BOWLNANZA!: The Fiesta Bowl

#9 Boise State (12-0) vs. #6 Oklahoma (11-2)

Most of the mid-major attention was focused on the TCU Horned Frogs in the preseason, but the surprise BCS party-crasher has been the Boise State Broncos. The Broncos still won a share of the WAC title last season, but appeared to have taken a bit of a step back, and things were expected to (at least temporarily) stay that way with the departure of coach Dan Hawkins. Still, then-OC and first-year head man Chris Petersen has led BSU to an undefeated record, and, well, here they are. Boise shellacked teams like Utah and Oregon State, but it hasn't been a completely smooth ride -- Idaho, San Jose State, Wyoming, and Hawaii all could've pulled off upsets against the Broncos. Boise's impressive statistically, as the defense is somehow top-20 in scoring and yardage while playing in the WAC, and then offense, hoo boy. BSU's #2 in scoring in the country (behind Hawaii), and #11 in yardage, led by the dual threat of RB Ian Johnson (1613 yards, and 24, yes, 24 TDs) and QB Jared Zabransky (2325 yards, 20/7 TD/INT.)

The Oklahoma Sooners had quite the off-season. A trendy national title pick, that all was cast into the wind when QB Rhett Bomar was found accepting money for a car dealership job he never logged hours for. Bomar is now "Sam Houston State QB Rhett Bomar," and the Sooners were forced to put in senior QB-turned WR Paul Thompson back behind center. Thompson wound up having as good a year as anyone could've expected (2434 yards, 20/8 TD/INT), but OU was set back once again as Baddester Man On The Planet (if Calvin Johnson is the baddest) and running back Adrian Peterson fractured his collarbone against Iowa State. Luckily, the offensive line had gelled by then, and Allen Patrick (700 yards, 4 TD) pretty much picked up where the original A.P. had left off. The Sooners defense started off somewhat slow, most notable being torched for over 500 in a controversial loss at Oregon, but the unit got the ball rolling, holding Texas to 265 yards, and holding both Colorado and Baylor to 140 or less yards in some of the more notable late-season efforts.

Boise's a nice story and all, but I think the Broncos are pretty outclassed here. I don't know about the statistics, but Utah in 2004 was probably a more dominant team (and the MWC is a step above the WAC anyway), and Oklahoma is a hell of a lot better than the Pittsburgh team the Utes faced. Adrian Peterson is back, and while Boise has a surprisingly high-ranked rushing defense, the only two WAC running backs worth mentioning are Ian Johnson, who's on their team, and Dwayne Wright, who still ran for over 5.1 yards a carry against BSU. Images of Boise's shellacking at Georgia last year are flashing in my mind, and if the Broncos pull this one off, they'll deserve every bit of the overexposure they'll get over what a big upset this was.

My Pick: Oklahoma
Confidence (out of 5): 4