No. 9 BYU Will Be Highest-Ranked Boise State Opponent To Ever Play On Blue Turf
Nov 1, 2020, 1:30 PM | Updated: Nov 2, 2020, 3:29 pm
BYU head coach Kalani Sitake during a game against Boise State on November 3rd, 2018. (BYU Photo/Nate Edwards)
(BYU Photo/Nate Edwards)
PROVO, Utah – BYU-Boise State has been one of the great rivalries out west the past decade in college football. But Friday night is going to take this matchup to a whole new level.
Both teams are ranked for the first time in this series’s history that dates back to 2003. BYU has never defeated Boise State on the blue turf. If there were a year to do it, it would appear that this season is BYU’s best chance to pull off a victory as they are off to their best start since 2001 with a 7-0 record.
The undefeated start has BYU up to No. 9 in both the AP and Coaches Top 25 polls. That’s notable because Boise State has never hosted an opponent in Boise at Albertson’s Stadium with as high a ranking as the Cougars possess heading into Friday night.
BYU is No. 9 in the Coaches Poll. Broncos haven't played a team that high since No. 4 TCU in the 2010 Fiesta Bowl.
Friday night's game will be Boise State's highest-ranked opponent in a decade, and the highest-ranked ever to play in Boise.
— B.J. Rains (@BJRains) November 1, 2020
Boise State is 3-2 all-time against teams ranked No. 9 or higher. The last win coming in the famous “Statue of Liberty” Fiesta Bowl against No. 7 Oklahoma in 2007. BYU hasn’t been ranked in the top nine of the rankings since 2009, a year where they also upset Oklahoma to open the season.
What’s more impressive about this game is that it wasn’t on either team’s schedule until a month ago. In August, the Mountain West Conference announced that it was postponing the fall season due to the novel Coronavirus pandemic. But after more education on the virus and improvements to testing, MWC football returned, and with it came the return of the BYU/Boise State series.
The Mountain West gave Boise an exception to play an out-of-conference game because Air Force is Army.
We’re all grateful that exception was granted. Because now we all get to witness a Top 25 showdown between two teams that have hopes of an undefeated season, New Year’s Six bowl games, or even the College Football Playoff.
No. 9 BYU at No. 21 Boise State
Date: Friday, November 6th, 2020
Kickoff: 7:45 p.m. (MT)
TV: FS1
Radio: KSL NewsRadio (102.7 FM, 1160 AM, KSL NewsRadio app)
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m., KSL Newsradio). Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.
