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March 29, 2024

Going to be a great matchup’: Boise State, Washington tabbed for Las Vegas Bowl

Las Vegas Bowl 2019

Courtesy Las Vegas Bowl

Las Vegas Bowl Executive Director John Saccenti discusses this year’s matchup between Boise State and Washington during the official announcement at Hark Rock Hotel on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2019.

Las Vegas Bowl Executive Director John Saccenti spent Sunday morning traveling back to Southern Nevada from Boise, Idaho. He took in the Mountain West championship game on Saturday, where host Boise State beat Hawaii 31-10.

The league champ is supposed to be aligned with the local bowl game — so long as the Group of Five school doesn’t earn a bid to a coveted New Year’s Six bowl, which has first priority in the bowl hierarchy. That meant Saccenti had to wait for the final standings to be released today.

Such is the life of a bowl director.

As supporters started to gather at Hard Rock Hotel for the pairing announcement for the Dec. 21 game at Sam Boyd Stadium, Saccenti — still recovering from his travels — roamed the property’s hallways finalizing the matchup on his cell phone.

The first part was easy.

Memphis was tabbed as the non-Power 5 school for a lucrative New Year’s game, meaning Boise State would be coming to Las Vegas for the fifth time since 2010. That’s great news for Saccenti, because Boise State travels well.

“We wanted the Mountain West champion. That was our intention all along,” he said.

The hard part was coordinating an opponent for Boise State from the Pac-12 Conference. Arizona State, California, Washington and Washington State all looked like a possibilities. All their helmets were ready to be displayed waiting for Saccenti to hear the final word.

The RedBox Bowl in Northern California went with the nearby Golden Bears — an ideal scenario for both parties. The Sun Bowl wanted Arizona State, and vice versa. That meant Washington, the opponent Saccenti and his committee desired in Las Vegas, was available.

“Very rarely do you have three bowls that want a particular team and the particular team wants to be in those bowls,” Saccenti said.

And so the Coach Petersen Bowl was born.

Click to enlarge photo

Boise State kicker Michael Frisina celebrates after his team defeated Washington at the MAACO Bowl Las Vegas on Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012. Frisina kicked the go-ahead field goal in the fourth quarter.

Outgoing Washington coach Chris Petersen was formerly at Boise State, coaching them for the last time in the 2012 Las Vegas Bowl — against Washington, of course. Nine of Petersen’s Washington assistants were formerly at Boise State.

“There will be lots of storylines around this game, but the focus is always on our players and finishing the season strong,” Boise State coach Bryan Harsin said.

Nationally, the storyline will be Peterson, who surprised many in college football circles in announcing he was stepping away from the Washington program at the end of the season. He has a remarkable 146-38 record combined in runs at Washington and Boise State.

“There’s a lot of other teams that I’d probably like to be playing for this last time but it is what it is. It’s interesting how sometimes these things work out,” Peterson said.

Locally, the storyline will be slightly different. It’s the last Las Vegas Bowl in Sam Boyd Stadium before the game, like UNLV football, relocates to $2 billion Allegiant Stadium near the Strip. The game, which started as a way to bring visitors to Las Vegas during a slow month for visitors, has grown in 28 years into one of the premier non-New Year’s Day games.

It’s so respected that this year’s matchup was pegged by ESPN to be moved to primetime on ABC with a 4:30 p.m. start time. It’s also the first rematch in bowl history.

“We are hoping this is the best Las Vegas Bowl yet,” Saccenti said. “...We couldn’t be anymore excited. It’s going to be a great matchup.”

Ray Brewer can be reached at 702-990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21

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