In the wonderful land of odds, with the Fiesta Bowl three nights away, fans are wondering where the Penn State-Boise State line sits.
In what some may call an anti-climatic answer, the line has not moved on FanDuel Sportsbook.
Penn State opened as a heavy 10.5-point favorite over Boise State. It remains a heavy 10.5-point favorite over Boise State.
Both teams have the same number of wins (12) Neither has lost a game to a team not in the College Football Playoff (Penn State lost to Ohio State and Oregon, Boise also lost to Oregon). But this line shouldn’t come as a surprise.
WHY PENN STATE IS A DOUBLE-DIGIT FAVORITE
Photo by Matt Lynch, Nittany Sports Now
For one, despite being the lower seed, Penn State is the higher-ranked team in the AP Poll (No. 4 vs. No. 9). Penn State also gets more inherent respect because it’s in the Big Ten compared to Boise State’s conference, the Mountain West.
But Boise State does have maybe the best player in College Football.
Ashton Jeanty finished runner-up to Colorado’s Travis Hunter in the Heisman Trophy voting and plenty feel he should have won it.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Through 13 games, Jeanty has rushed for— you’re not about to misread this— 2,497 yards and 29 touchdowns, averaging 7.3 yards per carry. He’s 133 yards away from Barry Sanders’ single season NCAA record.
So, yeah, Penn State will have its hands full. But people are questioning if Boise State has enough behind Jeanty to stand up to a team of Penn State’s caliber.
BOISE STATE KNOWS ABOUT THE SKEPTICS… AND EMBRACES THEM
BOISE, ID – SEPTEMBER 21: Boise State Broncos Head Football Coach Spencer Danielson during a college football game between the Portland State Vikings and the Boise State Broncos on September 21, 2024, at Albertsons Stadium in Boise, ID. (Photo by Tyler Ingham/Icon Sportswire)
Some coaches tell their teams to ignore the doubters.
Boise State coach Spencer Danielson isn’t one of them.
“So all the outside noise of people counting us out,” Danielson told reporters Monday. “Awesome. We’ve been with the outside noise of everybody saying how great we are. On either side. You got to blow out the outside noise, and, I believe that, like, please count us out. I mean, that’s what Boise State Football has been built on, is, is people thinking we can’t do something, and we work our tails off to find a way to prove people wrong. And that’s I believe, in our team, wherever we I mean, and we use the phrase put the ball down, like, where it doesn’t matter the stadium doesn’t matter what fans are there, like, on the 31st put the ball down. We’re gonna be ready.”
The odds are almost 100% that No. 6 Penn State and No. 3 Boise State are scheduled to kickoff at 7:30 on ESPN New Year’s Eve Night from State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
