For the fourth time in team history, Boise State football is headed to the Fiesta Bowl. But unlike previous years, the Broncos are now one of 12 teams with a chance at the NCAA National Championship.
After the team’s Mountain West Conference Championship win Friday evening, the team gathered Sunday morning to watch the College Football Playoff selection show on ESPN.
Boise State’s cameras were rolling as ESPN Sunday morning revealed the playoff bracket. Oregon and Georgia were announced as the top two seeds, and in the Bronco’s team meeting room, the team leapt from their chairs as the Boise State logo flashed on the screen as the #3 seed.
Boise State will face either Penn State or SMU in the quarterfinal. Those two teams play December 21.
“Those are just surreal moments,” head coach Spencer Danielson told media Sunday afternoon. “All the work you put in the dark now all of a sudden [has] come to the light, and seeing us pop up as the three seed? It was a surreal moment, a moment I'll never forget, and a moment I was so happy for our players to be in this situation.”
Danielson, in his first full year as Boise State head coach, says the opportunity is a great selling point for recruits - and of course energizes fans. But the team can use the extra practices to get healthy and fine-tune their own game.
“What we've put on film is what SMU or Penn State are going to see, and how can we fix the issues that have showed up? How can we highlight the things we're doing well and doing better? That's going to be really our focus through the next 13 days,” he said.
Coaches and staff will begin scouting the two potential opponents outside of team activities, Danielson said.
Meanwhile, Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty is expected to be named a finalist for the Heisman Trophy Monday. The ceremony is Saturday, Dec. 14 in New York City.
