UW and Boise State to meet in Las Vegas Bowl
BOISE, Idaho (AP) - The Las Vegas Bowl will have a Northwest flavor as Washington and No. 20 Boise State square off for just the second time in the history of the two schools.
The Broncos (10-2) and Huskies (7-5) accepted invitations to the Dec. 22 bowl Sunday.
It's a familiar postseason scenario for the Broncos, who have played their bowl games in Las Vegas each of the last two years. Boise State earned a third trip Saturday by knocking off Nevada to grab a share of the Mountain West Conference title with Fresno State and San Diego State.
"We are excited to return to the MAACO Bowl Las Vegas and face the University of Washington," Broncos head coach Chris Petersen said in a statement. "Coach (Steve) Sarkisian and his staff do an excellent job in preparing their team and we look forward to the challenge of playing a Pac-12 opponent for the second straight year."
Boise State beat Arizona State last year and Utah the previous year.
Washington is heading to its third straight bowl game but will play in Las Vegas for the first time in the program's 123-year history.
The Huskies won seven games for the second straight season and beat a pair of Top 10 teams. But they were also inconsistent at times and were beaten badly by Oregon and Arizona and in the regular-season finale against Washington State.
"It's a great destination for not only our football team, but for our fans and for Husky faithful to come support us," Sarkisian said. "It's a tremendous bowl game, one that's got a great deal of history in our conference and people going to play it."
The Huskies beat Boise State 24-10 in their first meeting in Seattle in 2009. Then-redshirt freshman quarterback Jake Locker led the way and helped snap the Broncos' 14-game winning streak. The two teams are scheduled to meet again to kick off the 2013 season in the Huskies' newly renovated stadium.
"Somebody's going to win and somebody's going to lose this first one," Sarkisian said. "Then we are going to come back nine months later to see who can win the second one."
The Broncos (10-2) and Huskies (7-5) accepted invitations to the Dec. 22 bowl Sunday.
It's a familiar postseason scenario for the Broncos, who have played their bowl games in Las Vegas each of the last two years. Boise State earned a third trip Saturday by knocking off Nevada to grab a share of the Mountain West Conference title with Fresno State and San Diego State.
"We are excited to return to the MAACO Bowl Las Vegas and face the University of Washington," Broncos head coach Chris Petersen said in a statement. "Coach (Steve) Sarkisian and his staff do an excellent job in preparing their team and we look forward to the challenge of playing a Pac-12 opponent for the second straight year."
Boise State beat Arizona State last year and Utah the previous year.
Washington is heading to its third straight bowl game but will play in Las Vegas for the first time in the program's 123-year history.
The Huskies won seven games for the second straight season and beat a pair of Top 10 teams. But they were also inconsistent at times and were beaten badly by Oregon and Arizona and in the regular-season finale against Washington State.
"It's a great destination for not only our football team, but for our fans and for Husky faithful to come support us," Sarkisian said. "It's a tremendous bowl game, one that's got a great deal of history in our conference and people going to play it."
The Huskies beat Boise State 24-10 in their first meeting in Seattle in 2009. Then-redshirt freshman quarterback Jake Locker led the way and helped snap the Broncos' 14-game winning streak. The two teams are scheduled to meet again to kick off the 2013 season in the Huskies' newly renovated stadium.
"Somebody's going to win and somebody's going to lose this first one," Sarkisian said. "Then we are going to come back nine months later to see who can win the second one."
UW will get destroyed by Boise State. They cant even beat the Cougs, how do they expect to even have a chance agains Boise State???
Hope they don't waste any good TV time for this. 8AM to Noon or 11PM to 2 AM Boring bowl
This will be a good match up. Of the lesser bowls, I'm at least somewhat interested in this game.Â
This game will come down to which UW team shows up. When they aren't making stupid mistakes/100+ yards in penalties, they can hang with some of the best teams in the country. The problem is that they often seem unprepared and shaky. I'm hoping they show up for this game. They definitely need the momentum going into next year. Go Huskies!
Another win for Boise... Â :)Â
 @MartiniMonkey70 Boise is overrated.
 @Cooter_Brown  @MartiniMonkey70 I'm a Dawg fan also but I grew up in Boise and watched the program go from bad to good. How is Boise overrated? I did see them loose here in Seattle back in 2007, Maybe some day the Dawgs will make trip to Boise...  Since there so overrated :)Â
 @oledawg The Bronco's travel very well.. That was a great game.
 @MartiniMonkey70 They are tentatively schedule to play in Boise in 2015, a trip I would like to make myself.
 @MartiniMonkey70 My son and I went to the game in 2007, I was very impressed with how well the fans traveled, saw a lot of Idaho plates and BSU flags walking in.  We sat in the last row of section 36, the highest south west corner in nothing but a sea of orange, it was awesome!Â
 @MartiniMonkey70 I've seen them lose twice in this state, hoping for a third in Vegas, viva Las Vegas, GO DAWGS!
Boring......
Apparently the Las Vegas Bowl should be renamed the "We were too mediocre to win a decent bowl, Bowl".
@scared_citizen There's a lot of truth in that. Back in the day, any bowl berth meant something. Nowadays, well, don't take my word for it. Read the ESPN article about Louisiana Tech (9-3) missing out on a bowl berth because they were too slow to respond to the promoters: "Independence Bowl chairman Jack Andres said organizers had to set a deadline for Louisiana Tech. They were concerned if they waited they would be stuck with a team that was barely bowl eligible and too far away from Shreveport to bring many fans to the game. "We had to make some decisions to get somebody in there. We've got sponsors, hotels. There's a lot of money riding on this," he said."" And that is what the college post-season is all about, folks. Nothing more.
Go Blue, we watch this on t.v but we will see you on the first game in the Huskies stadium. We love you Boise.Â
 @Just my say I would love to see this game in Vegas but I'm for sure going to game next year.Â
What!..  No love for them Dawgs...
I thought the Huskies were playing in the "Waste Management Toilet Bowl".
Throw them a bone. HA HA
And remember - what happens in Vegas.......
I don't know whether Sarkisian's quotes in this story are fully representative of his views, but it's encouraging that he avoided claiming that this bowl birth in any way reflects a milestone in the program development or reflects the stature of the program. UW football is in stall mode now and my best guess is that, like the Mariners, no amount of changes at the player and coaching level is going to make a difference. The core problems lie elsewhere and have for some time.
Broncos are going to steamroll them.
The Broncos who lost to San Diego St., the same San Diego St. sqaud the Dawgs beat?
@Handsome_Dan That would be correct. The same Husky team that couldn't win against the 2-9 Cougs with an 18 point lead in the 4th Qtr.