I am leaving on a jet plane to New York City, a concrete jungle where dreams are made of, I can confirm, Kyle Wilson is living proof. If last week you were following Cliff and I’s twitter accounts (if your not, you should) you would know that Nike has invited the both of us to cover the unveiling of the Nike Pro Combat Series Uniforms for the 2010 College Football Season.
The event is to take place Wednesday September 1, 2010 at the Skylight West Studios in New York City. The event begins at 10AM Eastern and 8PM Mountain. That day back in Boise, the Blue and Orange Store will have the Nike Pro Combat Series gear for sale. I can also assume so will the Bronco Shop, if they haven’t already.
This is a great opportunity for both Cliff and myself. It is not too often that the Blogging world gets asked to attend event like this. It would appear the other local media types will not be attending, due to ethical issue surrounding Nike providing travel accommodations. They also chose not to attend on their own dime, due to budget constraints.
The funny thing about this event is whether the local media attends or does not attend Nike will still benefit from the coverage. I certainly will be happy to provide a prospective that Brian Murphy and other local media will lack in there coverage.
Either way the event provides fans of Boise State a chance to promote the program yet again on a national stage. I plan to take as many pictures as I can possibly take, while providing as much commentary about the event.
I am due to arrive in New York on Tuesday and will get a chance to meet up with other fellow media types from the 10 schools announced for the 2010 series. For now I am I will get back to packing my bags and will keep you updated on the events over the next 2 days. Go Broncos!!
If you wish to leave an audio comment, drop me a line at 208-991-2672 or send an email comment to questions@bronconationpodcast.com and follow the Bronco Nation Podcast on Twitter.
It would appear that media, fans and the like are up in arms over Boise State’s Preseason Coaches and AP ranking of #5 and #3 respectively. I am of the thought, like so many, that Boise State should not be ranked this high; however my reason for saying so is much different.
Media and Fans of College Football Argument against Boise State’s Ranking
The most obvious and most often used argument against Boise State’s ranking is the schedule they play. The Broncos are, for the last season, members of the Western Athletic Conference, where they play the likes of Utah State, San Jose State and New Mexico State.
WAC teams are seen as teams BCS teams schedule at the beginning of the season as a tune up in week 1 or 2. Most often these games end up being very lopsided in favor of the BCS team. To get a sense of how these games have gone, Coach Robb Akey was quoted as saying in response to what went well against the Arizona Wildcats “the plane home didn’t crash.”
Granted it is not always gloom and doom when the WAC ventures out into non-conference BCS play. Pat Hill and the Fresno State Bulldogs often play one of the toughest schedules in the WAC and play BCS teams hard, coming away with victories. Most recently the Broncos have had success against tough BCS opponents most notably with wins versus Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl and back to back victories over the University of Oregon in 2008 & 2009.
On the flip side many will argue that if you put Boise State into the SEC or Pac Ten, success would not come so easy. Granted if the 2010 version of the Boise State Broncos were playing in a BCS conference, the road would be much more difficult. However, remember if Boise State were in, say the Pac Ten, they would certainly have access to Pac Ten money and Pac-Ten talent. Boise State Football does what it does with its portion of a 28 million dollar athletic budget of an Idaho State run school. Image what Chris Petersen and company could do with a 75 million dollar athletic budget.
My argument against Boise State’s ranking
Polls in general are plagued with bias. Take Craig James’ vote. Mr. James votes seam out of place, he Texas Tech and has Miami unranked and Texas A&M at 22nd, not to mention Georgia at number 7, versus an overall ranking of 23.
Voters either don’t care or wait until the last moment. Joe Giglio, of the Raleigh News & Observer, in this year’s preseason AP poll has Boise State ranked #1. Yes, Boise State received 1 vote to be the number 1 team in all the land. However, consider on the same ballet, Giglio had Nebraska, Pittsburgh and Miami ranked 3, 4 & 5 respectively. One shouldn’t take too much stock in Mr. Giglio’s votes.
The bottom line is simple, the preseason poll means nothing. After the first month of the season Boise State could have a record of 3-0, 2-1, 1-2 or 0-3. The Broncos could be ranked lower with 3 wins or out of the top 25 with 1 loss. I have seen it happen every year and will see happen again this year, whether it is the Broncos or another team.
Where should the Broncos be ranked?
The Broncos have been very successful since joining, Division 1 football. At home on the Blue Turf of Bronco Stadium, Boise State is dominating.
The last time the Broncos lost a home game on the Blue was to the Pac Ten’s Washington State Cougars. The 2001 Cougars, under Mike Price, finished ranked in the top 10 that year and went on to play in the Rose Bowl the following year.
Since joining the Western Athletic Conference the Broncos have only 3 losses against WAC teams. The Broncos have been WAC Champions 7 out of 9 years.
The Broncos average margin of victory versus WAC opponents during the same time period is 29 points. Under Coach Petersen the number has fallen off by 1 point, but Bronco Fans won’t hold that against him as one should expect the other WAC teams to step up some time.
The Bronco’s bowl record is 6-4 since joining Division 1 football. In the 4 losses the Broncos have lost by only a margin of 3.5 points. In every loss the Broncos had a chance pull off a win.
Here are some other items of note regarding the Broncos success. Coach Pete is also 4-1 against BCS teams. Former Broncos Ryan Clady and Kyle Wilson are both 1st round picks over the last 3 years
What does this all mean?
Consider the following; if a BCS team were to have joined the WAC in 2001 and play 9 seasons, I would argue that the same BCS team would be hard pressed to top what the Broncos have done over the same period.
Preseason rankings are also based on the respect the media and coaches have for teams. The Broncos return 21 of the 22 starters from the 2010 Fiesta Bowl Team. Given the resume of success, it would appear the Broncos ranking is based on respect, a respect often reserved for College Football’s elite and most storied programs.
Coach Pete may have summed it up best when asked if the Broncos deserved their 2010 preseason Ranking, “Instead of proving everybody wrong, now we (Boise State) want to prove everybody right.” The Boise State Broncos begin their quest to prove everybody right Sept 6, 2010. Go Broncos!!
If you wish to leave an audio comment, drop me a line at 208-991-2672 or send an email comment to questions@bronconationpodcast.com and follow the Bronco Nation Podcast on Twitter.
Boise State Broncos, Inc held its first annual Shareholders Party. As the invite stated, the purpose of the meeting included the following:
Elect two new directors
Review accomplishments and plans of the corporation
Conduct other business
The two new elected directors are Jerry Dancer and Charles Wilson, both long time benefactors. As of the night of the party, just under 2500 shares had been sold, with share sold in 48 States and in 3 countries, with Rhode Island and Vermont being the only states in which Bronco Nation hasn’t purchased stock.
The treat of the night was Coach Chris Petersen address the shareholders that were present. I took the opportunity to create a bootleg recording of that address. I have tried to clean it up as best as I can. Tapping at the start is me making sure I was recording and of course at the start is had some dishes banging in the background as everyone was finishing eating.
What I took from the 2 hour address, was the Boise State is under financed compared to the rest of Division 1 schools. Gene Bleymier presentation mentioned that the athletic budget was around $28 Million and about $7.5 million comes from the state.
Gene ran down the plan for Dona Larson Park. The Park will host track and field as well as local high school football. The football field will seat about 5,000. The Broncos have been practicing at the field this fall.
The focus appeared to be on getting the Basketball locker room built. Final bids are being looked at and head Coach Leon Rice is using it as part of his recruiting pitch. Other facilities needed include an aquatic center and a new gymnasium.
Information related to the Stadium expansion will come in the form of a Press Conference on Friday August 27. As Gene put it, they have a “presentation” prepared. Gene also mentioned that Bronco Stadium is the smallest of top ten teams.
There were some great stories from tonight, but my favorite was related to the amount of toilets in the Football Facility. Apparently there are 2 toilets. As Coach Pete put we need to get more toilets. Gene followed it up with a story. As he told it, Gene asked Lyle Smith, the AD at the time the current football facility was built, “why two toilets?” Lyle’s response, “we needed a spare.”
It was a good time and if you can spare $100 or more it is certainly worth holding a share or two of stock, while at the same time supporting Boise State Athletics. Go Broncos!
If you wish to leave an audio comment, drop me a line at 208-991-2672 or send an email comment to questions@bronconationpodcast.com and follow the Bronco Nation Podcast on Twitter.
JT, Buck and Tyler have regrouped post the 2010 Fiesta Bowl game at the request of a listener.
The Play By Play
Is there a basketball game going on tonight 1:55
Coach Pete’s early Mach pressor summary 5:16
The 2010 Letter of Intent recap. For better insight may I suggest heading to OBNUG 9:30
Justin Wilcox is leaving on a jet plane for Tennessee 19:02
Bob Gregory Joins the Boise State Staff 30:45
The Ducks Parade of felonies 35:36
Kyle Wilson and his quest for NFL dreams 52:13
Is it too early to talk about he Va Tech game? 60:12
This and much more.
If you wish to leave an audio comment, drop me a line at 208-991-2672 or send an email comment to questions@bronconationpodcast.com and follow the Bronco Nation Podcast on Twitter.
JT, Buck and Tyler Break down the Boise State Bronco’s 2010 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl Victory and the extra curricular activities.
The guys would like to first thank the Boise State Broncos for their hard work and dedication, while providing Bronco Nation such great memories. Additionally, the BNP would like to thank Kevan, Drew and Nick for letting us have a little corner of OBNUG. Also thanks to Crissie Fields, for here help this year in gathering audio comments. Thanks to special guests Travis Hawkes from the Blue and Orange Store, J Bates and Troy Oppie from KBCI and Logan Hopkins from the Redwave Podcast. Most importantly thanks to you Bronco Nation, for listening this year. GO BRONCOS!!!!
If you wish to leave an audio comment, drop me a line at 208-991-2672 or send an email comment to questions@bronconationpodcast.com and follow the Bronco Nation Podcast on Twitter.
