TCU and Boise State match-up again, but this time, the stakes are much higher as they are Fiesta Bowl bound
As the bowl line-up was recently announced, two teams received a back handed compliment. #6 Boise State and #3 TCU both landed BCS bids, but much to their dismay, they did not get the marquee match-up as they hoped. Unfortunately, they will be playing each other in this year’s Fiesta Bowl.
When TCU and Boise State both received bids, the school’s erupted with enthusiasm. But seconds later, the crowds suddenly became disenchanted when it was announced that the Horned Frogs would face the Broncos. Each school was hoping to play a powerhouse from a top conference. For these two programs, it’s like sitting at the kids table on Thanksgiving day.
Unfortunately, both teams did all they could do to land a BCS bid, but what hurt the teams the most, aside from the flawed BCS system, was their strength of schedule–more so for Boise State. Boise State steamrolled through the 94th ranked schedule. They did beat eventual Pac-10 champ Oregon, but every other team they played was weak. Boise State’s closest game was a 28-21 victory over Tulsa. That same Tulsa squad got trounced 45-0 at the hands of the Oklahoma Sooners.
Meanwhile, TCU did have strong wins against UVA (30-14) and Clemson (14-10), but they needed Nebraska to upset Texas to have had any shot at the NCG.
At this point, TCU and Boise State need to focus on playing each other and coming out as victors. There is no underdog-as-conqueror match-up, but the winner should hold its head up high as the Fiesta Bowl is nothing to scoff about.
For future plans, since both programs come from non-automatic qualifying conferences, they will need to step up the competition and schedule top ranked teams (Boise State has lined-up Virginia Tech in the coming seasons). If both teams continues to have weak schedules, they will be treated like second class citizens.
The Fiesta Bowl will be a rematch of last season’s Poinsettia Bowl where TCU squeaked by 17-16 handing Boise State its only loss of the season.
