Bowl Preview: Maaco Bowl Las Vegas

(19) Utah (10-2) vs. (10) Boise State (11-1) (-17)

So this is where the 2010 season ends for Boise State? After all that pain and sacrifice and the gut-wrenching loss to Nevada, the Broncos get to go to…Las Vegas? That’s a pretty freaking sweet consolation prize. Can’t imagine why they wouldn’t try to stay home and play in the Humanitarian Bowl on their own field, can you?

If Chris Petersen somehow keeps his guys focused on this game and many, many players don’t spend the week drunk at the Bellagio (They’re too classy for Excalibur), the man should be given the Congressional Medal of Freedom and be made at least a colonel in the United States Army. And if I were Boise fans, I would assign a cadre of people to every major hotel and bar in town to herd all Boise players and coaches away, otherwise it’s going to be ugly.

This is made worse, of course, because Utah is something of a paper tiger these days. Not only were they brutally exposed by TCU, the Utes almost lost a couple of other games because of the same weaknesses in their defense. Kellen Moore and company MAY stay sober just to see what kind of crazy video game numbers they can get on Utah’s defense.

Utah’s D should have an awesome time trying to hide in the Pac-12 next year. No offenses of any note in that conference. Nope. Not one.

Even worse-er for Utah, their starting quarterback, Jordan Wynn, is out for the bowl game too, meaning backup Terrance Cain will have to handle Boise’s hung over defense which, while smelling of ether and vomit, is still formidable.

I can’t get over how it’s Utah that’s moving into the Pac-12 next year and Boise is essentially taking TCU’s spot in the Mountain West. Boise is both too good to be stuck as a non-AQ yet again, and also too good to get an invite from the biggies because the good teams in every conference don’t want yet another challenge to deal with.

It doesn’t make total geographical sense, but I was a little surprised the Big XII didn’t try to get Boise to take Nebraska’s spot in the Big XII North and then find another chump to replace Colorado.

Anyway, unless Boise’s players read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas as their motivational book before heading down there, this is probably going to be a bit of a bloodbath even though both teams are ranked. Sorry, Utah.

Pick: Boise State