How does Boise State football Compare Against the Power 5?

Boise State has the third best winning percentage of all time, falling only to Michigan (second) and Notre Dame (first). Haters of Boise State claim that this is only due to the fact that they have played a SIGNIFICANTLY fewer games than the majority of other teams, which is very true seeing that the Boise State football program is about 90 years younger than Michigan and Notre Dame football. However, since the 2000 season, the Broncos hold the #1 winning percentage in college football (adjusted for last season): 176-32 (84.6%) – Oklahoma is #2: 172-41 (80.8%). And the best home record (96-6 or 94%) since that same year. Notice which two teams are not in the top two since 2000?

Fun Facts: From 2000-2015, Boise State has had eight seasons (50% of the seasons) with 1 or less loss, including two undefeated seasons, which ended with Fiesta Bowl Championships. Then within four seasons (2008-2011), the Broncos only lost 3 games by a total of 5 points (twice to TCU by one point, and twice by last minute missed field goals). Including the 2012 season, they had five losses in five seasons by a total of 11 points. That equals the amount of losses they had in the 2013 season alone.

The most common argument against Boise State’s winning-ness is due to how “weak” of teams they consistently play. Again, this is not entirely untrue. However, when we look at the matchups between power teams and power conferences, we begin to see how good Boise State really is.

Power 5 Matchups

Since the 2000 season, Boise State is 18-17 against teams currently in a Power 5 conference (2-0 against Utah before they moved to the Pac 12, 2-2 against TCU before they moved to the Big 12, and 0-1 against Louisville before they moved to the ACC). Now, 18-17 isn’t great, but for being a smaller school in a “weaker” conference, that’s pretty solid! Even more solid is when we look at the Broncos’ record against P5 teams for the last 10 seasons (2006-2015), which is 15-7 (a 68% record). In other words, the second half of our first decade as an FBS school (Division I-A), Boise State went 3-10 compared to the second decade at 15-7. (Is it a coincidence that Boise State has done so great in the last 10 years?!)

Boise State has played the majority of their P5 opponents from the Pac 12, the Big 12, and the SEC. Here is a detailed breakdown by conference for all Power 5 conferences:

OVERALL (2000-2015)

2000-2005

LAST 10 SEASONS

Between 2000-2005, Boise State had a rough time with Washington State (0-2), Oregon State (1-2), and Arkansas (0-2) – six of their ten losses to P5 schools came from these three teams. In the last 10 seasons, their biggest threats have been Washington (2-2) and TCU (1-2), making up four of the six P5 losses (Note: TCU was not in a P5 conference at the time of these games). The teams the Broncos performed the best against are Utah (2-0) and Oregon (2-0). (Note: Utah also wasn’t in a P5 conference at the time).

Moving on Up?

Could this make for a reasonable case for the Broncos to move into a Power 5 conference? It’s at LEAST a strong point in claiming they can keep up with the “stronger” conferences. In fact, the two conferences typically associated with Boise State’s future (Pac 12 and Big 12), are the two P5 conferences the Boise State has a winning record against since 2000. In addition to these recent performances, the Broncos have been having great success in getting players to the NFL and making solid contributions to their teams.

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