BOISE, Idaho — It might be too early to start making plans to travel to Dallas on Dec. 27 to watch the Cotton Bowl, but the 4-0 Boise State Broncos are now in the driver's seat for the opportunity to play in a New Year's 6 bowl.
Boise State is now ranked 16th in the AP Top 25 Poll and 15th and in the Amway Coaches Poll, the highest-ranking for any Group of 5 school. To get the chance to play in the Cotton Bowl, Boise State just needs to win out and win the Mountain West Conference championship.
The 3-0 Broncos entered week four ranked 20th in the nation, with a matchup with the Air Force Falcons to start Mountain West Conference play. Boise State took care of business, beating the Falcons 30-19 and improved to 4-0.
However, the then-No. 15 Central Florida Golden Knights were also undefeated and were the highest-ranked Group of 5 team in the country going into week four.
For a chance at another New Year's 6 bowl, Bronco Nation had to hope UCF would slip up at some point this season and UCF did just that on Saturday.
UCF lost 35-34 to Pitt on Saturday afternoon thanks to a trick play for a touchdown on fourth down by the Pitt Panthers in the final minute of play of the game. UCF dropped to 22 in the AP Top 25 and 23 in the Amway Coaches Poll following their loss.
The Knights weren't the only ranked team ahead of Boise State to lose, as No. 19 Washington State, No. 17 Texas A&M, No. 11 Michigan, No. 10 Utah and No. 7 Notre Dame all lost.
The chaos in the Top 25 gave Boise State room to jump four and five spots in the polls.
The No. 16 Broncos are now on a bye week, but looking ahead to week five, Boise State fans should keep an eye out on several matchups that could help the Broncos move ahead in the polls: No. 12 Penn State takes on 2-1 Maryland on Friday night, No. 15 Cal hosts the 3-1 Arizona State Sun Devils on Friday night, and the No. 10 Fighting Irish of Notre Dame hosts No. 18 Virginia Cavaliers on Saturday.
Boise State and UCF are the only two Group of 5 schools ranked in either of the polls.
The season is still early, but the No. 16 Broncos now control their own destiny for the chance to return to a New Year's 6 bowl, for the first time since 2014 when coach Bryan Harsin led to Broncos to a Fiesta Bowl win over the Arizona Wildcats in his first season as head coach.
According to ESPN's Football Power Index, Boise State is favored to win every game left on their schedule.
Boise State's next game is in Las Vegas on October 5, when the Broncos take on the 1-2 UNLV Rebels.
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