After a tough loss to PITT on Saturday, many came out of the woodworks, saying that the Knights hopes of getting back to the New Years Six Bowl scene for a third straight year are out of the question.
When you look at the landscape of college football right now, one would certainly beg to differ. The top spot in the rankings of non-power five schools is Boise State ranked 16th in the country. They have picked up some stellar wins so far, lets review… Week one, a squeaker against FSU. Now, four years ago, that is a solid win. In 2019, not so much.
Florida State didn’t even make a bowl game last season. The year before that, they lost their head coach and had to reschedule a game that was canceled due to a hurricane just to make it to a bowl game. This season, Florida State is sitting at 2-2, and the happiest you have seen this team was when they beat ULM in overtime. The other win for the Noles came against Louisville.
Boise’s other wins came over Portland State, Marshall, and Air Force. 4-0, I get it, undefeated. However, I’m not sold at all on the Broncos as we head into the rest of the season. Give me until October 19th, when BYU welcomes the Boise to town. The Cougars could be the last remaining true test on the schedule. The BYU has had a gauntlet to start the season. They had 3 out of 4 of their matchups coming against teams from the top 25 and sit 2-2.
If the Broncos drop a game or even have a slew of their games end close, you could see them drop in ranks. The Knights have a tough road game against Cincinnatti on their schedule, which is about the last chance of an impressive win for the season for them. However, if they finish out the season winning the rest of their games, a one-point loss to PITT may still look nicer than the Broncos one-loss or even possible undefeated schedule.
Remember, PITT’s losses are to an undefeated 18th ranked Virginia team, and by one score to 12th ranked Penn State. We will find out who Virginia really is this weekend as they face 10th ranked Notre Dame. The Nittany Lions haven’t been truly tested yet either. However, plenty of tests await them.
We can all agree that they took their destiny out of their hands. But to think that UCF is completely out of the running for a spot in the New Years Six Bowl slot is a bit silly, seeing that they are still ranked 22nd after the loss in the AP Poll. Another loss though, and the Knights will be well out of the conversation.
Written by Adrian Beecher
