Tulsa head coach Todd Graham makes his case.
“Why wouldn’t we have that goal? You look at what Boise State and Hawaii has done, that is definitely our goal,” Graham said. “We haven’t done anything to boast or brag or to be talked about in that manner. But on the same hand, if you ask me what our goals are, that’s what they are.”
Goals are fine. But if the BCS and the poll voters haven’t learned anything from last year’s experience with Hawai’i, then they’ll richly deserve all the contempt likely to be thrown their way by putting Tulsa in the BCS.
Why? First, check out this year’s Golden Hurricanes schedule. There’s only one game against a BCS conference team – and that’s a mediocre Arkansas. It’s better in one way than Hawai’i’s ’07, though, in that there’s only one 1-AA school on the slate.
Plus, these guys play atrocious defense. Looking at last year’s stats, there’s no need to sugarcoat here: Tulsa was 108th in total defense, 90th in rushing defense, 100th in passing defense and 100th in scoring defense.
The thing is, if these guys run the table, they’ll probably get some talk about being in the mix. Big mistake.
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Personally, I think the BSU win over OU is good enough for two or three more tries provided they qualify. You could argue that Notre Dame in 2006 and Illinois in 2007 didn’t really belong there either based on the one game.
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kckd, you’re making my argument more general than intended. I don’t have any problem with BCS gate crashing per se – Fresno State and Utah, for example, play credible schedules this year that would support entry if either ran the table – but Tulsa’s got no business being in the mix any more than did Hawai’i.
Although it would be amusing to hear Corso warn us about Tulsa in the BCS.
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I really like Tulsa to beat Georgia…yeah, that’s right! They’ve got that Conference USA chip on the ol’ shoulder, and don’t forget Boise State! Boise State! Boise State! Boise State! Also, Boise State. I think Georgia won’t get off a pass rush, and Tulsa will throw for a brazillion yards, because Boise State! Additionally, Boise State.
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Senator, I’d agree with you if it can be shown Tulsa intentionally tries not to play a legit BCS team or two. But let’s be honest, Hawaii had a hard time getting a IA opponent last year cause quite a few legit teams on the West coast didn’t want to schedule them. They did play at Alabama and did play Washington who gave USC a game.
Obviously it’d be hard to schedule a game between every BCS school and non BCS school. But there might be some way the NCAA could come up with some rule that would make at least the top two in each non BCS conference play a decent BCS school. I think the Tulsas and Boises of the world would be up for it, the problem is with the BCS conference schools.
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Well, again, it doesn’t look like Fresno State and Utah had any problem finding BCS conference teams to play this season.
And IIRC, Fresno State had to find the game with Rutgers at the last minute due to Kansas State’s gutless move to cancel its meeting with FSU.
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Just to clarify, I meant they played at Bama in the past, not last year.
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Ole Miss gave Florida a game last year. Any given Saturday, and all. Also keep in mind the chances of Southern Cal really giving total effort in a game is around 65% (see: USC/Stanford).
The lovefest certain segments of the punditry gave to Washington for being a “quality win” for Hawai’i was a little ridiculous. The Huskies were lousy. Tough schedule yes, but lousy. They lost 9 games. At one point, they had a 6-game losing streak. Put their coach squarely on the hot seat. Etc. They sucked, and the Rainbow Warriors should have been given no credit for barely eking out a win against them.
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Tell me who Boise played the year they beat OU. The fact is you’re gonna have to throw the non BCS a bone to keep this current system. It’s a pretty stiff thing they’d have to do anyway, going undefeated to get there.
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Wasn’t it Tulsa who pulled out of Auburn’s 2004 schedule to play Oklahoma State?
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kckd, again, I’m not arguing against the system, I’m arguing against Tulsa. So this “throw the non-BCS a bone” point of yours isn’t particularly relevant.
BTW, per Sagarin, BSU’s strength of schedule in 2006 was 90, which ain’t great. But it’s a helluva lot better than Hawai’i’s 132 from last season.
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