Boise State is headed to the College Football Playoff.
The Broncos captured the Mountain West Conference title on Friday night, earning their spot the sport first 12-team playoff with a 21-7 win over UNLV in the Mountain West championship game.
Star running back Ashton Jeanty ran for 209 yards and a touchdown in his sixth game of over 200 yards this season.
With 2,497 rushing yards for the season, Jeanty now ranks fourth on the FBS list of all-time single-season rushing yards, behind only Barry Sanders (2,628 yards in 1988), Melvin Gordon (2,587 in 2014) and UCF’s Kevin Smith (2,567 in 2007). Jeanty also finishes the regular season with 29 rushing touchdowns.
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Running back Ashton Jeanty of the Boise State Broncos breaks through a line during the first half of the Mountain West Championship against the UNLV Rebels at Albertsons Stadium on December 6, 2024 in Boise, Idaho. (Loren Orr/Getty Images)
Jeanty gave Boise State a tone-setting game with a 75-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, his twelfth carry of 50 or more yards this season.
Boise State will either maintain or improve on its No. 10 ranking in the final College Football Playoff rankings due out Sunday. That would almost certainly leave the Broncos no worse than the fourth-best title seed in the conference and in line for a first-round bye.
In the Big 12 title game on Saturday, No. 15 Arizona State will face No. 16 Iowa State.
The winner will be in the play-off. But the only realistic way for either team to earn a bye (and the extra $4 million that comes with it) would be to combine that win — preferably a convincing one — with a loss to Atlantic Coast Conference leader No. .8 SMU. , who plays No. 17 Clemson.
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Offensive lineman Mathyus Su’a of the UNLV Rebels and outside linebacker Jayden Virgin-Morgan #5 of the Boise State Broncos battle along the line of scrimmage during the first half of the Mountain West Championship at Albertsons Stadium on December 6, 2024 in Boise, Idaho. (Loren Orr/Getty Images)
The Big 12 commissioner and Iowa State’s athletic director are among those already disgusted. By the time the title games are over and the brackets are revealed, they won’t be alone.
Now the nation will turn its attention to the conference’s other championship games as the first playoff picture of the expanded playoff era emerges.
Oregon, which tops the rankings and is the only undefeated team in the country, is also in the running. But Saturday’s game against No. 3 Penn State is for the Big Ten title and a first-round bye.
If Penn State prevails, there’s an argument the Nittany Lions could end up with that top seed.
In the SEC, it’s No. 2 Texas versus No. 5 Georgia. Unfortunately, Bevo will not be in the building. The winner gets a bye and a championship. The loser should still be out there, but if that loser is Georgia, the Dawgs could be on the road for the first round.
Depending on the position of the brackets, these teams could face each other three times this season.
Unless something completely unexpected happens, it will take an SMU loss, a change of heart on the part of the selection committee, or both to knock Alabama out of contention. If the Tide makes it, the Southeastern Conference will have four teams in the playoffs.
Since the selection committee ranked the Crimson Tide at No. 11 last week, one spot ahead of Miami, it looks like the Tide will stay ahead of the Hurricanes of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The way the rankings shook up last week meant Alabama was in and Miami was out.
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Ashton Jeanty #2 of the Boise State Broncos fires up the crowd prior to the start of the Mountain West Championship between the Boise State Broncos and the UNLV Rebels at Albertsons Stadium on December 6, 2024 in Boise, Idaho. (Loren Orr/Getty Images)
A handful of teams are not playing this weekend and have little to worry about. No. 4 Notre Dame should get a home game.
No. 9 Indiana, one of four Big Ten teams expected to make the playoffs, will likely be on the road.
In between, there’s the matter of No. 6 Ohio State and No. 7 Tennessee. Last week’s anticipated series brought the 10-2 teams together in a first-round match played at the Horseshoe in Columbus, Ohio.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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