. Stanford than a 5 loss Wisconsin.
If kellen Moore was still there, more people would probably give this team the benefit of the doubt and they’d have a chance to make the jump. It sucks that this would be the year…
Nebraska will plummet. If K-State wins, Boise or NIU will be going to the BCS.
Obviously, I’m an NIU fan. I would love to see them in a BCS game. But as a college football fan, I’d love to see better matchups in BCS Bowls.
Get rid of AQs, and this would never be an issue. Louisville is not deserving of a BCS Bowl. A Big Ten team is not deserving of a BCS Bowl
Hate the system, not the teams.. NIU is a very good team and a great program. Can they be competitive with FSU? Probably only for a half.
It’s going to come down to the human polls. Nebraska will drop, a lot, in the human polls, but will still rank higher than Boise State and Northern Illinois in the computer rankings–their victories over Nevada and Kent State won’t move the computer needle much (#30 and #23 respectively). UCLA won’t drop despite losing. Michigan likely gains in the human polls, and won’t drop in the computers–sometimes it’s good to be idle. We will see tomorrow, but I think in the end the human polls will not change enough to knock OU out in favor of either Boise State or NIU. My prediction for the BCS standings tomorrow:
15) UCLA
16) Michigan
17) Nebraska (remember the computers do not factor margin of win)
18) NIU
19) Boise State
Boise State will once again go to the jiffy lube bowl, or whatever and like it!
Sincerely,
Jim Delaney
Bill Hancock
E. Gordon Gee
Oklahoma, Georgia, Oregon and every other bcs school that has gotten their ass kicked by them.