Bowl projections- Boise State learns bowl fate Sunday

The Broncos’ destination likely comes down to a debate between two destinations and similar opponents.

The Broncos could end up in New Mexico on Dec. 21 — the first bowl of the year. The opponent likely would be Washington State (6-6). The game would allow the Broncos to wrap up their season and begin sorting out a new coaching staff.

They also could end up in the Hawaii Bowl — on Christmas Eve in Honolulu. The opponent likely would be Oregon State (6-6) in a matchup created by ESPN shifting some teams among the bowls it owns. The Pac-12 has two extra bowl teams, and a Hawaii deal would accommodate one of them.

It’s unclear when the bowl matchups will be released. It could take until Sunday night because of uncertainty about which conference will get the last Bowl Championship Series spot.

In the Mountain West, Fresno State will go to the Las Vegas Bowl (likely vs. USC) and Utah State will go to the Poinsettia Bowl (possibly vs. Northern Illinois), a source told the Statesman.

That leaves five teams for four spots. There’s debate about which team should be left out, but the favorite is Colorado State (7-6). The Rams have the weakest resume of the bunch —zero wins vs. winning teams.

STATESMAN BOWL PROJECTIONS

National Championship Game (Jan. 6, Pasadena, Calif.): Florida State vs. Auburn

Fiesta Bowl (Jan. 1, Glendale, Ariz.): Baylor vs. Central Florida

Rose Bowl (Jan. 1, Pasadena, Calif.): Stanford vs. Michigan State

Sugar Bowl (Jan. 2, New Orleans): Alabama vs. Oklahoma

Orange (Jan. 3, Miami):Ohio State vs. Clemson

Mountain West tie-ins

Las Vegas Bowl (Dec. 21): Fresno State (MW No. 1) vs. USC (Pac-12 No. 5)

Poinsettia Bowl (Dec. 26, San Diego): Utah State (MW No. 2) vs. Northern Illinois (MAC)

New Mexico Bowl (Dec. 21, Albuquerque): Boise State (MW) vs. Washington State (Pac-12 No. 7)

Hawaii Bowl (Dec. 24, Honolulu): UNLV (MW) vs. Marshall(Conference USA)

Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (Dec. 21, Boise): San Jose State (MW) vs. Buffalo (MAC No. 3)

Armed Forces Bowl (Dec. 30, Fort Worth, Texas): San Diego State (MW) vs. Navy