How many teams would you say the Broncos will play this season that are ranked among the worst 25 teams in all of Division I-A football? One or two (with Idaho and NMSU on the schedule, that's pretty much a given)? Three at the most?
No wonder everyone and their mother thinks that Boise State has an easy schedule.
The prediction of five cupcakes comes from Rivals' countdown of every single team in the country. Those five include:
- No. 119 Idaho
- No. 115 New Mexico State
- No. 113 Miami (Ohio)
- No. 109 Utah State
- No. 99 Hawaii
Just below this fivesome sits San Jose State at No. 93. And when you factor in BSU's October 10 opponent, UC Davis, which plies its trade in the presumably-worse-than-Idaho Football Championship Subdivision, pushovers account for seven of the Broncos' 13 games this season.
I'd think the Broncos' schedule was easy, too, if I spent all offseason reading lists like these.
(Note: We members of Bronco Nation know that the schedule will not be easy and that rankings like these mean nothing once football starts being played in September. Utah State should not be No.-109-bad. Hawaii was WAC runner-up last year, for goodness sake. I wish I had something nice to say about Miami (Ohio) but I don't really know anything about them. Point being that judging a team's schedule on a perceived strength of an opponent who has yet to take the field makes no sense. Nevertheless, it hurts our feelings. Also, I'm not mad at Rivals; I'm just mad at the situation. In fact, I'll be gladly pointing out Boise State's high ranking in their countdown sometime in, oh, about mid-August.)