Moore Fun in December

No. 9 Boise State vs. No. 11 TCU

Tuesday, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, CA

Why to Watch: This
game proves why the BCS is flawed. A game fit for January, and a game with the
potential to be a classic, relegated to a pre-Christmas slot. In fact, with
Boise State being ranked 9th and TCU being ranked 11th, this game will feature
teams both ranked higher than the teams playing in this year’s Orange Bowl, a
first in BCS history. The only beneficiaries of another BCS screw-up: the
viewers. If you could only watch one non-BCS game, I would suggest it be this
one. This game has it all. Boise State’s high-flying offense (the Broncos rank
12th nationally in scoring at 39.4 points per game) against TCU’s tough as
nails defense (the Horned Frogs rank second nationally at 10.9 points per
game). TCU allowed more than 297 yards of offense once this season, against
Oklahoma, and the Horned Frogs held seven opponents to fewer than 200 yards. In
fact, TCU was one of two teams to hold Oklahoma, the nation’s best offensive
team, to under 40 points. Boise State has had at least 340 yards in each game
and reached 484 yards in each of its final five regular-season games. Another
compelling match-up is the one between Boise State’s fabulous freshman
quarterback and TCU’s relentless D-end. The Broncos Kellen Moore has completed
70% of his passes and thrown for 3,264 yards and 25 TDs. The Horned Frogs Jerry
Hughes leads the nation with 14 sacks, and is going up against Boise's freshman
offensive tackles. This will also be the last game in which you can watch Ian
Johnson, Mr. “Will you marry me?” himself, strap on the pads for the orange and
blue. Johnson, a senior, has 738 yards and 12 TDs on the season, but will be
going up against defense that allows opponents just 48.7 rushing yards per
game, the fewest in the nation.

Why not to Watch: Unless
this economic maelstrom has caused the San Diego County Credit Union to
seriously screw you over in the past few months, or you prefer watching Fringe
re-runs on Fox, I find no reason to not watch this game, or at least tune in
for a bit of the action. Trust me, it will be worth your while.

Randomness: While
no Heidi game, last year’s game experienced a similar television programming
snafu. The first six minutes of game time was seen on ESPN Classic rather than
ESPN. This is because the previous program on ESPN, the Aeropostale Classic
basketball game between Duke and Pittsburgh, ended in overtime.

Pick: Boise State
31, TCU 24