Boise State key piece in bowl puzzle

Possibilities abound for bowl-eligible Bulldogs.

Published online on Sunday, Nov. 08, 2009

Fresno State became bowl eligible for the 10th time in 11 seasons Saturday night, so let the bowl projections begin.

The Bulldogs (6-3, 5-1 Western Athletic Conference) have won five straight games and on Sunday picked up two votes in the Associated Press poll and one in the USA Today coaches' poll, in which Fresno State coach Pat Hill said he no longer votes. By season's end, the Bulldogs might have a bowl invitation, too, though it's too soon to know where.

"There's a huge wild card and I think it's Boise State," said New Mexico Bowl representative Jeff Siembieda, who watched the Bulldogs beat Idaho 31-21 in the Kibbie Dome in Moscow on Saturday night.

"A lot of things happened in their favor, with Iowa losing and Oregon losing and Notre Dame losing. But obviously they're going somewhere and I don't know where, and they're the key piece."

Indeed, No. 6 Boise State (9-0, 4-0 WAC) is in the running for a Bowl Championship Series date again and will likely slow the bowl invitation process to the WAC's three bowls: The Roady's Humanitarian Bowl in Boise, the New Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque and the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl in Honolulu.

Many, including Hill and Siembieda, believe either Boise State or Idaho (7-3, 4-2) will end up in the Humanitarian Bowl in December.

The WAC is known for looking for the best matchups and then placing its teams in its bowls, which adds another variable to the mix.

Last year, the Broncos were good enough to bounce out of the WAC's bowls and get an invite to the Poinsettia Bowl in a good matchup against Texas Christian. Boise State lost. Nevada lost to Maryland in the Humanitarian Bowl, and Hawaii lost to Notre Dame in the Hawaii Bowl.

Fresno State went to the New Mexico Bowl, where it lost 40-35 to Colorado State and running back Gartrell Johnson's bowl-record 375 yards from scrimmage.

Siembieda, who greeted Fresno State athletic director Thomas Boeh with a hug on the field during pre-game warm-ups Saturday night, said he would love to have the Bulldogs back.

"They put on a great game, they're great people to work with," Siembieda said. "I like Pat and Thomas and their whole staff."

And having Ryan Mathews -- the nation's leading rusher -- in the contest wouldn't be too bad either.

"There's so much more momentum behind the program now than there was a year ago," Siembieda said.

The Bulldogs' game against Nevada on Saturday could not only decide second place in the WAC, but it also could help decide which team goes to which bowl. Siembieda said Saturday's Idaho-Boise State game also could play a role in determining the selections.

"I think the loser of the Boise State-Idaho game probably ends up in Hawaii," he said. "But I don't know."

At this point, who does?

Non-WAC bowls

The Bulldogs might also have an outside shot of landing in a non-WAC-affiliated bowl.

The Poinsettia Bowl, which is located in San Diego and takes teams from the Pac-10 and Mountain West Conference, selected Boise State last season when the Pac-10 didn't have enough eligible teams to fill its bowl commitments.

The Emerald Bowl, which is located in San Francisco and takes teams from the Pac-10 and Atlantic Coast Conference, is another bowl that might have interest in taking Fresno State should there be a shortage of bowl-eligible teams from the affiliated conferences.

Hill extension still in question

With five straight wins, Hill is two career victories short of 100 and it's still unknown whether he will receive a contract extension.

Hill (98-64) has this season and next season left on his contract.

When asked Sunday whether he and Boeh had talked about an extension, the 13th-year Bulldogs coach said: "We don't talk about that. I'm not too worried about that at all."