We are one day into the month of November, and you know what that means: Time to make bowl predictions that will look completely moronic by December!
To hedge my bets about looking moronic, I have listed every single Boise State bowl possibility I could think of to help get you mentally prepared for where the Broncos might end up. From the Rose Bowl to the Human Bowl, it's all covered after the jump. And feel free to let me know in the poll and in the comments which team you think would give the Broncos the best game.
If the season ended today ...
Thank goodness the season doesn't end today.
National championship game
Oregon vs. Auburn
Rose Bowl
Wisconsin vs. TCU
As established this offseason, the Rose Bowl is required to take the top non-BCS team should either the Big Ten or Pac-10 champion make it to the national title game. As of right now, Oregon is in the title game and TCU is the top-ranked non-BCS.
In the Big Ten, there is a four-way tie at the top with Michigan State, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Ohio State all with one conference loss apiece. Iowa still plays Ohio State later this month, so that will knock at least one team out of this four-way tie. The tiebreaker is a little convoluted, but I think I made sense of it: Wisconsin gets the edge today because it defeated two of the remaining tied teams (Ohio State and Iowa). If Ohio State beats the Hawkeyes later this month, there will be a three-way tie, each team will have defeated one of the other teams, and provided they all finish with the same overall record, the tiebreaker is the BCS standings. Wisconsin currently leads the BCS standings
Possibilities for an undefeated Boise State
Let's say that the Broncos finish the year undefeated because I'm not really prepared to imagine a world where that doesn't happen (not for a few more paragraphs at least). Boise State would likely be in the Top Five in the BCS rankings and almost certainly be BCS-bound. If Boise State jumps TCU in the standings and Oregon remains No. 1 or No. 2, the Broncos would be guaranteed a spot in the Rose Bowl. Their matchup in the Rose would look like one of these:
Rose Bowl
Boise State vs. Wisconsin
Boise State vs. Ohio State
Boise State vs. Michigan State
Boise State vs. Iowa
Should Oregon lose at some point or if TCU stays ahead of the Broncos in the BCS, Boise State would fall into the at-large pool and be snatched up by one of the remaining BCS bowls.
The selection order for the rest of the BCS bowls this season goes Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, Fiesta Bowl.
As such, you could see ...
Sugar Bowl (with an SEC tie-in)
Boise State vs. Alabama
Boise State vs. South Carolina
Boise State vs. Auburn
Orange Bowl (with an ACC tie-in)
Boise State vs. Florida State
Boise State vs. NC State
Boise State vs. Maryland
Fiesta Bowl (with a Big XII tie-in)
Boise State vs. Nebraska
Boise State vs. Oklahoma
Boise State vs. Baylor
Boise State vs. Oklahoma State
Boise State vs. Missouri
And the best option of them all: Boise State makes the national championship game with an Oregon or Auburn loss and divine intervention from a loving God. Should that happen, Boise State's likely national title competition would be:
National championship game
Boise State vs. Oregon
Boise State vs. Auburn
Boise State vs. Alabama
Possibilities for a one-loss Boise State
Perish the thought! But still, the Broncos could lose one of their remaining five games, especially if Humanitarian Bowl freelance witch doctors have anything to say about it. If that happens, the Broncos may fall into one of the WAC's contracted bowl slots.
- Humanitarian Bowl
- New Mexico Bowl
- Poinsettia Bowl
- Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl
Barf!
Hawaii has already accepted an invite to the Hawaii Bowl, so that's done. And chances are probably 70 to 80 percent that the Humanitarian Bowl would make a deal with the devil to make sure the Broncos stayed home this bowl season if at all possible.
The Humanitarian Bowl gets the WAC's No. 1 or No. 2 team and the MAC's No. 3 team. As such, you could see the Broncos' matchup in this one looking like this ...
Humanitarian Bowl
Boise State vs. Northern Illinois
Boise State vs. Ohio
Boise State vs. Temple
Boise State vs. Miami (OH)
There is a fifth team at the top of the MAC standings, but that team is Toledo, and I don't think anyone wants to see that again.
The Human Bowl might be appeased (and set Boise State free) if Idaho gets bowl eligible again, which is iffy at this point. The Vandals have to win three of five, including a win over either Nevada, Boise State, or Fresno.
The Poinsettia Bowl takes the Mountain West's No. 2 team versus either Navy or a WAC team. Navy only needs one more win in its four games to become bowl eligible, so this one's all but over for the WAC. Still, you could see ...
Poinsettia Bowl
Boise State vs. Utah
Boise State vs. TCU
The Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl takes the Pac-10's No. 6 team. The Pac-10 will be lucky to get to six bowl eligible teams, and if they do, it is likely to be ...
Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl
Boise State vs. Cal
Boise State vs. Arizona State
The New Mexico Bowl takes the Mountain West's No. 4 or No. 5 team. Last year's New Mexico Bowl pitted Fresno State against Wyoming, so yes, I would be physically sick to my stomach if the Broncos fell this far. You could see ...
New Mexico Bowl
Boise State vs. San Diego State
Boise State vs. Air Force
Boise State vs. BYU
And then, of course, there is the always ethereal at-large bowl that no one sees coming. Karl Benson worked his Karl Benson magic a couple years back to get the Broncos into a Poinsettia Bowl game against TCU, and while I doubt he's feeling like doing BSU any favors this year, you never know.
Possibilities for a two-loss Boise State
Human Bowl. Of course, it isn't likely to matter because if Boise State loses two games this season, we will obviously be in the middle of a zombie armageddon and not care too much about bowl pairings.
Which team would give Boise State the toughest time?
This is a rather exhaustive list of bowl possibilities and I'm sure I even left out several that could happen. Assuming this is it, which matchup do you think would be the toughest for the Broncos? Which game would be the best? Share your thoughts in the comments and vote in the poll.