Iowa State accepted a bid to play Boise State on Sunday in the Crucial.com Humanitarian Bowl. While many fans groused and voiced their displeasure about playing a ranked team in cold weather, I for one am happier than a farmer with a bumper potato crop.

Think about it.

During regular season play, Iowa State has played on the road against juggernauts like Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas State. Now we get a Boise State team with stats as inflated as Anna Nicole’s boobs. They are just so outrageous.

Seriously, I could find 11 guys at the local ranch that could put up those type of numbers in the Western Athletic Conference. I didn’t even know UTEP, Nevada and Rice had sports, let alone Division I football. The 10 teams in the WAC conference have a combined record of 54-67. Throw out Boise State’s beloved Broncos, and that record drops too 43-66. Not too good.

On the other hand, the Big 12 has a combined record of 85-64. Throw out Iowa State, and that record is still a very respectable 78-58 — 20 games above .500.

Pairing a Big 12 school against a WAC school is like putting the WWF’s Joe Wolf against George “the animal” Steele — the WAC school will get eaten like a turnbuckle.

Iowa State’s quarterback, Seneca Wallace, flourishes against weak competition. Just ask Kansas, Tennessee Tech, Troy State and Iowa (Hawkeye fans eat your hearts out).

In fact, if you look at Iowa and Boise State, the comparisons are quite similar.

First, both teams are highly overrated (No. 3 Iowa, No. 15 Boise State). Secondly, both played in a garbage conference and are happy that they are the best of the worst. It’s like being Nicolas Cage as the star of a movie. You are the star, but you still have to be Nick Cage.

Finally, both teams look great on paper. You can talk about stats, touchdowns and yardage all you want, but everyone knows that games are decided when you step onto the field (even if it is fake blue turf).

Boise State is good — don’t get me wrong. But playing a schedule as weak as theirs is no way to determine just how good a team is. If Boise State wants to be recognized as a good team, beat someone that’s good. It’s that simple. And if your conference doesn’t provide that, play somebody tough during the non-conference games. The Broncos did try that once, but Arkansas kicked them all the way back to potato country beating them 41-14.

Also, playing bowl games in your home state really doesn’t do much more than give your fans another chance to watch your team play. Try moving outside the state and off the Smurf turf.

Anyone can beat the Tulsas and SMUs of the world. If the Broncos want respect, a good first step would be beating Iowa State.

Zac Reicks

is a senior in journalism and mass communication from Lawler. He is a sports editor for the Daily.