Boise State Strikes Another Blow for the Other Five

Really, who else would the EverySchool want to be its standard bearer?

Especially if the Fiesta Bowl is on the line.

Boise State's Broncos are the prototypical lunch-bucket team. The coaching staff scans the leftovers after big-brand recruiters have their way, finds athletes with their kind of attitude, coaches them up, and then -- more often than not -- rises to the occasion whenever a spotlight beckons.

Oklahoma knows this. So does Texas Christian. And now, Arizona understands.

These dudes are the Mountain West champions. That's a rugged, can-do conference that steps up:

• Then-member Utah dismantled Alabama in the Sugar Bowl and Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl;
• Then-member TCU took down Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl;
• And then there's Boise State, now 3-0 in Fiesta Bowls.

How does an outfit like this not get a shot at the bracket?

Oh, yeah. It's in the Other Five. The team that beats Oregon -- more than once -- and beats the team that beat this year's Oregon isn't a big brand or in a major market and doesn't have a hot Q Score except in the Fiesta Bowl.

Moving to a Power Five isn't in the cards. The Big XII will look East for markets that Memphis, Cincinnati and Central Florida can offer.

But why should the Broncos need to move from a proven conference? The American credo is allegedly about everyone deserving a shot. If that applies to anyone in the FBS, it's the Mountain West and Boise State.

And it's time the Power Five poobahs get their oft-tweaked noses out of the air and acknolwedge it.