Coming out of the Western Athletic Conference, No. 8 Boise State is one of the premier non-BCS schools in the entire country.

While at least one team from the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10, Southeastern Conference are assured a spot in one of the six BCS bowls at the end of the season, Boise State has been in the race to bust into one of those games the past several years.

They did just that in 2007, when they upset Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl in overtime.

Already holding the No. 8 ranking, the Broncos could be well on their way to playing in another BCS bowl this year, making Boise State the ‘poster child’ for mid-major programs around the country.

BG coach Dave Clawson said he would love to take the Falcons to that kind of level.

‘Certainly, our goal at some point is to be the [Mid-American Conference] school that’s looked at in that regard,’ Clawson said. ‘And if that’s the way we want to be looked at, then we need to play games like this and test our mettle against programs that are established at that level.’

Clawson cited other successful mid-majors such as Utah, Texas Christian University and Brigham Young University as other schools he wouldn’t mind emulating.

Tight squeeze

The Falcons are finding themselves in a tight squeeze at the tight end position.

Senior starter Jimmy Scheidler was announced as questionable for Saturday’s game at yesterday’s weekly press conference because of an ankle injury he sustained against Marshall, despite being listed atop the depth chart.

The player BG planned to back him up with is freshman DeMark Jenkins.

But Jenkins sustained an arm injury against Marshall and had surgery yesterday.

‘When Jimmy went down, DeMark was going to go in and the very next kick return he got hurt,’ Clawson said.

More time

Freshman defensive lineman Carlos Tipton is expected to see more action after his performance last weekend against Marshall.

‘He’s been playing better,’ Clawson said. Junior Darius Smith was not 100 percent healthy for that game, allowing Tipton to see his playing time increased.

In the game, Tipton recorded four tackles, including one for a loss.

Against Missouri the week before, Tipton recovered a fumble.

Orange turf?

Boise State is the only football team in the country not to play on grass or green turf, instead having special blue turf.

While a rule change would prevent BG from ever installing orange turf at Doyt Perry Stadium, Boise State coach Chris Pedersen said it would be an interesting color to play on – in Boise.

‘Well, we have orange in our colors too,’ Petersen said. ‘So maybe we’ll switch our field one day to orange and try it out.”