My very first college football game was back in the 1970s, at BSU Stadium. My cousin was a linebacker for the Broncos, and I thought BSU was BIG TIME! Little did I know that I-AA football was small-time.

I have some exceptional memories of Boise State football. Back in the early 1990s, while I was in college, the University of Nevada and BSU played a triple-overtime game in the I-AA playoffs that was AWESOME: that was back in the day when I-A games ended in a tie, with no overtime. I-AA had their playoff system in place for years and years before the I-A dips*its started whispering about it instead of this asinine BCS setup, and they played overtime games.

The Boise State/Fresno State comparison is accurate, in my opinion. Back about 6-7 years ago, when Pat Hill declared "We'll play anybody, anyplace, anytime," Fresno State got a dose of reality. They went 11-3 in 2001, and then improved their schedule to include the Tennessees, Oklahomas, Wisconsins and USCs of the world.

They've lost an average of 5 to 6 games a year since then. It would be the same for BSU if they jacked up their schedule.

I love BSU, I respect what they've done, and I'd love to see them tackle an occasional SEC or Big 10 team, but I don't think they'd be a 1- or 2-loss team if they had a legit non-conference schedule. They HAVE to get Sacramento State, Portland State, Idaho State, etc. off their schedule.

JS/NWWC