Friday, December 26, 2014

Boise State Lands in the Valley of the Sun

The Boise State football team flew to Phoenix, Arizona today to begin preparations for the December 31st Fiesta Bowl date with Arizona.  The Broncos (11-2), which improved dramatically over last year's 8-5 Boise State team, will be making their third appearance in the Fiesta Bowl, following the famous 2007 game with Oklahoma and the 2011 matchup with another team currently in the Big 12, TCU.  Boise State is tied for 10th for the most appearances in major bowl games in the last ten years.

Meanwhile, Arizona, which enjoyed its third straight winning season, and seventh in the last 17 seasons, will be making its first appearance in a major bowl since 1993, also at the Fiesta Bowl.  The Wildcats, 10-3 on the season, are one of only three teams in the nation to defeat one of this year's playoff teams, with a 31-24 victory over #2 Oregon in Eugene.  Beating the Ducks on their home turf is not an easily accomplishment--in fact, Arizona, Boise State, Stanford, and USC are the only teams to do it in the last seven years. 

Arizona won the PAC-12 South Division, but then were clobbered by Oregon 51-13 in the championship game. 

The Fiesta Bowl teams have one common opponent--Nevada, and both Boise State and Arizona won narrow games over the Wolf Pack.  Arizona topped Nevada 35-28 in September, and Boise State beat them 51-46 two weeks later.  The Wildcats also lost to UCLA and USC, and own impressive wins over #15 Arizona State and #22 Utah

Kickoff for the 2014 Fiesta Bowl is set for 2 p.m. Mountain time on New Year's Eve.

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