Competition not enough to lift Boise State

Sorry, Boise State.

It’s nothing personable, believe me. You won’t find juvenile territorial or cultural shots coming from this spot.

I have nothing against the blue field. Frankly, I like that somebody is a little different, and a blue field is definitely different.

It sort of matches opponents’ moods when they leave there, yes? Paint their locker rooms green, and you’d have a nice “sad and jealous” thing going.

And between the city and the state — neither of which I’ve visited — it’s hard to complain about a lack of beauty and natural resources.

I have nothing against the program.

Chris Petersen inspires man-crushes. Anybody who watched any part of the Oklahoma game gets chills and may start yelling at the TV when the final few minutes are shown, from the plays to the proposal. It’s a superb game of football played in the city of trees.

And as a normal human, I love the underdog. Nothing against Maryland, which is certainly closer to David than Goliath, but it was sad that Navy couldn’t pull it off on Monday.

Make no mistake, Boise State’s win over Virginia Tech on Monday was huge win for the program.

And Kellen Moore solidified a spot in the top 10 of every Heisman voter with that exquisite finish that sealed the deal. Moore shouldn’t be drug-tested, he should be blood-tested, because something else is flowing through those veins.

Boise State outrushed Virginia Tech, which controlled the ball more and actually was the lower-penalized team in a big game, which is fairly shocking.

All that said, no, I can’t automatically pencil Boise State in as a team for the BCS national championship game if it wins out.

When Boise State is playing New Mexico State, the Hokies are at N.C. State. Two days before Boise State plays Hawaii, Virginia Tech gets Georgia Tech.

Two BCS opponents isn’t the same as 10.

No, we don’t know exactly how good or bad a team is going to be until the season starts. Except that, to a large extent, we do. We know that Wake Forest (at Virginia Tech on Oct. 16) is better than San Jose State (hosts Boise State on Oct. 16).

It’s not all about the record. Tulane went undefeated in 1998, and the world was quiet. Why? Who did it play? If Boise State goes 11-1 and Utah goes undefeated, are the Broncs going to give in to the Utes? No.

People get snotty about the debate, adding to its legitimacy. Put fans’ own team into a similar argument, and duck when different logic and evidence come flying in every direction.

If somebody’s favorite team loses only to Alabama by three and Ohio State by five, they will under no circumstances give an undefeated Boise State – with the current opposition — the nod.

Never. They will not. College football fans don’t hand out much credit when their team is involved anywhere near the topic.

They’ll say differently now only if they know their team isn’t in that running. But chat with the folks in Tuscaloosa, Austin, Columbus and South Bend, and the evidence flows.

Boise State has to play someone more than once or twice a year. The Broncos needs to face more equality, face players of similar size and speed and strength on a regular basis.

More than once a month would be a start.

It’s too bad Boise State is being penalized by its conference strength, which leads to the question of whether it would be up on this level if it had been in stronger conferences from the start. Conversely, Boise State came up from FCS in only 1996 and has gone only forward, with success the product of quality management, administration and coaching.

Nevertheless, the level of competition has to come into play somewhere. Playing 17 games against BCS conference teams since 2001 isn’t the same as 17 games against BCS conference teams since 2008.

But the Broncos get points for the reluctance/refusal of bigger boys to play them more. Certainly they’d swap Toledo this year for a Kansas or Mississippi State or Iowa, right? I know.

Then again, just the fact that Boise State is part of the biggest yearly debate in college football is huge. Shoot, people know more about those who live on the Smurf Turf more than they know about programs that have those FBS national championships.

And that’ll have to do until the schedule changes, which may happen sooner than later.

Contact Mike Lough at 744-4626 or mlough@macon.com