If you think that Boise State, a WAC team with a blah schedule playing in the shadow of bigger, badder, BCS squads, has no shot at winning the 2010 NCAA national championship, then you, sir, are mistaken. But just barely.
Instead of no shot, the Vegas oddsmakers are giving the Broncos a 100-to-1 shot at coming home with the BCS trophy in January. In the immortal words of Lloyd Christmas, "So you're telling me there's a chance!"
It's a testament to the Broncos' consistency that they would even be considered for national championship contention. On the oddsmakers' website (which I totally do not have bookmarked in my browser), the Broncos are one of only two non-BCS teams under consideration. Utah is the other, with 125:1 odds. Idaho's odds are "off," until someone can confirm that they actually compete at a Division I-A level.
With the Broncos going off at such long odds, a gambling man might sense the opportunity to make some big bucks. After all, according to my personal analysis, the 2009 Boise State football team has the potential to be the greatest football team in the history of football teams since Boise State's 2006 team.
Throw in a compulsive desire to risk losing tons of money, a complete and total lack of reality, and not having a wife who controls the flow of money in the family, and I see no reason why someone wouldn't start betting the house on Boise State's NC chances.
But for the rest of us, we might want to play this one cool. Considering that no non-BCS team has ever had the chance to even play for a national championship, Boise State's odds of ending the 2009-2010 season on top might as well be a million-to-one.
But still, I'm telling you there's a chance.