Boise State only moved up to Div. 1A, or the current FBS, in 1996. It only took them 11 years to crash your big boy party and take the trophy home. In that 10 years they were 5-2 in bowl games against such teams as Oklahoma (Big 12), Iowa State (Big 12), Boston College (ACC), Louisville twice (C-USA, now Big East), TCU (C-USA), and UTEP (MWC).
What has Notre Dame done over that same amount of time?
I'm no authority on Notre Shame, but I can tell you what they've done.
'96 8-3
'97 7-6 L to LSU in Indpndce Bowl 27-9
'98 9-3 L to Georgia Tech Gator Bowl 35-28
'99 5-7
'00 9-3 L to Oregon State Fiesta Bowl 41-9
'01 5-6
'02 10-3 L to NCState Gator Bowl 28-6
'03 5-7
'04 6-6 L to Oregon State Insight Bowl 38-21
Notre Dame is an Independent School. They play and have played some of the toughest schedules in the Country. Usual powerhouses are Michigan, USC. I would absolutely love to see Boise State on a Notre Dame like schedule. The Domers usually take on many big schools from big conferences such as the SEC, (Tenn, LSU), the Big XII (Tex, Oklahoma), Big X (Michigan, Michigan St, Penn St.), etc.
Tradition and History of football. Boise State, it would appear is off to a good start. Some other programs you may have heard of had great starts too....Army, Kal, SMU, Minnesota, Maryland and a whole slew of Ivy League schools. Where are they today? Boise State will go through its ups and downs, Div. Ia College Football is EXTREMELY competitive and to win consistently is VERY VERY difficult. To win consistently spanning decades is legendary. Oklahoma, Nebraska, Alabama, Notre Dame, Miami, USC are just a few schools that come to mind that have legendary histories of winning. Not saying Boise State can't get there, it takes a lot of time and a lot of winning....
Trojan
