Boise State should be wary of surging challenger for College Football Playoff spot

For most of the 2024 college football season, Boise State has been the team to watch as one of non-Power 4 conference champions that would claim a spot in the College Football Playoff. But if they don’t continue their dominance it could be a slippery slope for them to stay in the CFP. 

The Broncos, led by Heisman candidate Ashton Jeanty, have looked every bit as a team that deserves a spot in the College Football Playoff. But as good as they’ve been, Army and Tulane out of the AAC have quickly gained ground. 

With both Tulane and Army winning on Saturday, they both solidified spots in the American Athletic Conference championship game. It will be Tulane’s third-straight appearance in the title game. 

And while previous success doesn’t play a factor in the CFP selection committee’s decision, their recent dominance as a non-Power 4 conference team means they aren’t far off from being in those conversations in the future. 

The race for the fifth, highest ranked conference champion spot is as exciting as the at-large spots

The biggest knock against Tulane, which made its College Football Playoff ranking debut last week at No. 25, is that they have two losses. While they were to teams that were ranked at the time, Oklahoma fell off and Kansas State just ended their chance at getting in. 

As a result, those losses don’t look as good as Boise State’s loss to Oregon, the No. 1 ranked team, which was just a three-point road loss at that. 

This season, Tulane has engineered one of the top offenses in college football. They have scored more than 30 points in all but three games. Despite their losses, their resume validates them as a respectable team in the CFP discussion.

But it won’t be easy to dethrone Boise State. They have a top five offense in the country and while playing in a lesser conference than the AAC, they’ve done everything they’ve been asked to do. 

Boise State is definitely the favorite to get in over Army and Tulane. But it won’t be a landslide if Tulane continues to dominate and knocks off undefeated Army for a conference championship. Before Tulane was thrust into the CFP rankings last week, they might have been able to get in with a loss and a conference championship. 

If Tulane knocks off Army in the AAC title game, if Boise State does lose, Tulane would certainly have a strong argument to get in with a conference championship, despite having two losses. 

Boise State doesn’t need to be concerned just yet. As long as they win out and claim a Mountain West championship, they’ll get in. That said, the Green Wave is putting pressure on the Broncos as well.