Nailed it: ESPN has Idaho as worst team in the country

And the second year of the Robb Akey era is officially underway.

Bottom 10 [ESPN.com]

ESPN's non-BCS power rankings released

The Broncos are No. 5 on the list of non-BCS teams. For now! (Cue haunting organ music.)

Non-BCS power rankings [ESPN]

Tuesday: Links with predictions

Story of the day:

RB Ian Johnson tops in the WAC? [ESPN.com]

ESPN's Graham Watson posed an interesting question on her blog yesterday: Is Ian Johnson the WAC's best running back? If Watson knows, then she's not telling as her story politely skirted the issue with open-ended statements, facts, and Johnson quotes.

But is he the best running back in a stacked WAC?

"I've seen a lot of these guys and you look at (Nevada's Luke) Lippincott and all the guys from La Tech and even the guys from Fresno, these guys are very different running backs from myself," Johnson said during WAC Media Days last week.

Johnson was the best running back in the WAC during his glory year in 2006 and was even considered a darkhorse for the Heisman Trophy. But those numbers trailed off last season as Johnson was plagued with injuries.

We live in a black-and-white world, so this article, with all its grayness and ambiguity, was hard to deal with. The answer, in our opinion, is clear: Ian Johnson is not the WAC's best running back. He lost that title last year when he struggled with injuries and effectiveness. Let the angry emails fly.

Remember, Johnson was not very good at times last year, and Bronco Nation openly questioned what was wrong with him. Sure, he is saying all the right things and doing all the right things this offseason, and to be honest, we are confident that he will regain the mantle of WAC's top running back this season. But in the meantime, we feel he is no longer the top dog.

There, Graham Watson. We said it.

Other links:

Dan Gore cut by Dolphins [Scott Slant]

We guess Miami liked losing last year more than they thought

Utah State bringing down Utah's schedule [ESPN.com]
The Aggies get replaced by Notre Dame. Boise State would do the same if it could.

Another vote for Kellen Moore [Bleacher Report]
Bush Hamdan not available for comment.

Rivals' countdown reaches No. 3 [Rivals.com]
USC and Georgia still to come--most likely in that order.

Recap of rule changes [Rivals.com]
Clock changes may shorten games from 3 hours, 45 minutes to 3 hours, 40 minutes.

Monday: Links with officiating

We'll have some exciting Ryan Dinwiddie news later today. What other kind is there, right?

Story of the day:

Idaho fan resents ESPN's "winless" remark [ESPN.com]

ESPN's newest non-BCS blogger, Graham Watson, suggested last week that the Vandals would go winless this season. Sounds like he knows his non-BCS football.

Watson made his prediction fully expecting the wrath of Vandal fans to rain down upon him. Instead, he got propositioned from a guy in Seattle.

Dan in Seattle writes: Hey Graham Watson, You challenged us Vandals fans to "let the emails fly." In light of your unfounded prediction that the 2008 Vandals will NOT WIN A GAME (and keeping with the relatively non-inciting tone in which it was registered), I propose a little more. How about a straightforward, even odds bet to back up that fearless prediction? Up to $500.

Watson didn't bite, but we imagine that Robb Akey would. Five hundred bucks could buy a lot of Just for Men mustache coloring.

The only way we see Idaho not going winless is beating Idaho State in Moscow. However, Seattle Dan seems to think there are other wins on the schedule, too.

Come on. WINLESS?? Multiple win-able conference games aside...

We'll stop you there. Apart from maybe Utah State (who, if you'll remember right, beat the Vandals last year), there are pretty much no games that Idaho is expected to win in the WAC. Maybe things will be different come midseason, or maybe pigs will fly through frozen hell. We're not holding our breath for either.

Other links:

The south end zone will be closed someday [Statesman]
What's another 20 million dollars?

$2500 per person for seats in the Mothership [Statesman]
Has BSU gone corporate?

Boise State preview [FOXSports.com]
Yes, 10-3 is a disappointment.

Scanned version of Boise State's Phil Steele preview [Boise state football news]
Now if we could just get the other 150 pages scanned, we'd be in business.

Only a month and a half left to bet [Wizard of Odds]
Week One lines from around college football

Reggie Larry update [Warriors.com]

Four minutes, zero points in finale of summer league

Interesting picks from Las Cruces newspaper [Daily Herald]

NMSU ahead of Hawaii? Favoritism!

Karl Benson interview [Statesman]
Brian Murphy is the new Larry King.

Baseball not in BSU's future [Press-Tribune]
Stupid Title IX.

Monday: Links with body paint

Story of the day:

WAC to renew TV deal with ESPN [Honolulu Advertiser]

After a couple fruitless summers of negotiations, it appears Karl Benson and the WAC finally have the deal they want from ESPN. The Honolulu Advertiser is reporting that the WAC will sign a new deal with ESPN that will increase the exposure of the league's teams and pay the conference royally for the right to do so.

The WAC had been receiving $900,000 per year on a six-year deal set to run through the 2009-10 academic year. That figure was down from $1 million after Texas-El Paso and three other schools left for Conference USA in 2005. The new agreement is expected to be worth, on average, approximately $4 million per year to the conference.

That's a 400 percent raise! Was Dwight Schrute involved in the negotiation talks for the WAC? The extra money is encouraging, and the extra exposure, especially for men's basketball, is exactly what the conference needs.

Under the current contract, the WAC (men's basketball) has been guaranteed only three games per season (two regular season games and the conference championship). The new deal is expected to more than triple the opportunities. In football, the WAC has been guaranteed a minimum of eight games, though it has averaged about 10 the last couple years. The new deal could double those opportunities.

Unfortunately, we are one step closer to Pam Ward covering Idaho-Utah State football.

Good for the WAC and good for Karl Benson. This TV contract is unlike any other that a small conference has. Rather than create their own station (Mountain West Conference) or toil in anonymity (Sun Belt, MAC), the WAC has found the kind of exposure and national spotlight that most conferences covet. Now if only Benson could fix the WAC competition, he'd be onto something.

Other links:

Notes from the highly entertaining BSU charity softball game [Fight Fight BSU]
We're curious what Raphiel Lambert ordered at the concession stand.

Bush Hamdan ranked 47th best fantasy quarterback [Fantasy College Football]
Points awarded for not talking to the media.

Bruce Feldman likes Boise State's recruiting taste [ESPN.com]
Southwick and Peterson are keepers; Burks may or may not still exist.

Another pick for BSU in the H-Bowl [Saturday Soundoffs]
What would make them think the Oregon game is unwinnable? Past precedent?

Checking in with some incoming BSU football recruits [Statesman]
Bigger, faster, stronger, and less Guitar Hero.

Phil Dailey gives a vote of confidence to Behler [Press-Tribune]
The same vote cast for Hamdan or a different one?

The face of the program has no face

ESPNU's Face of the Program contest came to an end today as the last of the D1-A teams were alphabetically revealed. Hope it was worth the wait, Wyoming.

As evidenced by the photo above, Boise State's selection for "Face of the Program" was the blue turf. We'll let Ted Miller explain why.

It takes just a fraction of a second to know whether a Boise State home game is on television. That's because Bronco Stadium is distinguished by the only non-green playing surface in the nation. Of course, the unusual field color would just be a curiosity and more than likely would invite mostly ridicule if not for this: Though the stadium seats only 30,000 fans, that field is one of the toughest places to play in the country.

Perhaps the Face of the Program should have been the belligerently loud "Whose House?" guy in the North End Zone.

Among WAC members, Boise State fared pretty well considering that its selection was both nationally relevant and unique. Here is the list of the other WAC choices.

• Fresno State: Pat Hill. The Fu Manchu on the face of the program.
  
• Hawaii: June Jones. No Timmy Change? No Colt Brennan? Is island hero worship that fleeting?
  
• Idaho: Jerry Kramer. Offensive lineman, kicker, natural gas spokesman.
  
• Louisiana Tech: Terry Bradshaw. Life is so unfair to Tim Rattay.
  
• Nevada: Chris Ault. By default and longevity.
  
• NMSU: Charley Johnson. Who?
  
• San Jose State: Bill Walsh. Good choice. We will not make any jokes about this one.
  
• Utah State: Merlin and Phil Olsen. Do they each get half of the face? How will this work?
  

Face of the Program [ESPN.com]

Fiesta Bowl can't catch a break

What has happened to the 2007 Fiesta Bowl? Less than two years ago, it was the greatest college football game of all-time. Now it is not even the greatest BCS game in the last five years?

The 2006 Rose Bowl was fun to watch and all, but it could not even compare to the overall drama and impact of the '07 Fiesta. It's like Matthew McConaughey and the Applewhites are running this thing!

Fortunately, there is still time to right this wrong. Click here to vote in the poll. Then, when you are finished voting, refresh the page and vote again. We can't let the Fiesta Bowl go down without a fight!

(While you're in the voting mood, feel free to give us your thoughts on Marty Tadman's OBNUG Hall of Fame induction.)

Tom Scott = Fresno State fan?

Tom Scott's "Scott Slant" is often an interesting read...except when it is just plain wrong.

Scott's Tuesday entry recapped the ESPN.com story by Ivan Maisel about the WAC's biggest questions headed into the offseason. And instead of tackling the subject of Maisel's outrageous claim of Boise State "rebuilding," Scott took offense to the assertion that no WAC team is suited to crash the BCS again.

If Fresno's one loss isn't to Toledo, and the Bulldogs run the rest of the table, they could still go BCS-bustin'.

(Disappointed sigh.)

Forget, for a moment, the fact that Scott does not throw his endorsement behind a loaded Boise State squad. In order for Fresno to "run the rest of the table," they would have to beat the Broncos in Boise. Not as easy as it sounds.

Thanks for the complete lack of faith, Tom.

Every return to the brickyard is triumphant [Scott Slant]

Friday: Links with ageism

Story of the day:

ESPN recaps Broncos' busy spring[ESPN.com]

The Worldwide Leader is nothing if not persistent. In its efforts to create spring wrap-ups for every team in college football, ESPN.com often ends up doing a disservice to the small-conference schools, choosing sweeping generalizations over actually attending the spring practices. For instance:

There are questions at quarterback and along the offensive front, but there are plenty of playmakers if merely adequate answers appear.

This sentence could have been written five months ago.

The rest of the ESPN story is rather non-informative, considering that Boise State fans already know everything there is to know about the team. The added publicity is nice, but is it too much to ask for ESPN to make a starting QB prediction or something?

Other links:

Jake Plummer in downtown Boise on Saturday [Idaho Statesman]
We've got our #16 Arizona Cardinals jersey ready!

UW quarterback Jake Locker's legend grows [Rivals.com]
We're not sure which is more legendary: suffering a spine injury and missing just one game or beating Boise State.

Maisel and Schlabach offer WAC questions [ESPN.com]
We've got a question for them: How dare you.

National media fuels QB debate

ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg focuses his weekly non-BCS column on Boise State's quarterback contest, with predictable results.

(Tharp's) successor will come from a pool of four candidates: senior Bush Hamdan, junior Nick Lomax, sophomore Mike Coughlin and redshirt freshman Kellen Moore. All four have received equal repetitions this spring, but Hamdan and Moore have emerged as the early favorites.

Obviously, he has not talked to Phil Dailey.

Non-BCS notebook [ESPN.com]

Bob Stoops hates underdogs

Boise State's Statue of Liberty play made it to the finals of ESPN's recent Greatest Highlight competition, much to the dismay of Oklahoma football coach Bob Stoops.

Stoops thought that ESPN.com voters might have overvalued the wild ending of the Oklahoma-Boise State 2007 Fiesta Bowl as the second-greatest television highlight of all time. While Stoops termed the Broncos' Statue of Liberty surprise as "a heck of a highlight," he had a couple of other personal favorites.

What exactly were his personal favorites? We assume they were Oklahoma's 79-10 win over North Texas, the U.S. Army's victory over Native Americans, and Goliath beating David.

Big 12 Roundup [ESPN.com]

The overthrow of communism trumps Statue Left

Boise State lost in its bid to have the greatest highlight of all-time, thanks to ESPN voters who don't know the difference between great moments and great highlights.

In the voting for ESPN's Greatest Highlight, Mike Eruzione's goal in the Miracle on Ice took 59% of the votes to win the title. Boise State's Fiesta Bowl finished a respectable second place, having beaten a Michael Jordan buzzerbeater, the Cal-Stanford band play, and Doug Flutie's miracle Hail Mary to make it to the finals.

ESPN guy ranks non-BCS teams

ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg seems to have drawn the short straw among the site's college football writers. His reward? Non-BCS conferences!

His ranking of the top non-BCS conference teams has BYU on the top (we like that pick), Fresno State second (predictable), and our very own Boise State Broncos third.

What we know: Minus safety Marty Tadman, the defensive back seven returns. So does running back and non-BCS posterboy Ian Johnson.
What we don't know: The starting quarterback and several first-team offensive linemen.
How the Broncos can reach a BCS bowl game: Win nonconference road games at Oregon and Southern Miss before the favorable WAC schedule (home against Fresno State and Hawaii).

Someone might need to tell him that Orlando Scandrick turned pro. Otherwise, we agree with his assessment, however obvious it might be.

Here is his take on Boise State's spring practice preview:

Quarterback also is a priority at Boise State, which breaks in a new starter for the second straight season. Bush Hamdan has held the top spot before, but fell to fourth on the depth chart last season. He will compete with Nick Lomax and Mike Coughlin this spring.

Apparently, he did not use this kid as a source.

Cougars, Bulldogs top spring power rankings [ESPN.com]
Spring offers promise... [ESPN.com]

Vote for BSU

This weekend is the last chance to vote in ESPN's Greatest Highlight. The Statue of Liberty play is up against the Miracle on Ice in the finals, so vote, vote, vote. Results will be aired on Sunday.

The Greatest Highlight [ESPN]

Boise State highlight in the finals

Who's Now? The 2007 Fiesta Bowl, that's who!

The Statue of Liberty play from the greatest college football game of all time has made it to the finals of ESPN's Greatest Highlight competition. The play beat out Doug Flutie's Hail Mary in a battle of planned, decisive strategy versus blind, dumb luck. The final result wasn't even close as BSU took 68 percent of the vote.

Next up for Statue Left is either the winning goal in the Miracle on Ice or the Immaculate Reception. The winner will be announced later today, and voting for the finals will take place after that.

In case you happen to have forgot the greatest moment of your life, here is the video:



Bronco Statue of Liberty play advances [Broncosports.com]

Boise State highlight in top four

Boise State's Statue of Liberty Play beat Cal-Standford's "the band is on the field" in the quarterfinals of ESPN's greatest highlight competition. BSU got 56% of the vote in the quarters after advancing past Jordan's game-winner against the Jazz with 61%.

Next up? Doug Flutie's hail mary. Voting takes place on Sunday.

ESPN's Greatest Highlight [ESPN.com]

Vote for the Greatest Higlight

Vote early and vote often for Boise State's Statue of Liberty play in the ESPN Greatest Highlight contest today. Here is the link: the Greatest Highlight.

ESPN Widget entertaing to say the least

I've added this handy little ESPN widget to my iGoogle homepage that is sure to keep me up to date on all of Boise State's greatest storylines--through the eyes of ESPN at least. First of all, as you can see they've yet to remove the Hawaii Bowl score. Thanks a lot. Secondly, the first link under team news leads to Schlabach's top 25 for next year that has no reference to Boise State but does have Fresno State at number 25, which is typical of their preseason overratedness. I'm used to it by now.

The real gem that this widget brings is the second link under Team News: "WAC signing day conversation." When I click on the link, I'm greeted with a wonderful invitation to join in the WAC signing day conversation. Of all 19 comments that were received, here are some of my favorites (complete with pictures because, well, profile pictures for commenters are a favorite of mine):

I think he's talking about the pack of wolves nestled in his beard for the winter.

johnnyhurl seems to be taking heart in numbers. Whenever you are just happy that your school was able to give away all their scholarships, well that can't be very good. And if you guessed that he's a Hawaii fan by the fact that he is not wearing a shirt, you'd be correct.

I'm glad Moose has relieved me of my duty to sit by my phone waiting for Mr. Hansen to call. The all caps on EAST CAROLINA was a nice touch also. I choose to believe he got worked up enough that he was really yelling out loud as he typed that.

Boise State Football's Greatest Highlight

The Broncos' Fiesta Bowl highlight has moved into the second round of ESPN's Greatest Highlight faux-tournament. Boise State had to beat Michael Jordan's game-winning shot against Utah to advance.

Their foe in the next round? Cal-Stanford "The band is on the field!" play. We should be able to take them. Voting is on Wednesday. If you vote for only one thing this year, make it ESPN's Greatest Highlight. If you vote for two things, vote for the President.

ESPN's Greatest Highlight [ESPN]