Jon Wilner on college football: San Jose State's brutal schedule continues with No. 3 Boise State

Published Oct. 13, 2010 10:06 a.m. ET

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When all four of your major college opponents have been ranked, what's one more?

"It's a little tough, but it's exciting," San Jose State coach Mike MacIntryre said. "I wish we didn't face them back-to-back-to-back-to-back."

After facing No. 1 Alabama, No. 11 Wisconsin, No. 13 Utah and No. 21 Nevada on the road, the Spartans finally get a heavyweight at home.

Boise State makes its biennial visit Saturday with all the familiar trapping: an undefeated record, a top-25 ranking, immaculate fundamentals and higher goals than the conference title.

But this time, it's different:

It's different because it's Boise State's last scheduled visit. The Broncos are leaving the Western Athletic Conference next spring and may not appear in Spartan Stadium again anytime soon, if ever.

It's different because the No. 3 Broncos are the highest-ranked team ever to play in Spartan Stadium, five spots higher than Wyoming in 1967 and six higher than Texas Christian and LaDainian Tomlinson in 2000.

And it's different because the Broncos aren't aiming for a berth in the Bowl Championship Series. Thanks to an experienced roster and a chain of events that began in January, the Broncos have their sights set on the national championship.

Boise State concluded the 2009 season with a high-profile victory, beating Texas Christian in the Fiesta Bowl. It also had enough returning starters (21) to generate unprecedented offseason hype for a team that's not from one of the six major conferences.

When the USA Today/Coaches preseason poll was released in August, the Broncos were No. 5, and the title talk kicked into overdrive: The higher you start in the rankings, the higher you can finish.

That's not the way BSU coach Chris Petersen viewed it, however.

"If anything," he said, "it was a negative because it was distracting."

But the Broncos were focused enough to handle Virginia Tech in the season opener, clearing a path to the national championship game.

They beat No. 24 Oregon State three weeks later and have one more ranked opponent on the schedule: No. 19 Nevada on the regular season's penultimate weekend.

"They're better this year," Oregon State coach Mike Riley said. "They return just about everybody. That's an experienced and talented group. I talked to a pro scout before we played them, and they have a lot of guys (the NFL is) looking at."

Petersen on San Jose State's schedule: "It's ridiculous. I wouldn't wish that on anybody."

The Sagarin computer, one of six used to calculate the BCS standings, ranks SJSU's schedule as the fifth-toughest in the nation.

But after this week, it gets easier. The combined record of SJSU's first five Football Bowl Subdivision opponents (including Boise State) is 26-1. The last six are just 15-18.

Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck's sledgehammer hit on USC cornerback Shareece Wright was the third-most watched YouTube video Monday, with almost 395,000 views.

Asked about the hit after the game, Luck said: "He didn't see me. I got lucky."

Contact Jon Wilner at jwilner@mercurynews.com .