Las Vegas Bowl Predictions: Arizona State Sun Devils vs. Boise State Broncos

The Arizona State Sun Devils (6-6) and Boise State Broncos (11-1) will face off in the MAACO Bowl Las Vegas Thursday night inside Sam Boyd Stadium in a contest that will be televised on ESPN.

Oddsmakers opened up the Broncos as 11.5-point neutral-field favorites and the betting odds were immediately pushed higher to their current level of 14 up and down the Las Vegas strip.

Let's take a closer look at this Mountain West versus Pac-12 contest from a betting perspective.

Dennis Erickson, Arizona State Sun Devils Head Coach

Dennis Erickson will coach his last game on the sidelines for Arizona State, as he'll be replaced by former Pittsburgh Panthers head coach Todd Graham.

This is by far the biggest angle to handicap in regards to the Sun Devils—a program that's 12-11-1 in bowl games in its history.

Bettors will be quick to write off this squad due to ending the year on a four-game losing streak, but all of those defeats were by 10 points or less.

Boise State Always Puts on a Show on ESPN

Boise State Broncos head coach Chris Petersen is certainly not an advocate for the BCS system, but the program has always performed well in front of a major audience.

The Broncos are a dominating 45-8 all-time when playing on the ESPN family of networks.

Brock Osweiler, Arizona State Sun Devils QB

Brock Osweiler is the other quarterback in this contest, but he has thrown for 3,641 yards this season, which is the second-highest single-season total in program history.

The junior signal-caller definitely faces a challenge in facing a secondary that ranked 25th nationally in allowing just 195.5 passing yards per game.

Kellen Moore, Boise State Broncos QB

Boise State Broncos quarterback Kellen Moore has tallied an incredible 49-3 mark as a starter, while also walking away with the 2011 Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year honors.

The senior will be playing his final game behind an offensive line that tied for first among all units in allowing just 0.67 sacks per game.

He completed 28 of 38 passes for 339 yards and two touchdowns with an interception in this game a year ago, walking away with a 26-3 win over the Utah Utes as 15.5-point favorites.

Prediction

The Boise State Broncos really don't want to be in this game and I can sense the same from their fans walking around the Las Vegas strip.

Arizona State has lost its last six games in straight-up fashion when playing as an underdog of 10.5 to 21 points, but posted a 4-1-1 against-the-spread mark in those contests.

The Broncos have also dropped their last six games when favored by 10.5 or more points.

Pick: Arizona State Sun Devils (+14)