Are early Fiesta Bowl predictions calling for a Penn State blowout win over Boise State?
Sixth-seeded Penn State meets No. 3 seed Boise State in a College Football Playoff quarterfinal round matchup on Dec. 31 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. The Broncos, who earned a bye into this game by winning the Mountain West Conference and then receiving a top-four seed, are double-digit underdogs. As of Thursday morning, FanDuel calls the Lions a 10.5-point favorite. The over/under is 52.5. points.
Considering how many media members wrote about the easiness of the Penn State path to the semifinals when the inaugural 12-team bracket first came out, it’s fair to say that few expect the Broncos to win next Tuesday. Whether or not the game will be competitive, though, is up for debate. Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson said Monday that he has no issues with his team being overlooked and in fact asked for those outside of the program to ‘please count us out’ ahead of kickoff.
“That’s our mentality here,” he said. “Not just for this game playing in the Fiesta Bowl, but that’s what Boise State has been built on. We have to earn our right to play against one of the top football teams in the country. I believe in our team.
“That’s why we talk about, please count us out. People do, media or (otherwise) – count us out. I know how we are going to work, and I know we are going to work to play our absolute best on the 31st.”
Early Penn State-Boise State predictions
On3 national writers Andy Staples and Ari Wasserman are split on the outcome. The former likes Boise State to win and cover. The latter picks Penn State to do so.
“When we initially predicted the bracket, I chose Boise State to beat Penn State because I was convinced we’d get at least one shocking result. So I was trying to predict that shocking result,” Staples writes.
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“After watching the first-round games, I’m a lot less certain about a shocking result.Boise State probably has no chance unless Jeanty delivers a superhuman effort, but we’ve seen miracles happen for the Broncos in Glendale, Ariz., before.”
FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt is picking the Lions.
“I fully expect [Penn State] to be in the semifinals, them along with Texas. They’ve got the road. They are better than Boise State,” Klatt said.
Jeremy Cluff of The Arizona Republic calls for a 35-20 Penn State win.
“Boise State’s best argument for the College Football Playoff was that it played Oregon tough in a loss, but Penn State also played Oregon tough, and had a much more difficult schedule to become more tested for this matchup,” he writes. “The Nittany Lions impressed in their 38-10 win over SMU in the first round and we think they’ll impress again with their defense finding a way to slow down Ashton Jeanty and the Broncos.”
As for the predictions from computer data systems, ESPN’s FPI gives the Lions a 65.1-percent chance of winning. And, SportsLine calls for a 37-21 Penn State triumph.
