Let’s just forget the whole Boise State-TCU national championship thing for a minute. With Auburn locking up a 49-31 victory over Georgia, the Tigers are still clearly in the driver’s seat on the way to Glendale and, as of now, there’s nothing TCU or Boise can do about their BCS rankings.
But one of them can still get an at-large bid for a BCS bowl. Provided TCU and Boise can finish undefeated, the question will then be which one. The answer is easy, but it’s not the one people want to hear.
With a 26-10 win over North Carolina, Virginia Tech is firmly in control of their own destiny in the ACC Coastal and holds the best record in the conference. If Tech goes on and wins the ACC like they look like they’re going to, Boise State will have defeated a BCS conference champion (for the second year in a row, mind you).
That’s something TCU just can’t say this year.
At the time, the Horned Frogs’ 47-7 win over then No. 5 Utah was impressive. In a many ways, it still is today. But when Utah went into South Bend earlier and walked right back out on the wrong end of a 28-3 whoopin’ at the hands of a .500 Notre Dame, that 47-7 victory suddenly looked a little less meaningful.
Meanwhile, Virginia Tech continues to roll and so does Boise State.
Strength of schedule is certainly a debatable topic, but the road goes both ways. Utah, TCU’s best win this season, is not a popular team by the BCS computers’ standards. At the time of their top-10 ranking, Utah actually averaged a No. 9 ranking by the computers. The human eyes will also tell you that for two straight weeks, Utah has looked like they don’t belong in the top-25. Come tomorrow, they probably won’t be.
Another thing to consider is Oregon State, who lost to both Boise and TCU. However, it was the Broncos who beat *snicker* the Beavers by a larger margin. That is, of course, if you want to compare apples to apples.
The bottom line is that if you look at the highest quality win for TCU and Boise State, the Broncos win that battle hands down. The Mountain West is probably -- well, okay it is -- significantly stronger than the WAC, but it is nevertheless a non-AQ conference. Therefore, looking at what each team has done out of conference should count just as much, if not more, than what has been done in conference. That’s where the proving grounds are.
And Boise State has proved it on the field.