NCAA Football boise state Broncos

Kellen Moore exceeded expectations last year when he became the first freshman quarterback to ever start a season opener at quarterback for Boise State.

Moore's poise and production also were off the charts, helping the Broncos come within two points of an undefeated season. He was named Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year and second-team all conference in addition to being named Boise State's Most Valuable Offensive Player by a vote of teammates.

That's plenty of praise and hardware, but don't think for a second Moore is blinded by his success.

"We have high expectations here," Moore told FanHouse. "We go into each week with a game plan and I am expected to do what I do, whether it's throwing a certain route or whatever. We prepare in practice and nothing really happens brand new out on the field during the game."

Boise State has made a national name for itself in college football, even as a relative newcomer being located in Idaho and in the WAC. They have done it by committing resources to the program, finding up-and-coming coaches and paying a competitive wage to promote the stability.

Economic times are tough, though. The funding has been cut and ticket sales and donations are down. Boise State, like plenty of other programs not in the SEC, is cutting back. They are eliminating printed media guides. Jobs in athletic departments are being cut. They still need to find a way to bring in more money.

The 12-0 Boise State Broncos came to San Diego with an eye on perfection. If they had studied history they would have known to exercise extreme caution. San Diego was where famed thoroughbred Cigar was felled after a 16-race win streak. He very nearly won the Pacific Classic at Del Mar but was passed not far from the finish line. Football teams aren't horses but they can suffer the same athletic tales of defeat.

And so it was for the previously unspoiled Broncos who held a lead for much of a tightly fought game before falling behind in the fourth quarter. At different points in the game TCU had outgained Boise nearly 3-to-1 and 2-to-1, but Boise also built a 13-0 lead before surrendering a touchdown just before halftime. TCU further carved into that, making it 13-10 in the third quarter before taking a 17-13 lead on the strength of a gamelong 278-yard ground assault marked by a ridiculous nine (!) third down conversions.

Boise State rallied to 17-16 after another field goal, but giving the ball to TCU with just over four minutes left was a bad choice as TCU chewed up over three minutes of clock to hold on. Coffee is for closers and after blowing a fourth quarter lead against Utah earlier in the year, TCU redeemed itself and got its coffee while Boise State wonders what 13-0 and several weeks of BCS complaining could have felt like.

This thing lived up to the hype, but not in a way most fans expected.

This is the biggest non-BCS Bowl in Bowl Season '08. It is the one with national buzz and curiosity. In the abstract, writing that a battle between WAC and MWC teams, in a pre-Christmas bowl, would be one of the most anticipated bowls seems almost absurd. The reality is that this not only provides an intriguing match-up between two teams ranked in the top 11, but it is expected to be one of the most competitive and exciting of all the bowl games. A meeting between two well-coached, very good teams.

TCU's defense and Boise State's offense get the attention, but it isn't as if either team is a slouch on the other side of the ball. TCU has the 29th-best offense and Boise has the 16th-best defense in 1-A.

The game and the liveblog kickoff around 8 PM EST. Join us to talk about the game as it unfolds and the other bowl matchups for the rest of the week.

No, seriously.

Buried at the end of a positive article on the Humanitarian Bowl "hoping for a big turnout" that matches the whopping 26,000 that showed last year is this stark reminder of what happens when your bowl game is played in Boise, Idaho:

As of Monday afternoon the University of Maryland says it's sold about 16 tickets to the game. The University of Nevada says it's sold 8 so far.

"About" 16 tickets? How can the word "about" ever be followed by the number 16? If I worked in the Maryland ticket department I would at all times have a completely accurate number of tickets sold in my head: 16.

It will remain 16 until the game, at which point it will remain 16 for all time. If I run in to someone who worked at the Maryland ticket office in 2088 I will immediately query them about the number of tickets sold to the 2008 Humanitarian Bowl and if I do not get the answer "16" I will pull the mask from their face, revealing the supposed Terrapin to be a googly-eyed alien invader. This, I predict, will save the planet.

You're welcome in advance.

(HT: ONBUG)

Turkey Legs to Go is FanHouse's complete travel guide for all of the 2008-2009 college bowl games. Here, we cover the Poinsettia Bowl (San Diego, California), which pits TCU against Boise State.

Overview/Matchup: Ah. San Di-ahgo. In German, it means ... er, nevermind. The Poinsettia Bowl normally features a Mountain West team matched up against someone from the PAC-10. But with "things" happening, the Poinsettia actually ended up pulling on TCU and Boise State -- a fantastic matchup that probably leaves to underrated teams a little bitter, considering the strong seasons both had and the relative earliness of their bowl appearance.

Hotels: The Grand Del Mar is the best and newest hotel in San Diego, it has great Southern California architecture gorgeous canyon views... unfortunately it's 20 minutes North of town & the stadium. In town stay at the Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter (which is pricey but they should have rooms under 200) or for a cheaper rate and better proximity to the stadium try the Courtyard by Marriott San Diego.

Restaurants: Spend time in the gas lamp district downtown, good shops and restaurants. If you're willing to drive, head for Silver Strand Blvd and eat at Mistral. The restaurant has great seafood and the best views in town. Lou & Mickey's is known for steaks, but our recommendation is the iced shellfish platter. Trophy's is a historic sports bar with plenty of fans, plenty of televisions and plenty of sports memorabilia.

Nightlife: Trophy's is also a great spot to enjoy a beer before or after the game. Head to the Altitude Skybar and Garden Lounge for higher-brow (and higher-priced) nightlife. 22 stories up, this rooftop bar caters to young professionals, offers great city views and even has blankets for patrons on cold nights.

All travel related information brought to you by Professional Travel Guide.

The rumor today on the coaching carousel was that Boise State head coach Chris Petersen was heading to Mississippi State. This was an early rumor since the Mississippi State athletic director, Greg Byrne worked at Oregon at the same time that Petersen was an assistant coach there. The rumor gained "legitimacy" when an Idaho TV station (KVIV-TV) started reporting an posting that Petersen had been offered a four-year, $9 million deal.

Then Boise State and Chris Petersen issued a statement.

"I have a lot of respect for director of athletics Greg Byrne and the Mississippi State athletic program, but I am not taking the head coaching position at Mississippi State. Mississippi State has not offered me the head coaching position. I normally do not comment on coaching positions at other schools, but felt I needed to do so in this situation. We are very happy here at Boise State and look forward to our upcoming bowl game later this month."

That tanked the rumor and KVIV completely changed the story -- scrubbing any reference to a contract offer in the story. (No one appears to have a screen shot, but at least a couple sites had linked to the article and cited it as mentioning the contract length and money.)

It seems very likely that Petersen is indeed staying at Boise State. At the very least, he is not taking the Mississippi State job. The Bulldog job just does not fit Petersen from a geographic profile. With the exception of one season as the QB coach at Pitt in 1992, the California native's history is all based on the West Coast and Boise.

Truth be told, a lot of casual ACC fans probably didn't realize that the conference tie-in still existed. And I'm not sure if they'd miss it- usually, a bid to Boise is indicative of a season that was horribly uneven, thoroughly disappointing or, in the case of a serious rebuilding project, a half-lit beacon of hope.

Don't know what you got til it's gone, I suppose. More likely than not, Boise State is going to end up at home as the WAC representative, and rumor has it that Roady's is taking a serious look at similarly undefeated Ball State...provided the ACC's cool with that. Lord knows the casual viewer would be, as it would represent the only matchup of undefeated teams during the entirety of bowl season. In the event that we see said BSU/BSU tilt, Maryland might end up in the awkward situation of playing Navy even though they've been quick to opt out of the natural rivalry. Looks like the Congressional Bowl is willing to call Maryland's "we got exams" bluff (see also: "I'm washing my hair that night") and work around the last day of finals for the Terrapins- otherwise, the bowl could have to ask Navy to allow a rematch against Wake.

With their 65-38 win over the Oregon State Beavers tonight, the Oregon Ducks became heroes to a lot of people in some far-flung places. Boise, Idaho is one of those places, as well as Columbus, Ohio, and a lot of other locales in Big Ten country.

The Ducks left little doubt about who was the better team tonight, rolling up almost 700 yards of offense. Two guys named Jeremiah were at the center of it all. Running back Jeremiah Johnson ran for over 200 yards, while quarterback Jeremiah Masoli passed for 277 more, including three touchdowns. Not even 13 penalties against them could slow down the Ducks.

The loss ends Oregon State's hopes of making it to the Rose Bowl. That's unfortunate. Beaver quarterback Lyle Moevao was as brilliant tonight as he has been all season long, passing for five touchdowns against two interceptions. Throw in two lost fumbles and a Duck offense playing completely over the moon and it's not hard to figure out how Oregon wound up winning so convincingly.

Now Southern Cal will head to the Rose Bowl to face Penn State in a matchup that absolutely no one outside of LA or State College will be looking forward to. Oh, and there's a BCS at-large slot open now.

As if anybody needed any proof that college football is completely batcakes, here it is. As we head into the final weekend, where all six BCS conferences will be playing, we don't really know who will grab the ten big-money bowl bids. There's a team in control of its own destiny and, in a way, everyone else's.

No, not either of those two. Alabama's getting a BCS bid no matter what. Florida only misses out if it loses to the Citadel, or to Florida State, and then loses to the Crimson Tide in Atlanta. Color that scenario unlikely.

Not one of those three either. There's a limit of two teams per conference in the BCS, so one of the Big 12 South's power trio gets left out no matter what happens in the next three weeks. If Missouri shocks the world in Kansas City, two of them get left out.

And relax. Nobody in the Big Ten will get to the title game, barring some unbelievable post-Thanksgiving train wreck the likes of which we haven't seen since, um, last season.

So who is it? Who's the mystery team that could be the kingmaker? Upon whom does the fortune of entire teams and conferences depend?