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Boise State bowl possibilities: Where will Broncos land? Who will Broncos play?

We are one day into the month of November, and you know what that means: Time to make bowl predictions that will look completely moronic by December!

To hedge my bets about looking moronic, I have listed every single Boise State bowl possibility I could think of to help get you mentally prepared for where the Broncos might end up. From the Rose Bowl to the Human Bowl, it's all covered after the jump. And feel free to let me know in the poll and in the comments which team you think would give the Broncos the best game.

If the season ended today ...

Thank goodness the season doesn't end today.

National championship game

Oregonlogosmall_medium Auburnlogosmall_medium Oregon vs. Auburn

Rose Bowl

Wisconsinlogosmall_medium Tculogosmall_medium Wisconsin vs. TCU

As established this offseason, the Rose Bowl is required to take the top non-BCS team should either the Big Ten or Pac-10 champion make it to the national title game. As of right now, Oregon is in the title game and TCU is the top-ranked non-BCS.

In the Big Ten, there is a four-way tie at the top with Michigan State, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Ohio State all with one conference loss apiece. Iowa still plays Ohio State later this month, so that will knock at least one team out of this four-way tie. The tiebreaker is a little convoluted, but I think I made sense of it: Wisconsin gets the edge today because it defeated two of the remaining tied teams (Ohio State and Iowa). If Ohio State beats the Hawkeyes later this month, there will be a three-way tie, each team will have defeated one of the other teams, and provided they all finish with the same overall record, the tiebreaker is the BCS standings. Wisconsin currently leads the BCS standings

Possibilities for an undefeated Boise State

Let's say that the Broncos finish the year undefeated because I'm not really prepared to imagine a world where that doesn't happen (not for a few more paragraphs at least). Boise State would likely be in the Top Five in the BCS rankings and almost certainly be BCS-bound. If Boise State jumps TCU in the standings and Oregon remains No. 1 or No. 2, the Broncos would be guaranteed a spot in the Rose Bowl. Their matchup in the Rose would look like one of these:

Rose Bowl

Bsulogosmall_medium Wisconsinlogosmall_medium Boise State vs. Wisconsin

Bsulogosmall_medium Ohiostatelogosmall_medium Boise State vs. Ohio State

Bsulogosmall_medium Michiganstatelogosmall_medium Boise State vs. Michigan State

Bsulogosmall_medium Iowalogosmall_medium Boise State vs. Iowa

Should Oregon lose at some point or if TCU stays ahead of the Broncos in the BCS, Boise State would fall into the at-large pool and be snatched up by one of the remaining BCS bowls.

The selection order for the rest of the BCS bowls this season goes Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, Fiesta Bowl.

As such, you could see ...

Sugar Bowl (with an SEC tie-in)

Bsulogosmall_medium Alabamalogosmall_medium Boise State vs. Alabama

Bsulogosmall_medium Southcarolinalogosmall_medium Boise State vs. South Carolina

Bsulogosmall_medium Auburnlogosmall_medium Boise State vs. Auburn

Orange Bowl (with an ACC tie-in)

Bsulogosmall_medium Floridastatelogosmall_medium Boise State vs. Florida State

Bsulogosmall_medium Ncstatelogosmall_medium Boise State vs. NC State

Bsulogosmall_medium Marylandlogosmall_medium Boise State vs. Maryland

Fiesta Bowl (with a Big XII tie-in)

Bsulogosmall_medium Nebraskalogosmall_medium Boise State vs. Nebraska

Bsulogosmall_medium Oklahomalogosmall_medium Boise State vs. Oklahoma

Bsulogosmall_medium Baylorlogosmall_medium Boise State vs. Baylor

Bsulogosmall_medium Oklahomastatelogosmall_medium Boise State vs. Oklahoma State

Bsulogosmall_medium Missourilogosmall_medium Boise State vs. Missouri

And the best option of them all: Boise State makes the national championship game with an Oregon or Auburn loss and divine intervention from a loving God. Should that happen, Boise State's likely national title competition would be:

National championship game

Bsulogosmall_medium Oregonlogosmall_mediumBoise State vs. Oregon

Bsulogosmall_medium Auburnlogosmall_mediumBoise State vs. Auburn

Bsulogosmall_medium Alabamalogosmall_medium Boise State vs. Alabama

Possibilities for a one-loss Boise State

Perish the thought! But still, the Broncos could lose one of their remaining five games, especially if Humanitarian Bowl freelance witch doctors have anything to say about it. If that happens, the Broncos may fall into one of the WAC's contracted bowl slots.

  • Humanitarian Bowl
  • New Mexico Bowl
  • Poinsettia Bowl
  • Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl

Barf!

Hawaii has already accepted an invite to the Hawaii Bowl, so that's done. And chances are probably 70 to 80 percent that the Humanitarian Bowl would make a deal with the devil to make sure the Broncos stayed home this bowl season if at all possible.

The Humanitarian Bowl gets the WAC's No. 1 or No. 2 team and the MAC's No. 3 team. As such, you could see the Broncos' matchup in this one looking like this ...

Humanitarian Bowl

Bsulogosmall_medium Northernillinoislogosmall_medium Boise State vs. Northern Illinois

Bsulogosmall_medium Ohiologosmall_medium Boise State vs. Ohio

Bsulogosmall_medium Templelogosmall_medium Boise State vs. Temple

Bsulogosmall_medium Miamiohlogosmall_medium Boise State vs. Miami (OH)

There is a fifth team at the top of the MAC standings, but that team is Toledo, and I don't think anyone wants to see that again.

The Human Bowl might be appeased (and set Boise State free) if Idaho gets bowl eligible again, which is iffy at this point. The Vandals have to win three of five, including a win over either Nevada, Boise State, or Fresno.

The Poinsettia Bowl takes the Mountain West's No. 2 team versus either Navy or a WAC team. Navy only needs one more win in its four games to become bowl eligible, so this one's all but over for the WAC. Still, you could see ...

Poinsettia Bowl

Bsulogosmall_medium Utahlogosmall_medium Boise State vs. Utah

Bsulogosmall_medium Tculogosmall_medium Boise State vs. TCU

The Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl takes the Pac-10's No. 6 team. The Pac-10 will be lucky to get to six bowl eligible teams, and if they do, it is likely to be ...

Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl

Bsulogosmall_medium Callogosmall_medium Boise State vs. Cal

Bsulogosmall_medium Arizonastatelogosmall_medium Boise State vs. Arizona State

The New Mexico Bowl takes the Mountain West's No. 4 or No. 5 team. Last year's New Mexico Bowl pitted Fresno State against Wyoming, so yes, I would be physically sick to my stomach if the Broncos fell this far. You could see ...

New Mexico Bowl

Bsulogosmall_medium Sandiegostatelogosmall_medium Boise State vs. San Diego State

Bsulogosmall_medium Airforcelogosmall_medium Boise State vs. Air Force

Bsulogosmall_medium Byulogosmall_medium Boise State vs. BYU

And then, of course, there is the always ethereal at-large bowl that no one sees coming. Karl Benson worked his Karl Benson magic a couple years back to get the Broncos into a Poinsettia Bowl game against TCU, and while I doubt he's feeling like doing BSU any favors this year, you never know.

Possibilities for a two-loss Boise State

Human Bowl. Of course, it isn't likely to matter because if Boise State loses two games this season, we will obviously be in the middle of a zombie armageddon and not care too much about bowl pairings.

Which team would give Boise State the toughest time?

This is a rather exhaustive list of bowl possibilities and I'm sure I even left out several that could happen. Assuming this is it, which matchup do you think would be the toughest for the Broncos? Which game would be the best? Share your thoughts in the comments and vote in the poll.