MAACO Bowl Las Vegas

Bowl History: The Bowl (formally known as the Las Vegas Bowl) was founded in 1992 has been played every year since its inception! The current conference tie-ins are with the PAC 12 & Mountain West Conferences! The first game in 1992 found Bowling Green beating Nevada, 35-34 while the defending Champ, Boise State (who beat Arizona State last year, 2011, 56-24) will be making its third straight appearance in the MAACO Bowl! Payout per team is $1,000,000.00!

Teams : Washington; PAC 12 Conference, Overall Record 7-5 /  Conference Record, 5-4 Divisional Record 3-2 in the North Division…vs Boise State; Mountain West Conference; Overall Record 10-2 / Conference Record 7-1 …MWC does not have Divisional Play!

Bowl Location:  The MAACO Bowl is played annually in Las Vegas, Nevada @ Sam Boyd Stadium (actually in Whitney, Nevada) which has a capacity to seat 40,000 fans! The game’s highest attendance came in 2006, BYU vs Oregon, 44,615 fans attended this Battle … won by BYU, 38-8!

Day, Date, & Time: Saturday, 12/22/2012, 2:30 p.m.

Network: ESPN

Best Wins: Boise State beat a very good defensive team in BYU, 7-6 & MWC Tri-champion, Fresno State, 20-10! While Washington handed PAC 12 Champion, Stanford, their only conference loss, 17-13 and beat a very good Oregon State, 20-17 (The Beavers beat the Badgers … the other Rose Bowl participant)

Worst Losses: Washington … OT loss, 31-28, to Washington State … no question their worst loss… on many levels! Boise State .. Lost to a good but under-achieving Michigan State, 17-13 and then fell to San Diego State, 21-19, a loss that kept them from winning MWC Championship out right !

Common Opponents:  One common opponent; San Diego State … Washington beat the Aztec’s, 21-12 and Boise State lost to SDSU, 21-19!

Las Vegas Hotsheet: Opened BSU -7.5 now @ -5…

Offensive Team Data: Boise State: Total Yards, 390 YPG; Passing Yards, 217 YPG;  Rushing Yards, 173 YPG; Scoring Average 30 PPG, Turnovers, 1.25 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 45.2%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 80% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 59% 

Offensive Team Data: Washington: Total Yards, 352 YPG; Passing Yards, 207 YPG;  Rushing Yards, 145 YPG; Scoring Average 24 PPG, Turnovers, 2.08 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 38.2%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 74% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 66% 

Defensive Team Data: Boise State: Total Yards, 305 YPG; Passing Yards, 163 YPG;  Rushing Yards, 141 YPG; Scoring Average 15 PPG, Turnovers, 2.75 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 41.8%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 66% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 62%

Defensive Team Data: Washington: Total Yards, 354 YPG; Passing Yards, 186 YPG;  Rushing Yards, 168 YPG; Scoring Average 24 PPG, Turnovers, 2.58 TPG; Percent of 3rd Down Conversions, 37.4%; Percentage of all scores in Red Zone, 82% & Percentage of TD’s in Red Zone, 48% 

Sully’s Game Simulator:  is a statistical analysis / predictor of how these teams will preform, based solely on their numbers, when they face off on the gridiron! Keep in mind, these stats were established against different teams and conferences and these differences must be taken into account to get a complete picture when attempting to predetermine a winner. If you are interested in how the Simulator works … read this part … if not … skip it! The process used is … we take BSU’s total yards on offense, add it to what Washington gives up on defense, …  get a total and then divide that number by 2 … to get the mean. We then invert the process by taking Washington’s total offense, add it to what BSU gives up on defense, get a total and divide that number by 2  to get the second mean… the greater number (with the exception of Turnovers) is then determined to have the advantage ( please note …. statistical advantage). We repeat this process in each of the eight statistical categories assessed!  That said… here are the results of the Head to Head Analysis:

Total Yards:  Advantage; Boise State 372 to 329

Passing Yards: Advantage; Boise State 202 to 185

Rushing Yards: Advantage; Boise State 171 to 143

Scoring: Advantage; Boise State 27 to 20

Turnovers: Advantage; Boise State 1.92 to 2.42

3rd Down Conversions: Advantage; Boise State  41.3 to 40.0

Red Zone All Scores: Advantage; Boise State 81% to 70%

Red Zone TD’s Only: Advantage; Washington 64% to 54%

Individuals to Watch: Boise State’s QB, Joe Southwick, passed for 2,466 yards, 17 TD, 7 INT’s, and completed 66.7 percent of his passes, while Washington’s Quarterback, Keith Price threw for 2,486 yards, 18 TD, 11 INT’s & completed 61.8% of his attempts! At running back, BSU’s D.J. Harper, rushed for 1,065 yards, 15 TD’s and 5.0 yards per carry as compared to Washington’s RB, Bishop Sankey, who countered with 1,234 total yards rushing, 15 TDs & a 4.8 yards per carry

Sully Says: Surprisingly, the Huskies & Broncos have met only once, in 2007, when Jake Locker led Washington to a 24 to 10 victory! This lost ended BSU’s 14 game win streak and pay back may be on Coach Petersen’s mind! Washington is coming of a terrible, season-ending loss to Washington State, 31-28 in OT and is anxious to right the ship, while the Broncos finished the season with two blow out wins, 49-14 over Hawaii & 42 to 14 over Colorado State! Washington’s Defensive Coordinator, Justin Wilcox, is no stranger to Boise’s HC Chris Petersen, as he served in that same position for the Broncos from 2006 to 2009, helping BSU win two Fiesta Bowls. This clearly gives the Huskies an edge in preparation. While Sully’s CFP Game Simulator really likes Boise State … one must remember those numbers were not earned in the PAC 12 … but rather were established in the Mountain West! Given Washington’s superior schedule, Wilcox’s insight into specific nuances of Boise’s offense & defensive tendencies, and slight edge in talent… Sully’s Says Take the points and Washington!