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America’s Northwest will be well represented when Boise State and Washington get bowl season started in earnest Saturday night.

A lot of the early postseason one-offs feature matchups between middling teams, but this one has some weight behind it.

There will also be some added drama surrounding the game since Washington head coach Jedd Fisch is one of the leading candidates to take over at Michigan after Sherrone Moore’s dramatic firing.

Fisch and the Huskies are 9.5-point favorites over the Broncos on Saturday evening, and the Over/Under is 52.5 points at FanDuel.

There is always a lot of homework to be done for bowl games.

Players opt out. Coaches leave their posts. And there are motivational angles to consider.

This game, however, seems pretty straightforward compared to what’s to come over the next few weeks.

Boise State might have won the Mountain West again this season, but it’s still fair to classify 2025 as a bit of a disappointment for the Blue-Turfers.

The Broncos were expected to be in the running for the Group of 5’s bid to the College Football Playoff, but those dreams were derailed with a 34-7 Week 1 loss to South Florida.

Boise State had a chance to make up for that defeat against Notre Dame, but it fell flat in South Bend in a 28-7 loss.

That put a heap of pressure on the Broncos to win the conference, which they did, but only because they got plenty of help on the out-of-town scoreboard. It’s almost as if the Broncos won the MWC by accident.

Boise State saw the return of quarterback Maddux Madsen in the Mountain West Championship and reaped the benefits.

Madsen was sidelined for a few games down the stretch, which allowed defenses to commit to stopping the Broncos on the ground, since the passing game was tepid without its ringleader.

Madsen showed no ill effects in the conference championship, leading the Broncos to a comprehensive 38-21 win over UNLV with three touchdown passes.

The only problem is that Madsen will face a much stiffer test on Saturday. UNLV’s defense pales in comparison to Washington’s.

Playing against a tough schedule, the Huskies finished the season ranked 19th in points allowed per game (20.3), 22nd in yards per play allowed (4.8), 20th in yards per pass (6.3) and 19th in yards allowed per rush (3.4).

Washington wasn’t just a one-trick pony, either. The Huskies finished the regular season ranked 28th in yards per play (6.0), 17th in the country in yards per pass (8.5) and sixth in completion percentage (70.2).

Weird stuff always happens during bowl season, but if you take this matchup at face value it seems like a terrific setup for Washington to run rampant.

The Play: Washington -9.5 (-110, FanDuel)

Michael Leboff is a long-suffering Islanders fan, but a long-profiting sports bettor with 10 years of experience in the gambling industry. He loves using game theory to help punters win bracket pools, find long shots, and learn how to beat the market in mainstream and niche sports.