I submitted this on the WAC board on the Scout.com forums and want y'alls 2 Abraham Lincolns on this. (Edited to appropriately apply more to this website. Also added additional thoughts.)
So...BSU's moved up to #8 in both polls (and yes...I know the AP poll doesn't mean jack...but it's the perception it gives that matters) and it's still VERY early in the season. Since it's so early, it's not entirely out of the realm of possiblity that BSU COULD (key word) make the NC game. Obviously the one thing hurting us right now is SOS. The only game I can see that's left on our schedule that could give us any problems is the Tulsa game. (Of course I could be wrong on this since I didn't foresee Fresno being as close a game as it was. LOL) If BSU were to make the NC game, imagine the exposure it would give the WAC. Would that translate into better recruits for the WAC schools? Perhaps, but I don't think it would help THAT much. But who knows. It would help out $$$ wise, that's for sure.
For BSU to have a remotely realistic chance to make the NC game we have to win out...convincingly. Convincingly. Who's definition of convincingly is correct? Would winning out by at least 2 TD's a game warrant a trip to the NC game? I doubt it. That being said, I really think that the remaining games would have to be won by blow-outs. Hell, I think BSU would have even RUTS the teams left on the schedule. How would you, feel about BSU RUTS against other WAC teams if it meant BSU getting in the NC game, getting wide exposure for the WAC and throwing the whole BCS establishment into chaos? If this were the year to give the BCS conglomerate a big ol' middle finger, it'd be this year. I'm not a big fan of RUTS on a team, but I really think that's what it's gonna take. Another thing that would have to happen for BSU to get a sniff at the NC game would be the higher ranked teams losing. Now this isn't outside the realm of possibility. Florida didn't look all that godly against lowly Tennessee. I can see Alabama losing to South Carolina or Georgia. LSU will (no maybe here) lose. As will Mississippi. I'm not totally sold on those teams and I could see both those teams losing to unranked teams. I don't know that Penn St. will lose, at least not in the conference they're in although Ohio St. has the best chance of knocking them off. I think Cal will drop at least one against USC and, hopefully...a BIG hopefully, Oregon. Texas feesibly could lose to Oklahoma. I know that's a long stretch of the imagination for all that to happen in one year, but I honestly think it's still possible. IF it happens, would those losses be enough to catapult BSU to the NC game? As it stands, I don't see BSU going any higher than 6th in the polls (AP and Coaches) and no higher than 5th in the BCS.
Thoughts?