Blue Fields take Center Stage across Pacific – KTH

The college football world is much bigger than most people could ever imagine.

Just take yourself for example.

Are you aware that two universities in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have an annual college football bowl game?

Do you watch Canadian college football or Mexican college football?

And how do you feel about the Swedish indoor college football competition played on basketball floors?

Yes, college football is a global phenomenon, but perhaps its two most connected national systems are the USA’s and Japan’s.

Japanese College Football:

I think it is safe to assume that more Japanese college football fans follow and know American college football than American college football fans that follow Japanese college football.

So, there really needs to be no introduction to American college football.

But, for those unfamiliar with Japanese college football, you should understand that it is ingrained into the culture in a similar way.

It is true that most games do not even get the attendance of a high school football game, but the attendances of the big games and the importance to the alumni rivals American college football.

College football has been played at Japanese elite universities since the 1930s, and post World War II saw a boom with the Koshien Bowl.

The Koshien Bowl brought about a national championship with the top teams from the East and West playing each other.

This has brought pride, and thus, it has become an important fixture in the university calendar like American college football.

American-Japanese Connection:

American teams began to notice the passion for the sport and talent on the field, and thus, exhibitions began in the 1970s between all-star representative teams for Japan and singular college football teams from the USA.

Then, college football teams from the USA began a tradition of starting the season in the Coca-Cola Bowl at the Tokyo Dome in the 1980s.

Now, things are more subdued with only some exhibitions still taking place such as this past spring’s Ivy League All-stars versus Japan All-stars.

But, one thing has persisted, and that are university partnerships.

Perhaps the most interesting and the most intertwined partnership is the one between Hosei University and Boise State University.

Broncos-Orange Partnership:

Since 2007, the Hosei Orange and Boise State Broncos have been facilitating coaching and player exchanges during the spring.

Every now and then, you will read about a Bronco playing for Hosei, or you will see Hosei coaching staff at Albertsons Stadium checking in on their favorite American team.

But, you will often not realize it at first as both schools wear the same colors: orange and blue.

This prompted a remarkable occurrence in 2012 when Hosei put in the same blue color field that Boise State has. The Broncos had a trademark on the specific field color but encouraged Hosei to expand the blue field brand across the Pacific.

Is 2024 the Year?

Unlike Boise State, Hosei had been a top dog pre-2000s with national championships in 1972 and 1997.

But, similar to Boise State, the early 2000s facilitated the brands’ greatest growth.

The Orange added three more national titles in 2000, 2005, and 2006.

This coincided with Boise State becoming synonymous with football in America after their undefeated 2006-2007 and 2009-2010 seasons.

Unfortunately for the Broncos, college football in the USA at the highest level does not have a playoff with open access, and thus Boise State was not included in the most popular and widely regarded national championship game for both seasons.

Nevertheless, while unclaimed by the university, Boise State could claim two national championships from those seasons, which many fans and neutral arbiters do. And their creativity and dominance emboldened their brand to become well-respected by football fans everywhere.

Their efforts and efforts of top college sides like TCU, Utah, BYU, and others that have since moved into elite conferences like UCF and Cincinnati have led to the newly created 12-team playoff.

The old era of selecting two teams or four teams is done, and now the most credible poll and most popular format includes 12 teams into its playoff, giving schools from less popular conferences a legitimate chance for a national title.

It is still not perfect for not every conference champion earns a spot, but it allows a pathway for at least one lower conference champion.

This year, that conference champion is Boise State, a team that sits at 12-1, having won the Mountain West Championship last Friday over UNLV.

The Broncos did so well that they earned a bye into the quarterfinals where they will await the winner of SMU at Penn State to play for the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona on December 31st.

Meanwhile, their counterparts across the world’s largest ocean are also taking care of business.

The Hosei Orange completed their regular season 7-1 to win the Kanto College Football Association league and advance to the All-Japan Playoffs Quarterfinals.

Here, Hosei played the Chukyo University Eagles and won 30-6.

The next round was the Semi-finals Tokyo Bowl against the all-time best Japanese college football dynasty, the Kwansei Gakuin University Fighters.

The KGU Fighters were then 6x defending national champions and huge favorites. If you are American, think Alabama, North Dakota State, or Mount Union except even more dominant.

But, Hosei would win on a last second field goal, 20-17.

The Hosei Orange will now play in the 2024 Japanese College Football National Championship (Koshien Bowl) this weekend on Sunday, December 15th against the Ritsumeikan University Panthers, the third best all-time college football team from Japan with 8 national championships.

While neither the Broncos or Orange are expected to win their respective national championships, they are both on the verge of doing so, paving the way for the other.

For example, when Boise State made their unbelievable comeback on trick plays to defeat the University of Oklahoma Sooners in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, then not a playoff game, it gave the Hosei coaching staff ideas for their upcoming spring season.

Likewise, the Broncos have been influenced by Hosei’s success over the years as well, and both sets of coaches have communicated on strategies and plays.

This could be the first time both universities become football national champions in the same season!

And with the Boise State Broncos needing to win the Orange Bowl on route to the CFP Final, it makes the story even that much better.

For those interested in watching both teams future games, here is a schedule:

Hosei Orange:

Koshien Bowl Final – Sunday, December 15th at 13:05 Hosei and local time (Saturday, December 14th at 9:05 PM Boise time)

Boise State Broncos:

Fiesta Bowl Quarterfinal –  Tuesday, December 31st at 5:30 PM Boise and local time (Wednesday January 1st at 09:00 Hosei time)

Orange Bowl Semifinal – Thursday, January 9th at 5:30 PM Boise time and 7:30 PM local time (Friday, January 10th at 09:00 Hosei time)

CFP Championship Final – Monday, January 20th at 5:30 PM Boise time and 7:30 PM local time (Tuesday, January 21st at 09:00 Hosei time)