It didn’t take long for Spencer Danielson to hear from the doubters. The Boise State coach needed to simply see the nation’s reaction to the 12-team College Football Playoff bracket to know that the Broncos were expected to lose in the CFP quarterfinal round.
So many pundits were making the same point: Penn State’s path to the semifinals looked like a cakewalk, arguably the easiest draw of any team in the field. The sixth-seeded Nittany Lions drew No. 11 SMU — the last at-large team into the bracket — in the first round and No. 3 Boise State — which got such a high seed despite its No. 9 ranking because it was one of the highest-ranked conference champions — in the quarters.
“Oh, we shouldn’t be here, or, oh, this is going to be an easy road (for Penn State) — great, love it!” Danielson said. “That’s what this place is built on, the chip on their shoulder. Please count us out.”
And honestly, a lot of people are. It is not exactly fair, per se, but there appears to be a bullseye next to the seed line for both Boise State and Arizona State here in the Playoff. The Broncos, seeded third, and the Sun Devils, seeded fourth, are both heavy underdogs in their respective quarterfinal matchups. Texas is favored by 13 points over Arizona State in the Peach Bowl, per BetMGM; Penn State is favored by 10.5 points over Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl.
Both Boise State and Arizona State ultimately have a lot to prove as they take center stage early next week. Most college football fans understand why they’re in the bracket — it is a national championship after all, so it makes sense that there are designated spots for champions of five conferences — but there’s been a great deal of angst over their seeding.
Boise State, seeded third, was ranked ninth by the selection committee in its final set of rankings. Arizona State, seeded fourth, was ranked 12th overall. Because the CFP requires that conference champions be assigned to the top four seeds — to incentivize participation in league title games by rewarding those four teams with byes — the actual third- and fourth-best teams (Texas and Penn State) are under-seeded. So, the overall bracket was imbalanced, and that’s why the teams that are playing Boise State and Arizona State are considered such big favorites. They were ranked significantly higher than those two conference champions by the committee tasked with rankings teams 1-25.
“If nobody gives us a chance, if the point spread continues to grow, whatever,” Danielson said. “Please count us out. That’s what Boise State football is built on, people thinking we can’t do anything, and we work our tails off to find a way to prove people wrong.
“I believe in our team. And we use the phrase ‘put the ball down.’ Doesn’t matter the stadium or what fans are there on the 31st, put the ball down. We’re going to be ready.”
Arizona State believes in itself as well. The Sun Devils are arguably the hottest team in the country coming into their Peach Bowl matchup against Texas, with six consecutive wins to close out the season including a 26-point win over Iowa State in the Big 12 championship game. Running back Cam Skattebo was so spectacular down the stretch — rushing for 147 or more yards in each of the Sun Devils’ final three games to go along with eight combined rushing touchdowns — that he nearly got an invite to New York City as a finalist for the Heisman Trophy.
As Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham put it, the Sun Devils are playing meaningful college football games around New Year’s Day. Only eight teams get to say that, which speaks for itself. But his counterpart will also make the case for the Sun Devils, too.
“I want to remind everybody that we were in that Big 12 for, what, 27 years? We won four,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “This is their first year in and they won a Big 12 championship. It’s a really hard thing to do. They’re playing with a ton of confidence right now. The last two months, I think they’re playing as good a football as anybody in the country, and that’s a credit to Coach Dillingham and their staff and building their team as they’ve gotten better and better as the year has gone on, and it’s clear as day to see when you watch the tape.
“This is a heck of a challenge for us.”
Texas may end up winning this game, and it may end up winning by multiple touchdowns. Dillingham himself said he understood why the Sun Devils were nearly 14-point underdogs — “rightfully so, we’re playing a really good football team” — but that he wants to see how hard his players can compete, how long they can play a high level, how well they can take care of the ball and how tough they can be overall. That’s all any coach can ask for. It’s what Danielson wants to see from Boise State, too.
Maybe neither of these teams will win next week. Perhaps all that talk about how favorable Texas’ and Penn State’s draws were will prove prescient. Or maybe Boise State and Arizona State will show us that you don’t have to be part of the SEC or the Big Ten to beat some of the best teams in the nation in the sport’s marquee postseason event.
“They’re fired up. Wouldn’t you be? Everybody counted you out,” Dillingham said. “All these guys came here and they joined a team that was 3-9 back-to-back years. They picked to join a team that wasn’t good at all, that there was no positive media attention around it, that had sanctions and penalties and everything, and they’ve completely flipped it upside down. There’s going to be real emotion that they’ll carry on for the rest of their life with each other. They’ll always have these moments that they’ll be able to remember together. I think that was just another one of those moments to be there to see their name picked on national television when they were picked dead last to start. It’s pretty special for them.
“The best part is they’re still hungry to see how far they can take the journey and how far they can take the ride.”
