Boise State football: Cotton Bowl berth could be on line vs. Hawaii

Sitting at No. 19 in the country, Boise State football will be looking for their fourth Mountain West title as they take on Hawaii this weekend.

Ever since the Mountain West’s reformatting in 2013, it seems as if the conference has been split between two or three dominating parties. Boise State just so happens to be one of those parties as they’ve won the championship in two of their last three appearances.

Hawaii, on the other hand, will be vying for their first Mountain West conference championship since joining the conference in 2012. Led by head coach Nick Rolovich, the Rainbow Warriors have enjoyed a successful 9-4 season including inter-conference wins over Arizona and Oregon State. Two of their four losses have come to ranked opponents, with one of them being No. 14 Boise State.

With plenty on the line for both of these teams, here’s how to watch it all this weekend.

Date: Saturday, Dec. 14
Time: 4:00 p.m. ET
Location: Boise, Idaho
Venue: Albertsons Stadium
TV: ESPN
Live Stream: WatchESPN

Keys to Victory

For Hawaii, the Rainbow Warriors will undoubtedly lean on an offense currently sitting at 6th in the nation in passing yards per game. It has been quite some time since we’ve seen a Hawaii offense of this caliber, so there’s really no telling what we’ll see when they take the field in Boise this weekend. What we do know is that their offense gives them a chance in any game.

However, Boise State’s offense can and has been just as good. Hawaii knows this all too well as they found themselves victims of a 59-37 loss in Boise earlier this year. Quarterback Jaylon Henderson has impressed since taking over weeks ago, providing this offense with the potential to hang 60 points at will against a below-average Hawaii defense.

Betting Odds

Odds provided by The Action Network

Point Spread: Boise State -14
Over/Under: 64.5

Prediction

As the spread indicates, Boise State are heavy favorites heading into this weekend. Traveling to and from Hawaii is always tough for a team, especially within the sport of football. This game continues to trend in the direction of an absolute shootout, but Boise State has the edge given the location and consistency of play on their part.