Friday: Links with PDA

Story of the day:

Stewart Mandel gives BSU its due [SI.com]

A reader notified us of Stewart Mandel's latest mailbag at SI.com, and boy are we glad he did. Mandel was asked why he didn't believe Fresno State was BCS material, and his answer was both refreshing and obvious.

Because Fresno State is the Clemson of mid-majors: A big tease. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Pat Hill fan, but how many times have we seen this movie before? The Bulldogs go out and slay a giant or two, jump up into the polls -- then lay an egg in conference play.

Zing! Good one, Stewie!

Even better, Mandel offers a far more reasonable option for a WAC BCS team.

Let's be realistic here. If you had to pick one WAC team to not only win the conference but crash the BCS, are you going to go with notorious choke artist Fresno, or Boise State, five-time league champion prior to Hawaii's crown last season. Boise plays tough non-conference games at Oregon and Southern Miss but gets both the Bulldogs and Warriors at home.

How great is that! Welcome to Bronco Nation, Mr. Mandel!

Other links:

More Boise State love from ESPN [ESPN.com]
Dinwiddie, Fiesta, Statue Left, and the '04 and '06 Broncos. This article nearly brought us to tears.

Dennis Dodd's coach hot seat ratings [Sportsline.com]
Coach Pete = safe. Robb Akey = worried.

NFL Bronco roll call [Fight Fight BSU]
Wish it were football season already.

The letter Z in moderation [Democrat Herald]
Pro: "Zabranski." Con: skillz and boyz

"Sweet Feet" Clady? [Idaho Statesman]
Anti-playoff opinion [Online Athens]