The Broncos are No. 1.
No, not these Broncos, but, rather, those mighty, mighty Broncos of Boise State.
The prestigious CP3O is awarding its first collegiate football championship trophy to the dominant and predominantly orange- and-blue team with a Bronco on the helmet.
After much deliberation by the committee of one, myself, and consultation with many of great football minds in the country, College’s Paige Power Poll Organization has decided that Boise State, with an NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision record-tying 14-0 record, a season-opening victory over the Pac-10 titlist, five victories over bowl teams and a victory over the No. 3 team in the country in the Fiesta Bowl, deserves to be a national champion.
Hail to the Broncos and the Western Athletic Conference (which, coincidentally, has its headquarters in Englewood).
Let the BCS choose its mythical No. 1, the winner of Thursday night’s championship game. But also allow the CP3O to pick the People’s Champ.
Our motto is: “Blazers we don’t wear, which means we can be fair.”
President Obama can summon the BCS champions to the White House. CP3O is inviting the Broncos to my house. For the Lil Team That Could, the entertainment will be provided by my good friend Lil Wayne.
I will present to the Broncos the imposing 28-inch, four-column, three-tier national championship trophy topped by a diamond(-shaped) frame surrounding a football — purchased from the website ., for $49.95 retail. The Broncos can have any inscription engraved (24 letters maximum).
OK, skeptics among us will claim that the Broncos are not authentic champions. Sure, my system is not perfect, but neither is the BCS, (Bull Conspiracists Scheme). Until there is a true national championship tournament, there will be doubts. Eight times in the two most recent decades, for instance, two teams, or more, have been selected as national champions after the season ended. Colorado and Georgia Tech were co-champions for the 1990 season.
Both Alabama and Texas have been forced to share titles in the past.
The Broncos opened the season with an impressive victory over Oregon and sprung to a 6-0 mark, just as another team of Broncos. But unlike the sagging Broncos in this town, the Boise State Broncos won their final eight, concluding with a gritty 17-10 triumph over TCU, which also was undefeated and a candidate for the CP3O prize.
Nevertheless, it was suggested that the BCS-busting Broncos couldn’t beat, or even hang with, the Crimson Tide or the Longhorns, no matter if the BSUers screamed until their faces were the same color as their home stadium field.
But a bevy of Broncos believers, who also had determined that Colorado had hired the wrong coach from Boise State, know that the WACky Boise Boys have proven they can play with anybody, and they are not one-hit wonders. (Ask the Oklahoma Sooners, who lost to the Broncos in the Fiesta Bowl three years ago, and, now, the Ducks and the Horned Frogs, and ask the 10 teams that gave up 42, 44, 45, 45, 48, 49, 51, 52, 54 and 63 points to the Broncos this season.)
By the way, the TV ratings for the Fiesta Bowl were higher than those for every other bowl — including the Orange and the Sugar — except the Rose and Thursday night’s BCS championship. The Fiesta ratings were up 35 percent over last year.
Still need proof about the Broncos?
After falling to Boise State, Oregon went on to defeat UCLA, which defeated Tennessee, which barely lost to Alabama (12-10) in Tuscaloosa, Ala., because of a blocked field goal on the final play.
Before bowing to Boise State, Texas Christian had defeated BYU, which beat Oklahoma, which barely lost to Texas (16-13) in Dallas after Sooners quarterback Sam Bradford reinjured his right shoulder in the first quarter.
The Horns beat Nebraska by a point in a controversial finish, and the Tide scored with 1:24 remaining to beat Auburn by only five.
So, who’s to say Boise couldn’t have won in overtime, with a trick play, over Alabama or Texas?
Bill Hancock, the new executive director of the BCS, admitted on Thursday that the BCS method of crowning a champion “is not completely popular” — oh, really — but he declared that “it’s in the best interests of the universities.”
It’s not in the best interest of Boise State University or all the universities.
But the BCS champion is not the one and only. BSU is the other 1.
Woody Paige: 303-954-1095 or wpaige@denverpost.com
