Boise State Football Takes Step Back
Broncos Drop in Poll Despite Victory
But it could be a bad sign – a very bad sign – for the Broncos and their quest for a Bowl Championship Series bowl berth.
Boise State fell from fifth to sixth in the coaches poll after defeating UC Davis 34-16 on Saturday, Oct. 3, and there was a reason for that.
UC Davis is an NCAA Football Championship Subdivision team. In other words, they're Division I-AA, a step below Boise State and the larger schools in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Plus, UC Davis (1-3) is not even a powerhouse at the FCS level. Entering the game, the Aggies appeared to be cannon fodder, willing to play on the blue turf and take a beating simply for a nice paycheck.
And yet Boise State (5-0) had trouble putting the Aggies away. The margin was 11 points early in the fourth quarter, and the Broncos made the score look a little more convincing by tacking on a touchdown in the final minute.
The Aggies' determined performance might've made Boise State coach Chris Petersen proud to be a UC Davis graduate. But it didn't help the Broncos' BCS aspirations.
The scary thing for the Broncos wasn't that they had an off night, or even that they dropped a spot in the rankings. The worst sign was that the team that moved ahead of them wasn't t terribly impressive, either.
Hokies Move Up After Lackluster Victory
Virginia Tech jumped past Boise, moving up a spot to No. 5 after a 34-26 triumph at Duke. The Hokies led just 20-16 early in the fourth quarter and needed a pair of touchdowns in the final 10 minutes to fend off the Blue Devils.
Duke is obviously a far more prestigious opponent than UC Davis, and the Blue Devils (2-3) were on their home field. Yet they still weren't supposed to give Virginia Tech much trouble. They were 16-point underdogs.
But after winning by only eight points, the Hokies moved up. And the Broncos, who won by 18, moved down. That has to be considered at least a little peculiar – even if the 18-point win was over an ordinary FCS team.
Win Over UC Davis Falls in 'Close Call' Category
Good arguments can be made that Virginia Tech is in fact a better team than Boise State. But if that's the case, shouldn't the Hokies have been ranked ahead of the Broncos to begin with? They were basically running in place with their victory over Duke. How did they move up?
Maybe it was a case of some voters trying to correct what they considered past mistakes – that Virginia Tech should have been ahead of Boise before.
But more likely, it was an indication that Boise cannot have close calls without falling back in the rankings. And it was a message that 18-point wins over FCS schools count as close calls – perhaps the same as three-point wins over Utah State or San Jose State.
Broncos Must Do More Than Just Win
Boise State, a member of the Western Athletic Conference, has few threatening opponents left on its schedule. And even five games through the season, it can be said that a perfect regular season is a very realistic goal.
But as the Broncos have discovered before, going undefeated doesn't mean they'll gain a BCS bowl berth. They have to rate high in the BCS standings, which will be posted starting Oct. 18.
The coaches poll is one of the factors that determine BCS rankings, so every position is important for Boise State. The Broncos' schedule might make it easier for them to go undefeated, but it also gives them fewer opportunities to move up if teams ahead of them don't lose.
The drop in the rankings also indicates that Boise has to win impressively, not just win. Close games might not kill the Broncos, but they could cause them to fall behind teams that are "running in place." And dropping a couple more spots could mean the end of their BCS dreams.
Boise State Still 5th in Harris Poll
Boise State also fell from fifth to sixth in the AP poll, but those rankings don't figure into the BCS standings. The good news for the Broncos is that they are still fifth in the Harris Interactive Poll, which does factor into the BCS equation.
In any case, Boise State has one of its tougher matchups coming up. The Broncos, who are idle this weekend, play at Tulsa in a non-conference game on Wednesday, Oct. 14.
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