College Football 2010: Conference Preview - At-Large Threats | Thebigtip

College Football 2010:

Preview: At-Large Threats

With this season’s College Football season just around the corner, I take a look at the big six Conferences (PAC-10, SEC, Big 10, Big 12, Big East and the ACC). Today I look at the At-Large threats for the BCS. The two teams in question being WAC team Boise State, and MWC team TCU.

Boise State: When the Broncos beat the Oklahoma Sooners in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, everyone crowned the Broncos saying it was the best game of College Football ever, and a fantastic result for the sport. Fast forward almost four years and now you either love or hate the Broncos. Since coach Chris Petersen took over in 2007, the Broncos have amassed a remarkable 49-4 record, which includes two Fiesta Bowl wins in 2007 and 2010 along with two wins over PAC-10 power Oregon, once in each of the last two seasons. The argument against Boise State (and TCU for that matter) is that the Conference they play in (WAC) isn’t strong enough for the Broncos to warrant a spot in the BCS National Championship Game, thus they beat they’ve been able to get to is the Fiesta Bowl. With this in mind, the Broncos have gone some way to addressing this by scheduling not one, but two strong non-Conference games. The game on September 7th against Virginia Tech on neutral field is going to shape the season for the Broncos. Win, and whatever national title hopes they have remain intact. Lose, and everything is thrown out the window. That’s what makes the game so fascinating as it’s got so many different implications depending on the result. Win against Virginia Tech and then beat PAC-10 power Oregon State at home on the Blue Turf on September 26th then ride out the easy WAC Conference and Boise State’s hopes of playing in the BCS National Championship Game could become a reality. One thing that will definitely help the Broncos cause is that they’ve got 19 starters out of 20 returning on both the offensive and defensive ends including star QB Kellen Moore who is a Heisman Trophy hopeful.

TCU: Like Boise State, the Horned Frogs have amassed some fantastic seasons. It’s no surprise that they also went undefeated during the season in 2009, only to be ironically beaten in the Fiesta Bowl 17-10 by Boise State. Also ironically, it was TCU that beat Boise State in the 2009 Poinsettia Bowl 17-16 which cost the Broncos their own undefeated season then too. The Horned Frogs do play in a slightly stronger Conference that features Utah and BYU, but still as last season showed, it’s the scheduling of tough non-Conference Games that’s going to get you all the way. They’ve also gone out and scheduled a tough non-Conference opponent which will be familiar to Boise State, the team being again PAC-10 power Oregon State with the game being played on a neutral field in Dallas. Again, win that game and the sky is the limit for the TCU Horned Frogs. A lot will depend on QB Andy Dalton, who was the MWC Player of the Year in 2009.

Predictions: I’ve thought it all along, and especially with nearly every player returning from last season that the Broncos will run the table and win every game. Whether that means they play in the BCS National Championship Game I don’t know, a lot depends on how Ohio State, Alabama, Florida, Texas, Nebraska, Oregon and the like perform. As for TCU, I think they might have just slightly missed the boat. I think the lacking a little bit when it comes to the talent that Boise State has, and thus I think the Horned Frogs are destined to be a 10 or 11 win team.