I know a lot of us burnt orange types are scoffing those little upstarts in Boise right now for being ranked ahead of Texas. They play in the WAC, which might as well be the Sun Belt of the West Coast. Well, they’re bringing back 20 starters from a team that beat TCU last season – no small feat, except that those Frogs came out of a weak-sister conference as well. I think anytime a team has gone 26-1 over the last two seasons and returns that many guys NOT placing them in the top 10 is criminal. I’d be more alarmed at Florida losing Saint Tim and being ranked ahead of UT (they’re 4th, the Horns are 5th) than Boise’s AP ranking.
Bringing back 20 starters from an undefeated BCS win season is unreal. I can’t bring twenty out of twenty-two socks back from the dryer, yet the Smurf Turf crew is loaded. Heck, the one guy on defense they lost – Kyle Wilson – is probably going to start at corner for the Jets unless they get the Revis situation under control. Boise State has a little left-handed Major clone with the unfortunate name of Kellen Moore. If he was in Lubbock last season, he would have worn a practice jersey with “Brock” or “Rusty” on the back. This kid has lost one game over the past two seasons – some 3rd rate bowl in San Francisco to TCU, later avenged – and put up 39 TD’s to 3 picks in 2009. I don’t care if he’s playing East Dillon 14 times a year – that’s impressive. I can’t even do that on varsity mode on NCAA 10 with Colt and Ship.
Most Longhorn fans I know think Boise and remember a bunch of trick plays, a marriage proposal to a cheerleader, a dumbfounded Bob Stoops, and a night in January five years ago where they were every UT diehard on the planet’s second favorite team. They do have some games this year that don’t involve weak conference play – opening at Virginia Tech and then having Oregon State coming to town two weeks later. If they win both of those and run the table they can go to the championship game for all I care. The David versus Goliath matchup against someone like Bama, Ohio State, or even UT will be compelling television and a probable mismatch. Beating two loss OU was magical, sure. These guys want to play with the grown-ups now, and they’ll be treated as such when the time comes. I don’t think they’re the third best team in college football, but they can take a #3 ranking in the preseason when we’re comparing stats, past performances, and predicting the future. Why not? The paper is all there – starters returning, 09 won-loss record, and a favorable schedule.
Is it fair that they’ll play one, maybe two (if the Beavers knock off the Frogs in Jerryworld week one) ranked teams all year and Texas has a four game stretch with Tech, UCLA, OU, and Nebraska? Hell no it isn’t. There’s a very real chance we get to cheer on the BCS computers after the Horns go to Lincoln and win and the Broncos get San Jose State at home the same night. The only real injustice a #3 preseason ranking does is if it results in shutting an undefeated BCS team out of the championship game. If that happens, I’ll get back on my soapbox and whine.
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