Question by vLo: So what do you think about Ball State turning down the chance to play Boise State in the Humanitarian Bowl?
They’re both undefeated, and some people feel it’s unfair they aren’t afforded the opportunities to go to BCS, yet Ball is afraid to face Boise?
I realize BCS selections have not been made…I said afforded the opportunities to go to BCS as many feel it is highly unlikely either Ball State or Boise State will be in the BCS.
Best answer:
Answer by g s
Cowards! Hope they get stomped by some .500 team in Detroit’s bowl!
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
Demonstrates the intelligence of Ball State.
No intelligent person would want to be in Boise for part of their christmas break.
I applaud them for their smart decision-making.
Wimpy, wimpy wimpy
I think the teams with the best record in Division I should go, but it’d be boring without a big name school.
I’d say Ball St. hopes to win tonight and goes to a bigger bowl.
Well its not exactly a tourist destination in Boise. Obviously this would be a home game for Boise anyway. Plus the blue field.
I am more concerned about my Notre Dame team facing a team like Ball State and losing to them in a bowl.
P.S. BCS selections have not been made yet!
Ball State hasn’t faced such a superpowered team such as Boise, so there might’ve been a “Fear factor” involved. But I think Ball State simply wanted a higher bowl bid, that’s all. I mean, when you’re 12-0, why settle for the freakin’ Humanitarian Bowl?
No football should be played on a blue field. Period.
They ain’t got no “balls” at Ball St….
It was the humanitarian thing to do.
They will go to whichever bowl offers the most money.
Not likely in Idaho
As to being offered a BCS bowl, strenght of schedule should have some meaning. Ball State only played 3 opponents who had winning records.
As to the turn down, that’s ridiculous. They’ve been offered an opportunity to face another undefeated (a pretty good one!), a chance to silence their critics. They’re foolish not to play this game.
EDIT
Perhaps they want a bowl game with a cooler sounding sponser?
They’ll probably get more money from whatever other bowl they go to. They won’t have to go to Idaho in December. They won’t have to play on their opponents home field in any other bowl. Most important, they won’t have to play on blue grass.
Good decision.
45-35
Enough said!
Hook’em!!
Their AD is a sissy. That team would have gotten more national exposure in the first 15 minutes of that game than they have in their entire existance. The WAC was even going to increase the payout in attempt to lure them.
They didn’t want to risk their best ranking in history and knew they would get pounded by Boise.
To all of you bashing the City of Boise and the state of Idaho….have you ever even been there? It’s actually a pretty nice place.
I think they were scared. They had some lame excuses, didn’t want to travel because the fans might not afford to go. Well, you don’t keep a team from playing a bowl game just because of that.
The coach wasn’t looking out for his team, he was looking out for his record. He can say he led an undefeated team, but people will know he turned down a game, so technically, they forfeited that game.
Also, does he realize there would probably be scouts at that game? Some of his players could have gone to the NFL because of that game, but he ruined their chances. He should go and play, the worse that can happen is they lose, oh well, its only a game.
It was a mistake of monumental proportion.
wimps.
They used a lame excuse of not wanting to play Boise on their home field but that is just a cop out. Truth is that they didn’t want to get their butts handed to them. What did Boise State do when they were invited to play TCU on their home field for the Fort worth bowl in 2003? They went down and beat them because they had a backbone and wanted to prove that they were good. Ball State on the other hand knows that they are not really that good and would get exposed as a mediocre team at best by going to Boise.
Who in their right mind would want to spend time in Idaho?
I say it was there chance to become a recognized collegiate sport program nationally and they cowardly walked away from the opportunity of a unknown university’s lifetime. All I can say wow…….
I think it was smart. This was all about Boise and not Ball State. After all the Bowl is basically a Boise home game where Boise (the city and the university) gets the money even if they lose. If the game was played in Kansas (a state basically in the middle of the U.S. and home of neither), then Ball State would have probably accepted.
Boise St. deserves to play away from Boise and Ball State deserves to play on a neutral field. With that said, it would be intelligent for the Independence Bowl to try to put this together, just need to amp up the financial payout by getting more sponsors since this game would probably be one of the top 3 bowl games of the season. Since it looks like Western Michigan is headed there anyway why not move them to a MAC Bowl with the Southland champ. Plus its in Louisiana where its warm. The only problem is the 1.1 million dollar payout that neither of these 2 undefeated, highly ranked teams would accept, nor would their respective conferences. Boise could move to the Motor City Bowl but I don’t think the Motor City Bowl even made an attempt (despite their open slot their going to give the NC State).
Also note that Ball State was not afraid, it just wasn’t the right choice to play in the Humanitarian Bowl unless financially it was very superior. Their fans would have trouble traveling, its cold, its Boise St.’s home field, and so on. They had no benefit other than some national exposure they will get plenty of if they finish 14-0 anyway. Don’t get me wrong Ball State and Boise BOTH wanted this game. Boise even gave the TCU matchup a back seat for this but the simple fact that the only bowl that really persude it happens to be Boise St.’s bowl. Then again I personally think that not all the options were exhausted but why struggle when you got another top 4 or 5 bowl game waiting for you against a great opponent or you got an undefeated route laid out for you.
But I guarantee if this matchup was offered to both teams at a good neutral site (warm or dome in a good city) and the payout was worth it both teams wouldn’t have to think twice about excepting it unless a BCS option came up.
I think they’re holding out for a game that they can actually win. They’re tucking their tails between their legs and running…its just that simple.
On the surface, it is puzzling. But once you break it down, I can understand. the Humanitarian Bowl is not really a bowl game, its a Boise State home game, on their field, thier fans. Ball State would have to travel, to a place that is not exactly a prime tourist spot, so the fans traveling to the game will be limited. Sure they split the gate, but after expenses it does not pencil out. Now if the game were in San Diego or New Mexico or one of the souther bowls, then I think Ball state would have accepted.
Here is what the big boys said:
Ball State backbone questioned
By Jason King, Yahoo! Sports
Dec 4, 9:27 am EST
A few days after Ball State finished the regular season with a 12-0 record, folks around the Mid-American Conference began referring to the Cardinals as one of the best teams in league history.
Hogwash.
Elite programs don’t cower in corners when faced with a challenge, which is exactly what Ball State did Wednesday when it declined an invitation to play Boise State in the Humanitarian Bowl.
The game would’ve been one of most intriguing matchups of the postseason. Both 12-0, the Broncos and Cardinals are the only two undefeated teams in college football that won’t be playing in a BCS Bowl.
Yes, the Humanitarian Bowl is played on the Broncos’ home field in Boise, but that shouldn’t matter. The stadium would’ve been packed, television ratings would’ve been huge. Win or lose, the Cardinals would’ve received a level of exposure their program has never known.
Unfortunately, though, the game will never happen.
The Cardinals were too scared.
In some ways it wasn’t difficult to understand Ball State’s position. Coach Brady Hoke had plenty of legitimate reasons for wanting to steer clear of the Humanitarian Bowl.
With the economy in such turmoil, Hoke realizes that many Ball State fans would not make the 1,900-mile trek from Indiana to see the Cardinals play Boise State, which is just two years removed from its upset of Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl.
Even more daunting was that the Broncos are 35-3 in three seasons under Chris Petersen. Over the last 10 years they tout the best winning percentage in all of college football.
Simply playing Boise State is tough enough. Doing so on its home turf would’ve been an even taller task.
Still, the challenge – the opportunity – is one that most up-and-coming programs would welcome. Pat Hill’s “any-time-any-place” approach helped Fresno State earn a reputation as one of top non-BCS programs in college football. Even in their down years, the Bulldogs are admired for being fearless. People respect them.
Right now, not too many people respect Ball State.
Yes, the Cardinals are 12-0, and it’s true Ball State has one of the top three or four quarterbacks in college football in Nate Davis. But take a look at its schedule.
The Cardinals’ 12 opponents are a collective 54-88. Only three of them finished with a winning record. Ask any Ball State diehard, and they’ll tell you the team’s marquee victory came against in-state rival Indiana, which went 3-9.
The bottom line is that people still want to see if Ball State is for real. All season long, fans and notable alums have complained that media-types and voters haven’t given the Cardinals their due, but it’s tough to shower too much praise upon a program that displays such cowardice the one time they have a chance to face a quality opponent.
In trying to save face by avoiding a potential butt-kicking in Boise, Ball State actually made itself look worse. Humanitarian Bowl executive director Kevin McDonald called the situation “unfortunate for college football.”
Unfortunate? Try embarrassing. Not just for Ball State, but for the Mid-American Conference, too.
MAC Commissioner Rick Chryst should’ve done everything in his power to convince Ball State to accept the H-Bowl’s invitation. His failure to do so makes his league look small-time in comparison to non-BCS conferences such as Conference USA, the Western Athletic Conference and the Mountain West.
Also inexcusable was the comment Ball State athletic director Tom Collins made to the university’s student newspaper. “I think it would be great for television,” Collins said, “but I’m not sure it’s fair to our student-athletes to ask them to go out and play on Boise State’s home field.”
Can’t help but wonder if the Cardinals appreciate their athletic director making them sound like wimps.
What Collins might not realize is that things could get even uglier for Ball State in the Motor City Bowl in Detroit, its likely destination this postseason. Although nothing has been made official, the feeling is that the Cardinals will face either North Carolina State or Notre Dame.
Let’s start with the North Carolina State. The Wolfpack is 6-6, but that record is deceiving, as Tom O’Brien’s squad won its last four games of the season after making a quarterback change. N.C. State will enter the Motor City Bowl high on confidence and swagger.
Think about it. If Ball State lost to Boise State on the Broncos’ home field, at least the Cardinals would’ve had an excuse. They still would’ve received credit for accepting the Humanitarian Bowl bid under such adverse circumstances, and their program would’ve continued to rise.
But a loss – especially a bad one – to a .500 North Carolina State team would validate all of the criticism and doubt that has hovered over Ball State all season.
Even if Ball State continues to win in the future, it will be tough to gain much respect outside of its own conference.
Then there’s Notre Dame. What good could come from playing the Fighting Irish? By doing so, Ball State runs the risk of losing to one of the most underachieving teams in Notre Dame history. Charlie Weis’ squad is so bad that its own fans threw snowballs at players following a Nov. 22 loss to lowly-Syracuse. A week later the Fighting Irish mustered just 91 yards against USC.
Ball State would be lampooned if they lost this game – and rightfully so.
Even if the Cardinals won, they wouldn’t receive much praise. The headlines the following morning would all be centered on the Fighting Irish’s dismal season. No one would care that Ball State won against a bad team. The situation would be a lose-lose for the Cardinals, a group of outstanding football players who deserve better.
Brady Hoke is a good football coach. He’s done wonders for a program that receives little help from Ball State’s administration. Hell, Hoke doesn’t even have his own office and, until a few years ago, earned less than the women’s basketball coach.
Still, all good coaches make mistakes, and Hoke and Ball State’s administration made a mammoth one Wednesday when they passed on invite to face Boise State in the Humanitarian Bowl.
This was Ball State’s chance to become a player, albeit a small one, in big-time college football. This was how the Cardinals could’ve forced people to begin mentioning them in the same breath with other non-BCS schools such as Fresno State, Boise State and Utah.
Instead, the best season in Ball State’s history will always be marked with an asterisk. As fondly as they’ll remember the games the Cardinals played, fans will also lament the one they didn’t.