Tonight, a contender for the national championship of college football is playing a game. The game is being played on Friday night in Moscow in a college basketball arena. All of this is true...strange, but true.

Say hello to the Kibbie Dome, home of the University of Idaho Vandals in Moscow, Idaho.



Sorta cute, ain't it? Or maybe "quaint" is a better word. A Division I football stadium that seats 16,000 is definitely quaint. Either way, the University of Idaho is so proud of this place that it is home to their football team...and basketball team...and tennis team...and track & field team. Quite quaint and versatile, no?

Ok, this post isn't about the shortcomings of the athletic facilities at the State of Idaho's flagship and oldest university. It's a swell place and has been for 120+ years, which is fine. It is, however, a post that further demonstrates why a team cannot be given equal credence when it plays in a conference where a late-season intra-conference & intrastate rivalry road game can be played in a place such as the Kibbie Dome.

A season-opening victory over Virginia Tech is a nice win. So is an early season win over Oregon State. A late season win over Nevada will also be an accomplishment. Problem is, nobody would consider these to be great wins if they didn't show up on the schedule with opponents such as Wyoming, New Mexico State, Toledo, San Jose State, Louisiana Tech and Utah State. By beating VaTech, Oregon State and, presumably, Nevada, Boise State will be no better than the following teams, based solely on head-to-head wins: James Madison, Washington, UCLA and Hawaii. In a major conference, Boise's three "biggest" victories would be considered "getting the job done" and "having a solid season", or maybe nothing more than "halfway to being bowl eligible".

It is a simple fact that Boise State is better than those 4 teams. Look no further than the game last weekend when Boise beat Hawaii by 35. The argument is not if Boise is a good team. They are. The argument is, regardless of who they're willing to play, does Boise deserve a spot in the championship game when they've played such inferior opponents on a weekly basis that their starters don't even have to play (or play hard) beyond 10 minutes into the game? Again, it is not Boise's fault that they are able to jump out to giant leads in many of their games, but it is also not an SEC (or Pac Ten/Big Ten/Big 12) team's fault that they just so happen to be in a conference where almost every game is an absolute battle that requires maximum utilization for a full 60 minutes (or more).

Boise has proven they are capable of beating good teams from major conferences (VT, Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl) and other small conference powerhouses (TCU in last year's Fiesta Bowl). They would also have a very good chance of beating whoever they might play in this year's BCS Championship, be it Oregon (who they swept in a home-and-home series in 2008-09, as Byron Hout will remind you), TCU (see above), Ohio State (does anyone really think they're that good?) or Auburn (with or without the blameless one). However, don't let it be forgotten that TCU beat Boise to end the 2008 season and Boise lost back-to-back to Hawaii and East Carolina to end the 2007 season. Just for good measure, the only time in recent history that Boise played a game in an SEC stadium was at the start of the 2005 season and they left Athens, Georgia with a 48-13 loss. That same season, that same Georgia team that was 35 points better than Boise, lost two SEC conference games and narrowly escaped with wins in two more.

So, while their blue turf and blue jerseys can be fun to look at, these Tuesday, Thursday and Friday night games are excruciating to watch because its just further reminders of why Boise is what it is. Even ESPN, who does a LOT to promote Boise, will only give them primetime TV slots on nights that people don't even realize football is on. Football on Thursday nights has started to become more of a common thing and yet still, ESPN put the Pitt/UCONN game on last night and relegated the Potato State showdown to Friday night, when the only football people care about is being played by high schoolers, albeit often in stadiums larger than the one Boise is playing in tonight.

Bus.