Boise State will open the 2020 football season on The Blue against a Mountain West rival
The Boise State football team will open the season on The Blue this fall after all.
The Mountain West released its 2020 football schedule Thursday afternoon, and the Broncos will host Utah State in the opener on Oct. 24.
Last season, the Broncos traveled to Logan, Utah, and cruised to a 56-21 win thanks to a career-high 178 rushing yards from running back George Holani and three touchdown passes by quarterback Jaylon Henderson, who was playing because Hank Bachmeier and Chase Cord were sidelined with injuries.
This season, Boise State also will welcome nonconference opponent BYU (Nov. 7) and Mountain West teams Colorado State (Nov. 14) and San Jose State (Nov. 28) to Albertsons Stadium. The Broncos will go on the road to face Air Force (Oct. 31), Hawaii (Nov. 21), UNLV (Dec. 5) and Wyoming (Dec. 12).
Kickoff times are yet to be announced. The Mountain West’s TV partners, CBS Sports and Fox, will now begin a selection process, which will include the shifting of several games to Thursday or Friday, according to a press release from the conference.
The championship game is scheduled for Dec. 19. It will include the two teams with the highest conference winning percentages and be hosted by the team with the best conference winning percentage. There will be no division champions.
“The shift away from a two-division format was necessary to optimize the schedule and allow for maximum flexibility given the various constraints which had to be considered,” Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson said in a statement Thursday. “Inasmuch as the season begins with an uneven number of conference games, and the possibility exists additional games may be lost to COVID-19 challenges, the procedures for determining the participants in and location for the MW football championship game were adapted to accommodate a range of outcomes in as equitable a fashion as possible.”
To be eligible for the championship game, teams must play a number of games that is not more than two fewer than the average. For example, if the average number of conference games played is eight, teams must play at least six to be eligible.
If two teams are tied in the loss column but have played a different number of conference games, the winner of their head-to-head matchup will be ranked higher in the standings. In other words, if Boise State is 6-1 and has a win against 7-1 Utah State, Boise State would get the edge even though it technically has a lower winning percentage.
In the absence of a head-to-head tiebreaker, ties will be broken by the teams’ record against the next highest-ranked team in the conference standings, and then winning percentage against common conference opponents. If there’s still a tie, it will be broken by College Football Playoff rankings or a composite average of select computer rankings after the final week of the regular season.
If there’s a tie between three or more teams, the following will be used to narrow it down to the final two: conference records compared in a mini-round robin format; winning percentage against the next highest-ranked team; winning percentage against common conference opponents; CFP rankings; and a composite average of select computer rankings after the final week of the regular season.
If all else fails, a drawing will be conducted virtually by Thompson to determine the top two teams.
For most teams, the season will consist of eight conference games, but Boise State gave a up a conference game to play BYU and San Diego State has only seven total games scheduled, with an open date Dec. 12.
Boise State and Air Force are the only Mountain West teams playing nonconference games.
Boise State has played BYU every year since 2012, and the Broncos are 5-3 in that span. Last season’s 28-25 loss in Provo, Utah, snapped the Broncos’ three-game winning streak in the series.
Air Force will open its season on Saturday against Navy. The Falcons also travel to Army on Nov. 7, leaving them with just six league games.
Broncos’ 2020 schedule
Oct. 24: vs. Utah State
Oct. 31: at Air Force
Nov. 7: vs. BYU
Nov. 14: vs. Colorado State
Nov. 21: at Hawaii
Nov. 28: vs. San Jose State
Dec. 5: at UNLV
Dec. 12: at Wyoming
Note: Games after Oct. 24 still could move to Thursdays or Fridays as the TV schedule is set.
This story was originally published October 1, 2020 at 2:20 PM.
