Boise State Makes Its Debut In College Football Playoff Rankings
The Broncos are the third Group of Five team ranked this week
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Boise State’s strong October and November does not go unseen.
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The latest College Football Playoff brought a surprise to the Mountain West as the Boise State Broncos came in at 25th spot in the third release of the polls.
The Broncos have been picking up steam of late and have won six games in a row which have earned them a few votes in the coaches and AP poll, but being ranked in the poll that really matters was a shock.
Getting ranked now is really a good thing for the Broncos because they have have two more games to impress, plus a potential Mountain West title game. They get pesky Air Force which is 93rd in the latest S&P+, but they go on the road to end the season on the road against Fresno State who is ranked 23rd in those same rankings, and actually two spots above Boise State.
Assuming Boise State takes care of business they will play a Mountain West title game in a rematch against either Fresno State or San Diego State. The Bulldogs have a cushy lead to win the West so there could be a back-to-back game between Boise State and Fresno State, and since the playoff rankings are the first tie-breaker for hosting a Broncos win means the return game will be on the blue turf.
The bigger picture focuses on Boise State possibly earning the coveted automatic bid from the Group of Five teams. Currently, Central Florida and Memphis are ahead of the Broncos at 15 and 21. Both play in opposite divisions and are currently on track to face each other in the title game. If either win out then they will get the honor of of making millions of dollars.
However, it will only take a few hiccups for Boise State to take over that spot. Memphis basically has the West Division wrapped up but the East is a little more tricky. South Florida — which is ranked in both the AP and coaches but not the CFP poll — goes on the road on Black Friday in a likely winner-take-all for the East Division. A Bulls win in that game and then against another ranked team in Memphis for the AAC title game will give them the edge.
What the Broncos need is to obviously win out and have a two-loss AAC champion not named USF — we won’t get greedy for a three-loss champ even though that technically can happen. Boise State would have the momentum with a nine-game winning streak and also two more top-50 wins against Fresno State and whoever they Broncos play in the conference title game.
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