No. 3 seed Boise State selected to play in Fiesta Bowl in CFP quarterfinal

Boise State football has been selected by the College Football Playoff committee as the third seed and will play in the Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

The Broncos earned a bye in the Playoff and will face the winner of the first round matchup between No. 6 Penn State and No. 11 SMU which will be played on Dec. 21 in State College, Pennsylvania.

The Fiesta Bowl will be played on Dec. 31 at 5:30 p.m. MST on ESPN. It is the first quarterfinal before the rest are played on Jan. 1.

The other bye slots went to Oregon, Georgia and Arizona State who will play in the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl and Peach Bowl respectively.

Boise State’s path to the Fiesta Bowl

The Broncos went 12-1 during the season, winning the Mountain West championship game against UNLV 21-7 on Friday.

Running back and Heisman Trophy candidate Ashton Jeanty has led the way on offense for the Broncos, rushing for 2,497 yards and scoring 30 touchdowns in 2024. Jeanty rushed for 209 yards and scored a touchdown in the championship game on Friday.

Boise State’s only loss this season came to now-No. 1 Oregon 37-34, on Sept. 7, its only Power 4 matchup.

History in the Fiesta Bowl

Boise State has played in the Fiesta Bowl three times in its program history. The first time was in 2007 against the Oklahoma Sooners where the Broncos won a memorable game against the Sooners 43-42 with the winning score being a “Statue of Liberty” play by quarterback Jared Zabransky and running back Ian Johnson on a two-point conversion in overtime.

The Broncos are 3-0 in the bowl game. Their most recent appearance was in 2014 when they beat the Arizona Wildcats, 38-30.

College Football Playoff First-round games

Dec. 20-21 

Friday, Dec. 20

No. 10 Indiana at No. 7 Notre Dame 6 p.m. MST (ESPN/ABC)

Saturday, Dec. 21

No. 11 SMU at No. 6 Penn State 10 a.m. MST (ESPN)

Saturday, Dec. 21

No. 12 Clemson at No. 5 Texas 2 p.m. MST (TNT)

Saturday, Dec. 21

No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Ohio State 6 p.m. MST (ESPN/ABC)

CFP quarterfinal games

Tuesday, Dec. 31

CFP Quarterfinal at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl
State Farm Stadium (Glendale, Arizona) 5:30 p.m. MST (ESPN)

No. 6 Penn State/No. 11 SMU vs. No. 3 Boise State

Wednesday, Jan. 1

CFP Quarterfinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl
Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta, Georgia) 11 a.m. MST (ESPN)

No. 5 Clemson/No. 12 Texas vs. No. 4 Arizona State

CFP Quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential
Rose Bowl (Pasadena, California) 3 p.m. MST (ESPN)

No. 8 Ohio State/No. 9 Tennessee vs. No. 1 Oregon

CFP Quarterfinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl
Caesars Superdome (New Orleans, Louisiana) 6:45 p.m. MST (ESPN)

No. 7 Notre Dame/No. 10 Indiana vs. No. 2 Georgia

CFP semifinal games

Thursday, Jan. 9

CFP Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl
Hard Rock Stadium (Miami Gardens, Florida) 5:30 p.m. MST (ESPN)

Friday, Jan. 10

CFP Semifinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic
AT&T Stadium (Arlington, Texas) 5:30 p.m. MST (ESPN)

CFP National Championship game

Monday, Jan. 20

CFP National Championship Presented by AT&T
Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta, Georgia) 5:30 p.m. MST (ESPN)

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