BOISE, Idaho — THIS DAY IN SPORTS…October 17, 2010:
The first BCS standings of the season are released, and Boise State earns the highest BCS ranking ever by a non-automatic qualifying school in the days before the College Football Playoff. The Broncos were third on the BCS list behind Oklahoma and Oregon on the same day they were voted a record-high No. 2 in the AP, Harris and Coaches Polls. But Boise State’s combined computer ranking was No. 7. The Broncos were 6-0 at that point, having beaten their previous three opponents by a combined 164-14. The whole perspective was so different 13 years ago as everyone was wondering why the Broncos weren’t higher than No. 3 in the hallowed BCS.
From the Scott Slant the day after: “Oklahoma beat Utah State by seven and Air Force by three at home and Cincinnati by two on the road. That’s the same Utah State that lost at Louisiana Tech last week by 18, the same Air Force that lost at San Diego State Saturday night by two, and the same Cincinnati that fell at Fresno State by 14 on Opening Night. So that has a lot of people asking, ‘What are the computers thinking?’ Oklahoma was a surprise No. 1 last night when the first BCS standings of 2010 were unveiled, with Oregon No. 2 and Boise State No. 3. The Broncos were undone by the computers. They are not being disrespected by the humans.”
Boise State was coming off a 48-0 road rout of San Jose State, holding the Spartans to 80 yards of total offense, the fewest allowed in 38 years. The Broncos’ resume included two victories over ranked teams: 33-30 over No. 7 Virginia Tech and 37-24 over No. 24 Oregon State. They were first in the nation in total defense, rushing defense, and pass efficiency. No. 3 was as high as Boise State would get in the BCS rankings. They slipped slightly to No. 4 two weeks later and stayed there—until the devastating loss to Nevada the night after Thanksgiving. That took Boise State out of a probable Rose Bowl berth, but this was still the best team in school history.
The other dominant hobby of the time locally was the Heisman Watch. Boise State’s Kellen Moore tabbed as the No. 3 Heisman Trophy candidate by Joe Tessitore on that week’s ESPN “Heismanology” segment. Moore was behind Auburn’s Cam Newton and Oregon’s LaMichael James. Stanford’s Andrew Luck would join those three at the Heisman ceremony in New York City in December, with Newton winning the trophy and Moore, a junior, finished fourth.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
Watch more Sports:
See KTVB sports coverage in our YouTube playlist:
HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET NEWS FROM KTVB:
Download the KTVB News Mobile App
Apple iOS: Click here to download
Google Play: Click here to download
Watch news reports for FREE on YouTube: KTVB YouTube channel
Stream Live for FREE on ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching 'KTVB'.
Stream Live for FREE on FIRE TV: Search ‘KTVB’ and click ‘Get’ to download.
