After watching many individuals speak incorrectly on the merits of Boise State (using terms that they have difficulty explaining such as “Body of Work” and “Eye Test”), I couldn’t help but be moved to post the following quiz, which hopefully will clear up some misconceptions about the Broncos program.  In an attempt to take out personal bias, I have depended on the use of computers to illustrate my points.  Jeff Sagarin’s current ratings were used, as he seems to be one of the more trusted computer rankings.  Also, for the sake of this quiz, I have limited my answers to those teams that currently make up the Top 10 teams in the BCS rankings.  Please enjoy.

1.)  Which team has the more difficult Strength of Schedule (SOS) to date this year?

A.)  #2 Alabama

B.)  #4 Stanford

C.)  #5 Boise State

D.)  #7 Arkansas

E.)  #8 Oregon

F.)  #9 South Carolina

G.)  #10 Nebraska

Answer:  C. (#5 Boise State).  There’s a myth that Boise State plays an inferior schedule.  The truth is Boise State’s SOS is 31st in the country which is better than #2 Alabama (39), #4 Stanford (53), #7 Arkansas (61), #8 Oregon (45), #9 South Carolina (33), and #10 Nebraska (38).  Only #1 LSU (18), #3 Oklahoma State (6), and #6 Oklahoma (9) have a more difficult schedule.

2.)  Which team has the more difficult Out-of-Conference Schedule (OOC) this year?

A.)  #1 LSU

B.)  #2 Alabama

C.)  #3 Oklahoma State

D.)  #4 Stanford

E.)  #5 Boise State

F.)  #6 Oklahoma

G.)  #7 Arkansas

H.)  #8 Oregon

I.)  #9 South Carolina

J.)  #10 Nebraska

Answer:  E. (#5 Boise State).  There’s a myth that Boise State doesn’t play stiff enough competition since they are in the Mountain West Conference (MWC).  The truth is Boise State compensates for playing in the MWC by playing a very difficult OOC schedule.  The average ranking of OOC opponents is 45 which is better than every other Top 10 team - #1 LSU (78), #2 Alabama (89), #3 Oklahoma State (55), #4 Stanford (77), #6 Oklahoma (57), #7 Arkansas (132), #8 Oregon (76), #9 South Carolina (83), and #10 Nebraska (81).

3.)  Which team has played a more difficult 3-game stretch this year?

A.)  #1 LSU

B.)  #2 Alabama

C.)  #4 Stanford

D.)  #5 Boise State

E.)  #8 Oregon

F.)  #9 South Carolina

G.)  #10 Nebraska

Answer:  D. (#5 Boise State).  There’s a myth that Boise State doesn’t face difficult games back-to-back.  The truth is Boise State’s most difficult 3-game stretch has an opponent average ranking of 26, which is better than #1 LSU (37), #2 Alabama (32), #4 Stanford (47), #8 Oregon (42), #9 South Carolina (49), and #10 Nebraska (41).  Only #3 Oklahoma State (15), #6 Oklahoma (25), and #7 Arkansas (13) faced a more difficult 3-game stretch.

In fact, if you ask the same question for a 4-game stretch, Boise State’s average opponent ranking of 32 is higher than #1 LSU (54), #2 Alabama (46), #4 Stanford (67), #6 Oklahoma (40), #8 Oregon (63), #9 South Carolina (45), and #10 Nebraska (39).  Only #3 Oklahoma State (30) faced a more difficult 4-game stretch of games (#7 Arkansas also has a 32 rating).  

4.)  Which team has a greater point differential this year?

A.)  #3 Oklahoma State

B.)  #5 Boise State

C.)  #7 Arkansas

D.)  #8 Oregon

E.)  #9 South Carolina

F.)  #10 Nebraska

Answer:  B. (#5 Boise State).  There’s a myth that Boise State has not put teams away this year.  The truth is their point differential is +27 per game which is higher than #3 Oklahoma State (+23), #6 Oklahoma (+27), #7 Arkansas (+14), #8 Oregon (+26), #9 South Carolina (+13), and #10 Nebraska (+13).  Only #1 LSU (+28), #2 Alabama (+33), and #4 Stanford (+33) have a better differential (#6 Oklahoma also has a +27).

In fact, I believe you will find that Boise State’s point differential would be even greater if they did not limit the playing time of their starters compared with these other programs.  For example, compare how Andrew Luck (Stanford QB) or Landry Jones (Oklahoma QB) play deep into games that are already decided compared to Kellen Moore (Boise State QB).

SIDEBAR – I have limited my discussion to this year only.  However, if one wants to look at the past, I offer these bonus questions.

BONUS QUESTIONS:

1.)  Which team has more BCS bowl game wins than Boise State since the 2006 season?

A.)  Alabama

B.)  Oklahoma State

C.)  Stanford

D.)  Oklahoma

E.)  Arkansas

F.)  Oregon

G.)  South Carolina

H.)  Nebraska

I.)  None of the above

Answer:  I. (None of the above).  Boise State has won 2 BCS Bowl games (2009 Fiesta Bowl and 2006 Fiesta Bowl) since the 2006 season.  Alabama (2009 National Championship), Stanford (2010 Orange Bowl), Oklahoma (2010 Fiesta Bowl) have all won 1 BCS Bowl game since the 2006 season.  Oklahoma State, Arkansas, Oregon, South Carolina, and Nebraska have not won a BCS Bowl game in the last 5 years.  Only LSU can match Boise State’s 2 BCS Bowl game wins (2007 National Championship and 2006 Sugar Bowl).

2.) Which team has a better record than Boise State only considering its last 11 games against current BCS teams in Automatic Qualifying (AQ) conferences)?

A.)  Alabama

B.)  Arkansas

C.)  Oregon

D.)  South Carolina

E.)  Nebraska

F.)  None of the above

Answer:  F. (None of the above).  Boise State is 9-2 over their last 11 games against AQ schools (including TCU who is now part of the Big 12).  Alabama, Arkansas and Oregon are all 9-2 as well.  South Carolina and Nebraska are 7-4.  Only Stanford (11-0), LSU (10-1), Oklahoma State (10-1), and Oklahoma (10-1) have a better record against their last 11 AQ school games.

Nine of those 11 opponents were bowl teams, and what’s even more impressive is that only 3 of those 11 games were played in Boise (see below):

   - 2010 – beat Georgia at a neutral site (if you can call Atlanta neutral) – Georgia is currently a contender for SEC East Title

   - 2010 – beat Utah at a neutral site - Las Vegas Bowl game

   - 2010 – beat Oregon State at home

   - 2010 – beat Virginia Tech at a neutral site (if you can call Washington, D.C. neutral) – Virginia Tech went on to play in the Orange Bowl that year

   - 2009 – beat TCU at a neutral site – Fiesta Bowl game

   - 2009 – beat Oregon at home – Oregon went on to play in the Rose Bowl that year

   - 2008 – lost to TCU at a neutral site - Poinsettia Bowl game

   - 2008 – beat Oregon on the road - Oregon went to win in the Holiday Bowl that year

   - 2007 – lost to Washington on the road

   - 2006 – beat Oklahoma at a neutral site - Fiesta Bowl game

   - 2006 – beat Oregon State at home – Oregon State went on to win in the Sun Bowl that year

Summary:

It is my belief that many dismiss Boise State because they don’t play in one of the “major conferences.”  I also believe that the current rankings put an inordinate amount of weight on the AQ conferences, as well as those storied programs that may no longer be elite programs.

Further, I realize there are a lot of great teams out there and a lot of football left to be played in this football season.  I only hope that this quiz has shown that Boise State belongs in the conversation, and should be given serious consideration for the National Championship game (should they remain unbeaten at year’s end).  I believe too many individuals summarily dismiss Boise State without taking the time to examine them closer.  And that’s a shame.