Boise State’s Danielson ‘fired up’ for LA Bowl, but would like expanded CFP

BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — There’s a growing sense in the college football world that bowl games are losing their shine.

With the introduction of the 12-team College Football Playoff format, several teams on the upper rungs of the college football ladder are starting to view the postseason as playoffs-or-bust.

Notre Dame turned down its bowl game invite on Sunday, having ended its season ranked No. 11 in the CFP Committee’s final rankings. Only the top 10 teams in the rankings earned playoff berths, with the last two spots going to the American Athletic Conference champion (Tulane) and the Sun Belt Conference champion (James Madison).

The Fighting Irish finished 10-2, including a 28-7 win over Boise State in October, yet released a statement that they will withdraw their name from bowl consideration following the snub.

Both Kansas State (6-6) and Iowa State (8-4) also opted out of bowl games after losing their head coaches; K-State’s Chris Kleiman retired and Iowa State’s Matt Campbell took the open Penn State job.

Multiple 5-7 teams, such as Florida State, Kansas and Auburn, have also turned down the chance to fill in empty bowl game slots. Boise State also had a long outside shot at making the CFP, but ultimately landed in the LA Bowl, having won the Mountain West Championship with a 38-21 win over UNLV on Friday.

And although missing out on the CFP isn’t the ending to the season that Boise State wanted, head coach Spencer Danielson had zero thought about skipping this coming weekend’s LA Bowl matchup against Washington.

“You only get better playing the game,” Danielson said in his Monday press conference. “I always want to recruit and have a team full of football guys that absolutely love playing football. They’re going to keep score on Saturday, there’s going to be a lot of people watching, and you’re going to be playing with your team, and these are moments that you just love.”

Boise State hasn’t won a conference championship and bowl game in the same year since 2017, when the Broncos won the Mountain West and then beat Oregon 38-28 in the Las Vegas Bowl.

“I talked to our leadership today about (the above stat),” Danielson said. “That’s a big deal for this place; it hasn’t happened since ‘17. So we’ve got our work cut out for us. But we’re very, very fired up for the matchup.”

There’s still no indication as to whether any individual members of Boise State’s team will opt out of the bowl game. At least two Broncos with remaining eligibility — redshirt junior left tackle Kage Casey and junior safety Ty Benefield — are eyeing the NFL. Other players in their final year of eligibility may also be considering a football career beyond college, such as redshirt senior tight end Matt Lauter, who said last week he’s been talking to agents.

Danielson said he would sit down with players on Monday to determine whether they’ll play or not, but noted that he’d heard the team was “excited” to play in the LA Bowl.

Should the CFP field be expanded?

Despite the willingness to play in the LA Bowl, Danielson said on Monday that he’s still in favor of an expanded playoff. Two group of five teams — Tulane and James Madison — made the CFP for the first time this year, and Danielson believes the Broncos were “one win” away from being in the conversation themselves.

And while Danielson said that Boise State didn’t do enough in winning their games this year, he said he thinks any FBS team that “handles their business” deserves a shot at the national title.

Does that mean potentially expanding the playoffs? Danielson thinks so.

“I think it should. I think it would be awesome,” he said. “I think it’s awesome for college football fans watching playoff games. You look at the FCS model. I’m not saying that’s going to completely be able to go to FBS, but that’s an exciting thing to go through a playoff run.”

Twenty-four teams qualify for the FCS playoffs, and just this past weekend, previously undefeated No. 1 seed North Dakota State lost 29-28 to Illinois State in the second round.

“I’m sure there’ll be changes, just like they made changes last year,” Danielson said about the FBS playoffs. “But I always believe there’s a shot for Boise State, and it’s our job to handle our side of the bargain.”