| Final Score |
| Fresno St. Bulldogs |
21 |
| Boise St. Broncos |
45 |
|
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Boise State's Ian Johnson (41) celebrates with Ryan Clady (79) after scoring during the first half of a football game against Fresno State Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2006, in Boise, Idaho.
(AP Photo/Matt Cilley) |
BOISE, Idaho (AP) -Ann Damiano proudly wore the pale yellow blazer and hard-plastic name tag identifying her as a member of the Fiesta Bowl committee.
Part of her would rather have dressed in the blue and orange of Boise State.
``I'm just very proud of my school and how well it's done,'' said Damiano, a 1983 graduate of Boise State. ``I can see a huge improvement in the infrastructure here, the program, the fans. It has really, really grown up a lot in 20 years.''
Damiano was one of six representatives from three BCS bowls - the Orange, Sugar and Fiesta - that watched the No. 14 Broncos rout Fresno State 45-21 Wednesday night.
But Damiano's connection with Boise runs far deeper. She completed a bachelor's degree at Boise State in 1983, a graduate degree in 1985 and ran the 400 meters for the Broncos' track team. It's strictly a coincidence that she's a member of the bowl most believe Boise State will head to should it finish the regular season 12-0.
``There is still another month to play, but the team has done very well,'' Damiano said. ``We'll see how it plays out.''
Boise State, which entered the week ranked 14th in the BCS standings, used a national stage during prime time Wednesday night to impress voters that may ultimately decide whether the Broncos become the second non-BCS conference team to land a berth in a big-money bowl game.
Boise State would get an automatic berth if ranked in the top 12 of the final BCS standings. That possibility brought out the bowl representatives, wearing the traditional, colorful blazers.
``We've got two objectives,'' Orange Bowl committee member Sara Herald said. ``We're looking for the best possible matchup from an athletic aspect, first and foremost, and for our community, a sold-out game with a lot of fan support.''
To that end, the Orange Bowl requires minimum sales of 17,500 tickets from each school. According to 2005 census estimates, only 12 cities in Idaho have populations that exceed that total.
The Fiesta Bowl says it doesn't have a similar ticket requirement. The proximity to Idaho, plus the fact that the Fiesta Bowl took Utah - the first non-BCS conference team - two years ago, is fueling the belief that Broncos' fans could be spending New Year's in Arizona.
Of course, Boise State still needs to win its next three games to make these BCS scenarios become reality.
The Broncos' final stretch begins Nov. 11 at San Jose State, continues with their home finale against Utah State and ends Nov. 25 at Nevada.
So far, the Broncos have taken the lead of coach Chris Petersen, avoiding any talk or speculation about the BCS. But the players admit the possibility is always tucked somewhere in their minds.
``It's tough because that's one of our goals, but we know what we need to focus on and that's one game at a time,'' quarterback Jared Zabransky said. ``We can't spring forward to December right now. We've got to play San Jose State and once San Jose State is done you move on from there.''
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