What I Still Want to Know About Boise State

Last night's game between Virginia Tech and Boise State has brought back a question that has dominated college football for almost half a decade now: Does Boise State belong in the National Title game?

While a lot of the articles I am seeing this morning are attempting to answer this question, I think I will take a different approach.  Here are five things I want to know before I feel like we can answer this question.


1) Just how good is Virginia Tech?
Right now this win looks very solid for the Broncos, but what happens if the Hokies finish third or worse in their division (a distinct possibility)?  That game in Landover is going to lose a lot of luster if Virginia Tech goes on to have a mediocre season.  On the flip side, if Virginia Tech wins the ACC (also a distinct possibility) that win looks like a major statement for the Broncos.  I want to see what happens to the Hokies before I determine the value of this game in Boise's national title resume.

2) What about the other 11 games?
Boise State has 11 more games on its' schedule and they are not all gimmes.  That game in Boise against Oregon State will be big as will their late season matchup with Nevada in Reno.  No it isn't as hard as anyone else's schedule, but that doesn't mean the Broncos are guaranteed anything. 

3) What happens to everyone else?If Ohio State and Alabama go undefeated this whole conversation is moot anyway.  If two BCS conference teams go undefeated then I think that they will probably have earned a National Championship berth over the Broncos.  Even one loss teams will have a case but it is a tricky situation that we won't fully appreciate until the season has run its' course.

4) How do we evaluate the rest of the schedule?Boise State's other opponents need to have some solid appearances in the non-conference season.  Fresno State defeated Cincinnati in week one and there are some big matchups against teams like Nebraska, Cal, and Wisconsin on the upcoming WAC slate.  The conference doesn't need to win all of them, but one or two big showings would make a huge statement and would help Boise State's strength of schedule.

5) What to do with the Mountain West?People seem to forget that Utah and TCU play in a significantly tougher non-AQ conference and that one of the two could likely go undefeated.  if they do, how do we evaluate the merits of that team against Boise State?  If a mountain West team goes undefeated they will have better strength of schedule which makes it hard to determine whether Boise should get a national title berth over one of them.