Boise State wins Mountain West championship as first expanded CFP bracket begins to take shape

Boise State is headed to the College Football Playoffs.

The Broncos won the Mountain West Conference title Friday night and earned their spot in sports first 12-team playoff series with a 21-7 victory over UNLV in the Mountain West championship game.

Star running back Ashton Jeanty had 209 yards and a touchdown in his sixth 200-plus yard game this season.

With 2,497 rushing yards for the season, Jeanty is now fourth on the FBS all-time rushing list for a single season, behind Barry Sanders (2,628 yards in 1988), Melvin Gordon (2,587 in 2014) and Kevin Smith from UCF (2,567 in 2007). . Jeanty also finished the regular season with 29 rushing touchdowns.

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Running back Ashton Jeanty of the Boise State Broncos runs through the line during the first half of the Mountain West Championship against the UNLV Rebels at Albertsons Stadium on December 6, 2024 in Boise, Idaho. (Loren Orr/Getty Images)

Jeanty gave Boise State a tone-setting play with a 75-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, his 12th run of 50 yards or more this season.

Boise State will maintain or improve its No. 10 ranking in the final College Football Playoff rankings to be released Sunday. That almost certainly wouldn't make the Broncos worse than the conference's fourth-best title slate and in line for a first-round bye.

Saturday's Big 12 title game pits No. 15 Arizona State against No. 16 Iowa State.

The winner is in the playoffs. But the only realistic path left for either team to get a bye (and the extra $4 million that comes with it) would be to combine that victory – preferably a convincing one – with a defeat of the leader of the Atlantic Coast Conference, No. 8 SMU. , which plays No. 17 Clemson.

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Offensive lineman Mathyus Su'a of the UNLV Rebels and outside linebacker Jayden Virgin-Morgan #5 of the Boise State Broncos battle along the line of scrimmage during the first half of the Mountain West Championship at Albertsons Stadium on December 06, 2024 in Boise, Idaho. (Loren Orr/Getty Images)

The Big 12 commissioner and Iowa State athletic director are already among those crying foul. By the time the title matches are over and the brackets are revealed, they won't be the only ones.

The country will now turn its attention to the remaining conference championship games as the first postseason picture of the expanded playoff era takes hold.

Oregon, the top-ranked and only undefeated team in the country, is also in the mix. But Saturday's game against No. 3 Penn State is for the Big Ten title and a first-round bye.

If Penn State wins, then there's an argument that the Nittany Lions could end up with that seed.

In the SEC, it's No. 2 Texas against No. 5 Georgia. Unfortunately, Bevo won't be in the building. The winner gets a bye and a championship. The loser should still be in, but if that loser is Georgia, the Dawgs could be on their way to the first round.

Depending on how the tables evolve, these teams could face each other three times this season.

Barring something completely unexpected, it will take either an SMU loss, a change of heart on the part of the selection committee, or both, to eliminate Alabama from the bracket. If the Tide succeeds, the Southeastern Conference will have four teams in the playoffs.

Since the selection committee placed the Crimson Tide at 11th last week, one spot ahead of Miami, it appears strong that the Tide will stay ahead of the Hurricanes in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The way last week's rankings went, that meant Alabama was included and Miami was out.

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Ashton Jeanty #2 of the Boise State Broncos excites the crowd before the start of the Mountain West Championship game between the Boise State Broncos and the UNLV Rebels at Albertsons Stadium on December 6, 2024 in Boise, Idaho. (Loren Orr/Getty Images)

A handful of teams aren't playing this weekend and don't have much to worry about. No. 4 Notre Dame is expected to play a home game.

No. 9 Indiana, one of four Big Ten teams expected to make the playoffs, will likely be on the road.

In between is the question of No. 6 Ohio State and No. 7 Tennessee. Last week's scheduled bracket pitted the teams 10-2 in a first-round matchup to be played at the Horseshoe in Columbus, Ohio.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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