Austin Murphy’s cover story for the Sports Illustrated Oct. 4, 2010 issue, “Contender or Pretender,” examines the now legal ramifications of Boise State’s quest to reach the BCS National Championship game.

The story begins with Murphy saying: “In the menagerie of college football, Boise and its non-BCS brethren are decidedly less equal. That makes the Broncos’ lofty aspirations this season either noble and heroic, or naive and delusional, depending on your point of view.”

This will be the second time in less than two months that Boise State has been featured on the front page of SI.