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Nov 18, 2003 One of this year’s better movies is the true tale of a spunky race horse named Seabiscuit, who was an undersized underdog that made good on his big opportunity to be the best of the best. The nifty story comes from the book by Laura Hillenbrand, who was a bit of an underdog herself in just having enough strength and perseverance in writing the story. Speaking of the ponies, one has to start taking a serious look at the Boise State University Broncos, currently ranked 20th in both the AP and ESPN polls for the top NCAA football teams in the nation and on the move. The Broncos hail from the WAC conference, one of the few that don’t receive a lot of bowl attention. The same is true for its compatriot across the county, the MAC conference. Both conferences have had good representation in the top 25, with several teams breaking into the upper level of the football world over the past few years. Boise State was ranked 12th in the ESPN poll and 15th in the AP last year, and has once again moved into the top 20 this year. A couple of years ago, Fresno State of the WAC was ranked 8th in the nation at one point (David Carr’s senior season). The MAC has been consistently represented in the top 25 the past few years as well. Marshall, Northern Illinois, Bowling Green, Ball State and Miami of Ohio have all fielded top 25 teams, and this year is no different - the MAC currently has two teams in the top 25. The Seabiscuit analogy really fits these rising conferences. Fresno State has the motto of traveling anywhere to play anyone, just like Seabiscuit chasing the competition around the nation just for a chance to compete. Teams from both conferences actively seek to challenge the traditional football powers wherever they can play them. What is interesting is that the schools from these up and coming conferences often beat the bigger powers. The underdog does win on occasion, and those occasions are becoming more frequent. In the WAC this year Fresno State defeated Oregon State, Nevada beat Washington, and Boise State blew out BYU. Why are these underdog schools starting to beat the bigger schools more frequently? Are they getting more skilled players? That may be part of the answer, but the main reason for the improvement in these programs is the installation of powerful football systems. Instead of rebuilding, these programs are simply reloading and marching forward. One advantage that the bigger schools have is that there is no one above them for their coaches to migrate to. When a coach stays in one place for some time, the opportunity to develop a powerful system is at hand. Some of the schools in the up and coming leagues such as the MAC and WAC have been able to retain coaches longer than ususal, or at least keep some of the better assistants on, with one moving up to head coach. This in turn allows them to keep their system partially intact, or even improving. Boise State, for instance, lost head coach Dirk Koetter to Arizona State a couple of years ago, but kept top assistant Dan Hawkins, who turned out to be an even better head coach than Koetter was for the Broncos. And the system put in place by Koetter was improved by Hawkins as the Broncos advanced to become a perennial top 20 team. Pat Hill at Fresno State also has developed a strong program that competes with anyone, often knocking off a big school when the opportunity presents itself. There has been a lot in the press recently about the need for the non-Bowl Conference Series schools to have more representation in the post season bowls. The play of the MAC and WAC teams in particular emphasize this point. Like Seabiscuit, these teams just need a chance to show how good they are against top level competition. And they are truly underdogs - their budgets, facilities, and media exposure are not on par with the bigger schools. But the play of the teams are, which is quite an impressive achievement and a real treat to watch. Hopefully they will be given the chance to compete in the post season - that’s all they really ask for. ------------ About the author: Dwayne Hines currently has 12 books selling in major bookstores and writes for major magazines such as Physical and FitnessRX. Email Dwayne Hines: dhines@3dinet.com Comment on this column in the forum. Tell a friend about this site! ------------ |
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