TCU, Boise State Break Through the BCS Glass Ceiling

By Keith Antigiovanni

Since 1998 the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) in college football has dictated which teams qualify for the BCS bowls and the BCS National Championship Game. Until a few years ago only teams from the BCS conferences (ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big 10, Pac-10, SEC and Notre Dame) that were either conference champs or at-large teams qualified.

Programs such as TCU and Boise State have dominated their non-BCS opponents in the past 14 seasons in the BCS era. TCU has achieved 13 of 14 winning seasons, posted a 125-35 record, won their conference 7 times, won 5 bowls and 1 BCS Bowl while Boise State has had 14 straight winning seasons, 127-15 record, 9 conference titles, 5 bowl wins and 2 BCS Bowl wins.

The knock on both non-BCS programs is that they pile up wins over non-BCS teams which is true but they also have proven to hold their own against BCS competition. Granted they may not deserve a chance in the BCS Title game but the format is confusing enough without a playoff. College football fans know that both teams could make noise in a playoff format the way underdog teams win games in the college basketball tournament. For example, an underdog Butler Bulldogs squad has been to two consecutive NCAA finals.

DEspite their relatively easy schedule both deserve a chance to compete with the "Big Boys" when TCU joins their old Southwest Conference foes in the Big 12 and Boise State joins the Big East. We'll see how both teams fare against better competition but the chance to compete in the BCS is a reward for two programs who have not only desired to win but have won and won consistently in the BCS era.