Another Cinderella Story in the Making

We are reaching the end of the emotional rollercoaster that is March Madness, on the heels of baseball season, and NBA finals are around the corner. This is not the time of year when people have football on the brain. Nevertheless, the inspiring story of Butler got me thinking. The championship brackets are perfect for Cinderella stories like theirs; underrated mid-major teams with enough tenacity and heart that have 2 periods to put it all on the line and defeat opponents that all others would have you believe are bigger, faster, or stronger, in large part because of the “quality of their conference.”

Other the other side of intercollegiate play, college football appears to work against the underdog where big name conferences and big name programs are consistently the victor. That is unless you decide to make your own miracles like Boise State. Boise State went undefeated last season but as the way the BCS cookie crumbles, they were not able to make it to the championship game. Many argue that the Broncos have what it takes to play against the powerhouse programs and potentially even win.

Here are 5 reasons why Boise State may be the Cinderella story of the fall.

1. Boise should start high enough in the preseason rankings to be firmly in the mix for the top two teams in the final BCS standings. Last year they started out at #16 and were able to work their way up to #4. The problem is that the teams that control the Top 5 from the start are generally the only teams in serious contention for the title game. The Broncos are guaranteed a higher ranking this year and as long as they stay undefeated, they will be in good shape.
2. Boise state is bringing in the smallest recruiting class this year, which is one of the results of having the smallest senior class last year. The Broncos are returning 21 of 22 starters, including All-American candidate Kellen Moore at quarterback.
3. Few people really had Boise state on the radar at the start of last season. If their undefeated performance was not enough to catch your attention, they have two televised games this year that will keep them in the national spotlight. The first is a prime time game on Labor Day versus Virgina Tech at Fed Ex Field. Then they will be playing Oregon State at their home stadium on ABC.
4. Part of the criticism surrounding teams like Boise State is the level of the teams they play against. The VTech Hokies are expected to begin next season ranked in the top 10, and Oregon State made big moves this past year and was a serious contender this year in the Pac-10 crown. This year’s schedule is the first time since 2005 that Boise State has scheduled two opponents from automatic-qualifying conferences in the same season.
5. If the Broncos are able to reach the Big Show, that would make them the first team that is outside of the major six conferences to play for the championship since the beginning of the BCS system.