BSU as a Model

[hskrfan4life]

Would Boise State beat NU? Let's say, in the week 3 slot instead of Washington, played on a neutral field?

SCREW THE NEUTRAL FIELD! Have Boise State play an elite team at their place. That's when I will give them respect. Good job for them beating Oregon on their smurf turf, oh and good job beating V-Tech at a Neutral field

[Enhance]

Yes and no. Boise State has beaten the top teams when they've played them, but they have a huge advantage in that they play such a weak schedule for 90% of their games that they are never battle-weary. Boise's SOS over the past decade averages somewhere in the 90s (of 120 teams). Their strongest SOS in the past decade was something like 74th in the nation (I ran the numbers last year, but can't dig them up right now). In contrast, Nebraska's most embarrassingly weak SOS in the past decade was 54th in the nation, meaning our weakest SOS was 20 spots higher than their toughest.

 

Bottom line is this - put Boise St. in the Big 12 over the past decade and they don't have nearly the same success. They'll get worn down in an AQ conference through sheer attrition. It's easy to stay healthy when you're playing the equivalent of Div II schools every week. They'll have to go through a conference championship game, adding another layer of difficulty to the mix, and they'll have to scheme against real defenses/offenses every week. No matter how good a staff, when you're challenged every week, the odds of missing something or failing to prepare properly for something goes up quite a bit.

 

I give full props to Boise State for winning the games they should win. But they have a HUGE advantage over AQ schools right now, regardless of the fact that they're very good.

Exactly. Great post.

 

I have been saying something similar to this all along. Imagine if Ohio State played Virginia Tech last night and then played a WAC schedule like Boise. That would be a ridiculous situation, yet it is exactly what people are defending Boise for.

 

They're a 3-4 loss SEC team and a 2-3 loss Big 12 (average) if they had been in either of those conferences over the last decade.

 

I would take a one loss Oklahoma/Texas team to the BCS title game LONG BEFORE I took an undefeated Boise State squad. They deserve a BCS bowl game but until they change conferences and play the best of the best, then they do not deserve a title shot.

[killer cacti]

Would Boise State beat NU? Let's say, in the week 3 slot instead of Washington, played on a neutral field?

SCREW THE NEUTRAL FIELD! Have Boise State play an elite team at their place. That's when I will give them respect. Good job for them beating Oregon on their smurf turf, oh and good job beating V-Tech at a Neutral field

Hate to say it, but that was anything but neutral. <300 miles from VT, >2500 miles from BSU...

[robsker]

Would Boise State beat NU? Let's say, in the week 3 slot instead of Washington, played on a neutral field?

SCREW THE NEUTRAL FIELD! Have Boise State play an elite team at their place. That's when I will give them respect. Good job for them beating Oregon on their smurf turf, oh and good job beating V-Tech at a Neutral field

 

 

Well.... BSU is 4-1 v. AP TOP TEN TEAMS since 2000 and all were on the road/neutral sites, none on the Smurf Field. So... they deserve respect. They have the most wins since 2000. The best winning percentage since 2000. Two BCS wins.

 

They deserve respect.

 

And... if we played next week on a neutral field BSU would be favored --- likely by 3-5 pts.

 

Could NU beat them? Sure. Could BSU beat us? Yep. I hate to admit it but.... if we played them 10 times... I'd guess that BSU would beat us more often than we beat them --- probably not by much... but still...

[tmfr15]

Being a Husker fan and a Bo fan, I say that we would win the game. Bo makes fantastic game plans. I don't think he would be suckered by BSU. I don't think VT was suckered either. I think they made too many mistakes and they gave Boise a shot to beat them at the end and paid the price. VT should have run the ball more late in the game to run that clock out. Two plays on that last drive stand out...in one their RB ran out of bounds. In the other, a third down call, they threw an incompletion. With good clock management, that's about 1:20 right there.

[Enhance]

BSU wins against teams they should not be able to beat (VTech as an example) by simply being sensationally prepared, calm, focused and by playing w/o ever holding back.

There's one key. When you have more than one tough game on your schedule, and a few others you could definitely lose, you can't empty your playbook for one game. BSU is very good, better than I think most give them credit for, but they have a huge advantage in having just a couple games they really have to make sure they are up for and focused on. I think they do hold back on many of their conference games, it's just that they can without consequence, much like we can vs. WKU and SDSU.

 

 

Excellent points. I agree.

 

My point in the post is not that BSU be held up as a program so much... for their success is somewhat situational. Rather it is to say that if BSU can beat Oklahoma and VTech --- teams that, from the sheer talent perspective, they have no right being even competitive against --- well then NU can beat Texas, Oklahoma or even Alabama if given the chance --- what it takes is the same kind of tenacity, focus and confidence that BSU has displayed when they play against those "superior" to themselves.

Don't forget a really weak schedule.

[Vizsla1]

Yes, Boise State by 9.. we may get them in a BCS game. Hard to argue against keeping Boise out of the NT game.

[jsneb83]

Have them play a full season in the Big 12 and then face them at the end of the year and we beat them. They would be physically and mentally drained from competing week in and week out, except maybe against Kansas.

[robsker]

BSU wins against teams they should not be able to beat (VTech as an example) by simply being sensationally prepared, calm, focused and by playing w/o ever holding back.

There's one key. When you have more than one tough game on your schedule, and a few others you could definitely lose, you can't empty your playbook for one game. BSU is very good, better than I think most give them credit for, but they have a huge advantage in having just a couple games they really have to make sure they are up for and focused on. I think they do hold back on many of their conference games, it's just that they can without consequence, much like we can vs. WKU and SDSU.

 

 

Excellent points. I agree.

 

My point in the post is not that BSU be held up as a program so much... for their success is somewhat situational. Rather it is to say that if BSU can beat Oklahoma and VTech --- teams that, from the sheer talent perspective, they have no right being even competitive against --- well then NU can beat Texas, Oklahoma or even Alabama if given the chance --- what it takes is the same kind of tenacity, focus and confidence that BSU has displayed when they play against those "superior" to themselves.

Don't forget a really weak schedule.

 

 

A weak schedule may explain why BSU has the most wins in the NCAA since 2000 --- and it may explain the best winning percentage since 2000 --- BUT... does it really logically explain away the reality that BSU is 4-1 v. AP TOP TEN TEAMS since 2000 and all were on the road/neutral sites, none on the Smurf Field? That .800 winning percentage against top 10 teams is also the nations best.

 

You my friend are simply, it would seem, unwilling to give props were props are due. Why? I have no idea. But BSU has earned its stripes and everyone's respect. They have a great program. I love NU and love our program --- but am willing to concede that the BSU program is outstanding and worthy of respect.

[VA Husker Fan]

Would Boise State beat NU? Let's say, in the week 3 slot instead of Washington, played on a neutral field?

SCREW THE NEUTRAL FIELD! Have Boise State play an elite team at their place. That's when I will give them respect. Good job for them beating Oregon on their smurf turf, oh and good job beating V-Tech at a Neutral field

What's the elite last team we've beaten at their place? Looks to me like you'd have to go back to Washington in 1997.

[NUance]

Call me a homer, but I think NU beats Boise State. The Va Tech team Boise beat last night is not the same team that squeeked by us last year. It wouldn’t surprise me a bit to see the Hokies go 6-5 in their remaining games. As for NU, sure we looked sloppy against WKU. But this was a warm up game. Pelini is trying to improve, not impress. Bo was running guys in and out like crazy, getting PT for the up and comers. I’ll guarantee you we will look sharper next week, and more so by week 3. NU by 7.

[NUance]

Imagine if Ohio State played against VaTech last night and then played an entire WAC schedule. How pissed would everybody be when Ohio State would (inevitably) be undefeated every year? That's the exact same scenario people are defending Boise for.

GREAT point! But no one ever looks at it that way.

[trouble]

Meh. Anybody who says last nights game was played at a neutral field is either unintelligent, or really sucks at geography.

 

 

Thats like saying the B12 Championship game was at a neutral field last year.

 

 

BSU is a good team, and would most likely beaten NU last year, and this year.

[Enhance]

A weak schedule may explain why BSU has the most wins in the NCAA since 2000 --- and it may explain the best winning percentage since 2000 --- BUT... does it really logically explain away the reality that BSU is 4-1 v. AP TOP TEN TEAMS since 2000 and all were on the road/neutral sites, none on the Smurf Field? That .800 winning percentage against top 10 teams is also the nations best.

 

You my friend are simply, it would seem, unwilling to give props were props are due. Why? I have no idea. But BSU has earned its stripes and everyone's respect. They have a great program. I love NU and love our program --- but am willing to concede that the BSU program is outstanding and worthy of respect.

First and foremost, I like Boise State. So let's get that out of the way first.

 

Second, consider this situation. Let's say it was Ohio State that played Virginia Tech last night and won. They then went on to play a WAC schedule and got an invite to the BCS title game over a one loss Nebraska team that won the Big 12 championship game. Is that fair to you?

 

The point of the whole scenario is this: they play a weak schedule and thus are mentally and physically prepared for the one/two good teams they play every year. If you put them in the SEC or Big 12 and forced them compete and scheme against the best minds in the business, they would tire out just like everybody else. You put them in the SEC or Big 12 over the last decade, they plain and simply do not win as many games as they have. They're a good program, but they play in a conference barely worthy of a division one ranking. Throw a team like Missouri in for Boise State in the WAC and they probably go 49-4 under a coach too.

[NUance]

Would Boise State beat NU? Let's say, in the week 3 slot instead of Washington, played on a neutral field?

SCREW THE NEUTRAL FIELD! Have Boise State play an elite team at their place. That's when I will give them respect. Good job for them beating Oregon on their smurf turf, oh and good job beating V-Tech at a Neutral field

Hate to say it, but that was anything but neutral. <300 miles from VT, >2500 miles from BSU...

Not exactly a neutral field. 90% of the fans were Hokies. But FedEx field outside of Washington D.C. is not even close to the hostile environment that Blacksburg is. Not. Even. Close.