The opening weekend of college football holds some of the year’s most important games, including TCU’s game against Oregon State University at Cowboys Stadium on Saturday night.
The following Monday, Boise State University will play the Hokies of Virginia Tech at FedEx Field in Landover, Md.
Horned Frog fans will be praying for a Boise State loss, so the Horned Frogs can take sole possession of the Cinderella-role for the non-automatic qualifier schools. Both games are on ESPN, and both will come with a tough test.
These are two non-BCS schools in the top seven for the first time in history in pre-season rankings, so neither Boise State nor TCU can afford to lose their first game. A loss by either team will hurt their chances for a BCS game.
The non-automatic qualifier schools are storming through the headlines, but both these teams are in for a rough beginning come week one.
The main sports headline this past week was a surprising one, because Brigham Young University (BYU) announced its willingness to be an independent. BYU officials stated that the school would leave the Mountain West Conference. It questioned the competitiveness of the MWC, even though underdog Boise is joining this season.
Craig Thompson, MWC commissioner, said he was shocked to see that BYU, one of the perennial powerhouses of the conference, was going independent. He answered critics and hopefully swayed the BYU-faithful by inviting Fresno State and Nevada to join the MWC.
Those two teams have been the up-and-coming programs of the Western Athletic Conference who could actually keep up with Boise State. The MWC has actually favored each team to go to a BCS bowl game.
Will going independent help BYU pursue a BCS bowl game? It all depends on the schedule, because if it goes independent, BYU will not be playing TCU and Utah as in-conference games.
Horned Frog head coach Gary Patterson said, “It’s not my job to worry about what Utah does [or] what BYU does, but I can tell you this8212;if you think being an independent is an easier way to get to a national championship, you’re kidding yourself.”
BYU hoped to take Utah’s and TCU’s BCS thunder, because they have seemingly become the second or third team in the MWC.
Last season TCU had the best shot at being the first non-automatic qualifier team to go to the national championship. Two years ago, Utah put up a beating on Alabama and many believed Utah could have played for the national title that year.
The question of whether or not BYU will leave may or may not solve problems because if anything, the BCS computers have favored the MWC teams in seasons past.
