BOISE, Idaho — After anxiously waiting to learn its fate, Boise State finally gets to celebrate another opportunity to claim the Mountain West throne and pack its bags for Las Vegas.
The Broncos are set to square off with UNLV in the 2023 championship game at Allegiant Stadium at 1 p.m. MT on Saturday, Dec. 2. Despite a season stuffed with unpredictable circumstances, the preseason favorites reached expectations – playing in the finale on Fox.
Boise State's fate fell in the hands of computer rankings Saturday after San Jose State upset UNLV 37-31 to create a three-way tie atop the conference standings.
The Mountain West revealed Sunday morning the Broncos (7-5, 6-2 MW) and Rebels (9-3, 6-2 MW) earned the highest averages in rankings, leaving the Spartans out of the title game.
In its final two contests under interim head coach Spencer Danielson, Boise State did its part to stay alive with a dominant 45-10 win over Utah State in Logan, followed by Friday's 27-19 win on The Blue that eliminated Air Force from title contention.
Bronco Nation was tasked with rooting for the Rebels on Saturday, as a win over San Jose State would have gave UNLV the right to host the championship against Boise State. Instead, the Spartans' claimed their sixth consecutive win to create the first-place logjam.
The Mountain West uses rankings from Jeff Anderson & Chris Hester, Colley’s Bias Free Matrix Rankings, Massey Ratings and Peter R. Wolfe to decide a tiebreaker when other methods are not applicable – such as College Football Playoff ranking and head-to-head records.
Sunday's average computer rankings after the dust finally settled are included below:
- UNLV: 44.50
- Boise State: 55.75
- San Jose State: 58.50
Prior to Boise State's Black Friday win and San Jose State's upset of UNLV, the Broncos were in a good spot, but the idea of a massive jump for the Spartans in the rankings certainly made things interesting. Entering Week 12, the average computer rankings had UNLV at 34.8, Boise State at 64.0 and San Jose State at 71.3.
Boise State, San Jose State and UNLV each finished the season 6-2 in Mountain West play, but a round-robin tiebreaker between the three squads wasn't applicable since the Broncos and Rebels did not play each other this fall.
Although Boise State beat San Jose State 35-27 on Oct. 7 and the Spartans split with squads in the tie, the computer rankings determined UNLV gets to host as the top-ranked team. There will be title games at Allegiant Stadium on back-to-back days, with Oregon facing Washington in the Pac-12 championship at 5 p.m. MT on Friday, Dec. 1.
Saturday's showdown marks the Broncos' seventh appearance in a Mountain West title game, the most of any program in the conference. The championship kicks off at 1 p.m. MT on Saturday, Dec. 2, and will be televised on Fox.
The Broncos join USC in 2015 as the only two teams to play in their league's championship game after making a mid-season coaching change, according to Boise State Athletics.
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