GLENDALE, Ariz. — There were two Boise States on the field on New Year’s Eve.
One of them was a conference champion having a dream season. A team focused on College Football Playoffs on the back of the star running back Ashton Jeantyand a busy schedule once again at the summit of the Group of 5 conferences.
The other Boise State was an undermanned G5 team, putting up a valiant but futile effort against a better and A more talented Penn State team.
The two versions coexisted in No. 3 Boise State loses 31-14 to No. 6 Penn State in the playoff quarterfinals at the Fiesta Bowl on Tuesday night. The first is worth celebrating. The latter provided the Big Ten runner-up Penn State a seemingly easier path to the semifinals than the Big Ten champion and No. 1 seed Oregon or SEC champion and No. 2 seed Georgiaand will further fuel the narrative that an imperfectly expanded playoffs need to adjust their seeding format ASAP.
For Broncos fans and those inclined to support Cinderella, a disappointing and frustrating performance won’t diminish a magical run. No, Jeanty did not break Barry Sanders’ single-season record27 yards from him, his lowest ground performance of the season. No, the sport’s ultimate underdog couldn’t pull off another upset at the Fiesta Bowl, on the same field that hosted the program’s defining victories. But 2024 will go down as one of the most memorable seasons in Boise State football history.
“I am so proud of this team. It didn’t go the way we wanted tonight, but they restored the standard in Boise to be a light on the hill, for the country, which had been lost for a little while,” said head coach Spencer Danielson. “It’s a legacy that can never be taken away from them.”
For other CFP teams who weren’t on the field Tuesday, or for college football fans in general — an admittedly difficult group to please — the game highlighted a crucial flaw in a system intended to reward conference champions , but designed before. the realignment reduced the Power 5 to a very heavy Power 4.
The fault in this Playoffs formulawith byes awarded to the four top-ranked conference champions, was evident long before the teams were broadcast on ESPN during Selection Sunday, including ninth-ranked Boise State jumping up to the No. 3 seed thanks to a Mountain West championship. This created a bracket where No. 1 Oregon would face No. 6 Ohio Statewhich is seeded eighth, and number 2 Georgia meets fifth Notre Dameseventh seed on New Year’s Day.
Those who understand the format have been warning about these unintended consequences for months. But seeing is believing, and Penn State brought that reality home in the Fiesta Bowl as the fourth-seeded but No. 6-seeded team against the ninth-seeded but No. 3-seeded Broncos. In a multi-billion dollar tournament that lasted for years, it was simple negligence (or maybe stubbornness?) that allowed a higher-ranked but lower-ranked team to enter a neutral site, the quarterfinals of the national championship with a score of 11.5 points. favorite – a game the Nittany Lions ultimately won by 17.
“Obviously tonight we didn’t execute the way we needed to, to win a heavyweight fight like we knew we could,” Danielson said.
Boise State committed four turnovers and 13 penalties. (Mark J. Rebilas / Imagn Images)
Boise State was no charity case. He outgained Penn State 412 yards to 387, and many of his problems — including 13 penalties for 90 yards — were self-inflicted. But a Broncos team that has lost just eight turnovers all season committed four on Tuesday, and it benefited from an opponent that played with its food for the better part of three quarters. Penn State led from wire to wire, and aside from the lead briefly being reduced to 17-14 early in the second half, the Nittany Lions felt in control the rest of the way.
“I think the Big Ten has prepared our guys,” Penn State coach James Franklin said. “Boise is a very good football team. … We didn’t take them lightly. We talk about the maturity of our football team – I think it shows.
The loss is not an indictment of Boise State, nor the 12-win season that preceded it. And it’s not the same debate as those who make fun of Indiana and SMU earn at-large bids. There is no good faith argument that the Broncos didn’t deserve a playoff spot and a chance to compete for a national title.
This team exemplifies the bigger tent approach that this sport has desperately lacked for decades. The same praise and criticism that elevated Boise also applies to the No. 4 seed. Arizona State of the Big 12, which was 12th in the final CFP rankings and will face the third seed and fifth place. Texas in Wednesday’s Peach Bowl. But the Broncos were the first to prove the doubters wrong, validating their “Please Count Us” T-shirts. Instead, they made it even harder to justify a system that made No. 5 and 6 seeds — and the loss of a conference championship — seem more advantageous than the top two spots.
Boise State has nothing to apologize for. Offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter acknowledged Athletics last week, the playoff seeding system will likely be changed, perhaps as early as next season. But it’s not like the Broncos orchestrated or exploited the system.
“We haven’t made these (exemption) rules,” Koetter said. “I’m smart enough to realize we may not be the third best team, but we certainly deserve to be there.”
Danielson echoed that sentiment after Tuesday’s game, just as the clock struck midnight on the East Coast, ringing in the new year. College football in 2025 is better because it has an expanded playoff, widening the path to compete for a national title. Boise State earned its way into that path this season, as did EMS and Penn State and Georgia and every other team in the field. This is not expected to change in the future.
Even though — at the same time, on the same field — Boise State was also the reason that path is bound to be a little different the next time the Broncos get there.
GO DEEPER
‘It’s jubilation’: Penn State relishes Fiesta Bowl win as playoff charge continues
(Top photo of Ashton Jeanty: Christian Petersen/Getty Images)