Gridiron What-If: Could #15 Boise State Beat #14 Alabama?

In a fan poll prior to Week 9, the Boise State Broncos were matched up against the Alabama Crimson Tide. With the latter being a perennial contender in the SEC, arguably the most competitive conference in college football, some think it’s a ridiculous thought that Boise State could even compete in this matchup. But for other fans, they look at how far Alabama has fallen since Nick Saban retired. Alabama currently ranks 14th, after losing a stunner to Vanderbilt and again to Tennessee. They’ve already lost more games this season then they had in any one season under Saban.

On the other hand, Boise is having their most dominant season in quite some time, with Ashton Jeanty leading the way. The Broncos went toe-to-toe with the Oregon Ducks back in Week 2. It took a last minute field goal for the Ducks to pull off the win. Ashton Jeanty is playing like a man with his hair on fire. Even against the UNLV Rebels, who were 20th in rush defense, he had over 100 yards and a touchdown.

The big argument against the Broncos is that they aren’t playing strong teams. That’s the funny thing about college football and the AP poll. G5 teams have to work much harder to get into the rankings because they typically don’t face as strong of competition. But who says? Was UNLV’s rush defense not legit? Was #1 Oregon actually playing like #1 Oregon when the Broncos almost beat them?

Then you also have to consider the “what-if” scenarios such as, “what if the starting quarterback for Washington State didn’t get hurt?” or “what if ‘Bama played Vanderbilt at a different point in the season?”. The sports world is built of such moments that change the outcomes dramatically. Weighing such questions hardly does any good. But it sure is fun.

What If Boise State Played Alabama This Weekend?

Following Week 9, the Broncos are ranked 15th and the Crimson Tide 14th, making this matchup even more conceivable and much more interesting. Fans had a lot to say about this theoretical matchup. The poll itself has 70.1% of fans choosing Boise to win, with 29.9% choosing ‘Bama. Here’s what they said:

u stop jeanty u win lol oregon couldnt stop jeanty and they still won Boise State is an elite g5 team they arent elite against top p4 teams lol

-DEMON GABRIEL SZN (@OspTheOG) Oct 21

Ashton Jeanty 289 yard, 6 TD game

-Auburn Blazer (@AuburnBlazer) Oct 21

Right now?? Boise. The Georgia win really looks like an outlier. Struggled with a BAD USF team, struggled with S. Carolina, beat a Wisconsin team with QB2 and the inexperienced secondary looks vulnerable.

-Garage Gameday Sports (@GamedayGarage) Oct 21

The biggest factor outside of #HEI2MAN would be how many sacks Boise would be able to produce. They have 29 sacks on the season so far.

-BroncoFan94 (@BrianMeeha71620) Oct 21

Boise State fan. Still think Bama, but it would be close.

-David Taylor (@dtaylorbsu) Oct 21

Alabama and it would not be particularly close.

-Bob Hogan (@TailgateGuruBob) Oct 22

Boise state. Easy.

-Jordan Simpson (@JayySimp) Oct 21

One thing is for sure. This would be an incredibly fun matchup. If the Broncos continue to play as they are right now, they will be in the playoffs and facing an equal or better opponent than ‘Bama. Buckle up, Broncos fans.

Let us know in the comments who you think would win in this “what-if” scenario.

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