Games Boise State Fans Should Be Monitoring In Week 5
Broncos are in the driver’s seat for a New Year’s Six bid.
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Keep an eye on these during the bye week.
Boise State enters their first bye week standing at 4-0 while being recognized as the 16th best team in the country. Boise State also got a boost after Central Florida lost on the road to Pittsburgh which cleared the only Group of 5 team ranked higher than the Broncos. While there is a long way to go in the young 2019 college football season, we are starting to see which teams are strong and which teams are not so much.
Rankings
Boise State moves up from 20th in both the AP Poll and the USA Today’s Coaches Poll to 16th in the AP and 15th in the Coaches Poll. Jeff Sagarin’s computer rankings have the Broncos as the 25th best team in college football. For this article, we will be using the AP Poll rankings.
Mountain West Conference Standings
Conference play kicked off last week. This week will feature four more conference games.
Here is a list of games to watch this weekend that could have implications for Boise State:
Thursday Night
Navy at Memphis (-10.5)
6 PM MT, ESPN
ESPN FPI Win Projector: Memphis 81%
Bronco Rooting Interest: Navy
Both Navy and Memphis of the American Athletic Conference are undefeated. While it is very unlikely, it is theoretically possible that Memphis can jump Boise State if both go undefeated as the Tigers are currently lurking right outside both polls.
Friday Night
San Jose State at Air Force (-18.5)
6 PM MT, CBS Sports Network
ESPN FPI Win Projector: Air Force 90%
Bronco Rooting Interest: San Jose State
The Broncos face the Spartans later in the year. San Jose State stunned Arkansas on the road last week and will see if they can score another huge victory at Air Force. Another conference loss for Air Force would make it unlikely that they will be able to win the Mountain Division.
#12 Penn State (-7) at Maryland
6 PM MT, FOX Sports 1
ESPN FPI Win Projector: Penn State 71%
Bronco Rooting Interest: Maryland
Maryland is the home underdog. If the Terrapins can score the victory, Boise State will move ahead of the Nittany Lions in the Polls.
Arizona State at #15 California (-3)
8:30 PM MT, ESPN
ESPN FPI Win Projector: California 61%
Bronco Rooting Interest: Arizona State
California is one spot ahead of Boise State in the AP Poll. A loss to the visiting Sun Devils will drop the Golden Bears behind the Broncos.
