After winning the Mountain West, Boise State will be able to prove if the best in the Group of Five can compete with the best in the Power Four.
The No. 3-ranked Broncos will take on No. 6 Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl as part of the College Football Playoff.
Boise State (12-1) is undefeated in the Fiesta Bowl, having gone 3-0 in that game. But so is Penn State, which is 7-0 in the Fiesta Bowl.
Even if the Broncos are a G5 team, they shouldn’t be taken lightly. They’re on an 11-game winning streak, with their only loss of the season being at No. 1-ranked Oregon by three points early in the season.
Since then, they’ve won convincingly against most of their Mountain West competitors. They beat Pac-12 teams Washington State – which was ranked – and Oregon State by a combined score of 79-42. They also defeated UNLV, which was in the CFP rankings, once in the regular season and another time in the MW Championship.
“Obviously, it’s a crazy landscape in college football, a lot going on, but I’m proud of our team,” Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson said. “That’s been my big message to our players and our coaches. What got us here is not focusing on all the other stuff outside this building, from all facets, coaches, players, everything. It’s, focus on our work. Focus on what matters, and it’s us working our tails off to make sure we play our best game on December 31.
“We know our best is enough, but our best is required.”
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Penn State vs. Boise State Betting Odds
Penn State is a -11 college football betting odds favorite against Boise State, with the Over/Under being 54.5.
The moneyline for Penn State is -450, while it’s +350 for Boise State.
Penn State & Boise State National Championship Betting Odds
Penn State is tied for the fourth-best betting odds to win the national championship at +525. Boise State is tied for last at +6600.
Penn State vs. Boise State On TV
The matchup between Penn State and Boise State will be televised on ESPN.
The game will kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Dec. 31. The contest is taking place at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
“We respect everybody that we play, but it’s not hard to create that when you watch them on tape,” Penn State head coach James Franklin said of the Broncos. “Boise is a really, really good football team led by arguably the best player in college football, and definitely one of the best running backs in college football. They have our respect, there’s no doubt about that. Our guys have done a great job all week long preparing.”
Penn State vs. Boise State Prediction
I predict Boise State will win and cover the 11-point spread. I also project the game will go Under 54.5 total points.
I think Penn State will be the next victim to lose to Boise State in a Fiesta Bowl. And not because the Nittany Lions won’t take Boise State seriously.
I believe the Broncos are that good and that they have everything it takes to pull off an upset like this.
First of all, the Broncos have the star power. Ashton Jeanty nearly won the Heisman Trophy, as he finished second in voting behind Colorado star Travis Hunter. Jeanty has 2,497 rushing yards this season through 13 games, which is 131 yards away from breaking the FBS single-season rushing yards record set by Barry Sanders at Oklahoma State in 1988.
And just because Jeanty plays in the Mountain West doesn’t mean he can’t be successful against some of the top-ranked teams in the country. He ran for 192 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries at Oregon, the No. 1 team in the nation, earlier this year.
“For me, I want to play against the best of the best competition,” Jeanty said. “This is the biggest platform to do that in college football right now, against one of the best teams in the nation. This is always the best thing to me, to play against the best competition.”
But not only that, Boise State is one of the best teams in the country with a few of the most important metrics in football.
The Broncos commit the sixth-fewest turnovers in the country with 0.6 per game. Quarterback Maddux Madsen is the only passer in the country with at least 2,700 yards and 22 touchdowns passing with three or fewer interceptions. He’s young, and isn’t the best QB in the country in the FBS right now, but he doesn’t give the ball up all that much.
And Boise State is second in the nation with 51 sacks, and no Broncos player has more than 10. They can pressure opposing quarterbacks from anywhere.
This Penn State team is sound, but I don’t think the Nittany Lions will win this game in a blowout. And if Boise State can establish the run game and keep this thing close – watch out.
