Boise State-UCF: A rivalry that only existed virtually finally gets played in real life

On the field, recruiting is the lifeblood of college football.

Off it, nothing powers the sport more than debate.

Who deserved to win the Heisman Trophy? Who should be ranked where? Who belongs in the playoff? Were a school’s goalposts too short? Who has the best stadium? What town has the best food?

It never ends.

One of the spiciest debates for the better part of a decade has been this — which is the best Group of 5 program, Boise State or UCF?

An exhausting amount of arguing has occurred on TV, on message boards, on Twitter, on blogs.

Making it even more difficult to decide a winner? They’ve never played.

Until Thursday.

Boise State and UCF are actually settling it on the field (5 p.m. Mountain, ESPN). Even 3,000 miles apart, the players are well aware of the friction between the programs.

“I’d be lying if I said no,” Boise State senior linebacker Riley Whimpey said. “I feel like there’s definitely that rivalry, you always hear, ‘Who is better, UCF or Boise State?’ Finally we get the chance to play UCF.”

Boise State has been to and won three Fiesta Bowls. UCF has reached three New Year’s Six bowl games, winning one Fiesta and one Peach.

Since 2012, Boise State has seven seasons with at least nine wins. UCF has six.

Once the model for offensive fireworks, Boise State has finished in the top 10 in scoring offense nationally once since 2014. UCF has done it five times, including the past four seasons.

Then again, Boise State has won 246 games in the last 25 seasons, with just two losing seasons. UCF has 174 wins, with 10 losing seasons, including 0-12 and 0-11 marks in 2015 and 2004, respectively.

So let’s be honest, the debate probably will go on regardless of the outcome, but one school’s fan base will have a heck of an argument. Just check the scoreboard.

“Obviously, UCF fans are well aware of the success that Boise has had over the years,” said Jeff Sharon, managing editor of Black & Gold Banneret, UCF’s SB Nation site, and a UCF graduate. “But there was always a jealousy factor stemming from the long-held belief that UCF fans have had that the Knights’ program could do exactly what Boise did and is doing, if we only got a shot at it. Even when we were a (Division I-A) independent in the early 2000s, UCF had its eye on joining a conference, dominating it and measuring itself against the big boys.”

Some rivalries exist because of their differences, and at first glance, the schools in Boise and Orlando are quite a bit different. But we all can admit that this rivalry is strong because of their common bond.

Both schools moved up to Division I-A (now the Football Bowl Subdivision) the same year — 1996. They almost played once before, in 1990, when each was in the Division I-AA playoff semifinals. Boise State lost a 59-52, three-overtime heartbreaker to Nevada and UCF was crushed 44-7 by eventual champion Georgia Southern.

The two have even boasted fan favorite, tenacious defensive players missing a left hand — defensive back DaWuan Miller at Boise State in the mid-1990s and edge rusher Shaquem Griffin at UCF from 2014 to 2017.

In the last 25 years, both schools have fought for something taken for granted by most but given by few of the powers that be — respect.

That has generated the majority of the debate, as both have tried to earn the elusive, prestigious invitation from a Power 5 conference. It hasn’t come, but that doesn’t stop an annual realignment rumor mill that places Boise State and UCF in it.

Power 5 schools have shied away from scheduling the Broncos and Knights, so both schools deserve a tip of the cap for looking at one another as their best home-and-home matchup possibility. UCF is scheduled to visit Boise in 2023.

“UCF fans definitely see a kindred spirit in Boise State,” Sharon said. “… There are two kinds of rivalries, to me: rivalries of hatred — think UCF and USF or Boise State and Idaho — and rivalries of respect. UCF/Boise State is definitely the latter.”

A rivalry borne out of the social media age that is respectful? Amazing.

But it is true — Boise State and UCF, as much chatter as they may generate, have been on remarkably similar paths, the “little guys” that have proven they can stick it to the blue bloods.

Someone will earn additional bragging rights in Orlando, but the debate the two schools create — and their cause — will continue to burn for a long time.

This is college football at its best.

This story was originally published September 1, 2021 at 8:56 AM.