Arizona State vs. Boise State: Last-Minute Spread, Line and More for MAACO Bowl

The Arizona State Sun Devils and Boise State Broncos are travelling to Sin City for the Maaco Bowl in Las Vegas, and it’s a very strange matchup.

Boise State had every right to be in a BCS bowl with their final standing in the Top 25 poll, while ASU is barely eligible for postseason play.

It’s certainly not fair for the Broncos, but they’ll do their best to silence critics who feel they were overrated and will give it their all against the Sun Devils.

ASU will be fighting for their first bowl victory since 2005 in coach Dennis Erickson’s last game.

Keep reading to find out everything you must know about this game.

Where: Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas, NV

When: Thursday, Dec. 22 at 8:00 p.m. EST

Watch: ESPN/ESPN3

Listen: KTAR 620 AM—Arizona State, 580 KIDO AM—Boise State

Betting Line: Boise State -14

Key Storyline: Boise State BCS Snub.

The Broncos are going to be playing angry because they were relegated to a pre-New Years, second-tier bowl game against a 6-6 ASU team that recently fired their head coach for his under-performing squad this season.

They will try and show the BCS that they should have been put in a top bowl game and that they deserved a much better opponent after they finished the season at 11-1 and No. 7 in the standings.

Who Might Not Play for Arizona State

LB Vontaze Burfict—Probable (Disciplinary)

Who Might Not Play for Boise State

LB Tommy Smith—Doubtful (Leg)

CB Jamar Taylor—Doubtful (Leg)

DB Ebenezer Makinde—Questionable (Leg)

What it Means for Arizona State

Apparently, the selection committees think very highly of this Sun Devils team or very lowly of the Broncos.

Despite their disappointing season, in which they beat USC but failed to make the wide-open Pac-12 South berth in the conference championship game, ASU is playing a top opponent in their bowl game.

This is their first postseason game since the 2007 Holiday Bowl, which they lost to Texas in lame duck coach Dennis Erickson’s first season.

He’ll now try to get his only bowl win with the team is his last contest.

What it Means for Boise State

This is just another slap in the face for Boise, who played here last year and demolished Utah 26-3 after being snubbed from the BCS on the heels of another 11-1 regular season.

They’ll win this, and they’ll further prove that they should have been chosen for one of the at-large bids in the BCS, not Michigan or Virginia Tech.

What They're Saying

Chad Crippe of the Idaho Statesman is reporting that the Broncos will be prepared and ready for this game like every other one, despite it being a bitter pill to swallow.

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“First and foremost we’re going back there to play a game, to do our best to try to win a game,” coach Chris Petersen said in Boise. “… It’s a fine line. We definitely want these kids to enjoy it. They had fun down there (last year) without question. It takes some maturity to do this thing right.”

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Tyler Emerick of ASU’s State Press caught up with QB Brock Osweiler, who is excited about the chance to take on a quality team like Boise.

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“We are looking forward to the chance to play a big time opponent on a national stage,” the junior quarterback said. “Las Vegas is an exciting location and we are thrilled to be able to play in a bowl game for our fans against a team like Boise State.”

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Arizona State Player to Watch: Brock Osweiler

The 6’8”, 240-pound giant of a QB has a powerful arm and threw for more over 300 yards per game this season, ranking ninth in the nation.

He leads a spread attack that will need to manufacture a ton of points to stay in this game.

Boise State Player to Watch: Kellen Moore

Moore threw for a career-high 41 touchdowns in his senior season. Unfortunately, this did not cap off his brilliant career with another BCS appearance.

He’ll be looking to end his tenure in Idaho with a solid win and an excellent performance.

Key Matchup: ASU Defense vs. Boise Offense

ASU has the scary task of putting their No. 64-ranked scoring defense up against the No. 7 scoring team in the nation.

If they can’t man up and get enough stops for their offense to capitalize on, they have no chance of winning.

Prediction

Boise State 42, Arizona State 35