Boise State has won and covered the spread in the past two Las Vegas Bowls and looks for the hat trick Saturday against the Washington Huskies. And the Las Vegas Bowl odds show the Broncos favored by 5 points at most sports books tracked by OddsShark.com, the lines partner of SBNation.
2012 Las Vegas Bowl: Boise State vs. Washington betting odds, preview, pick
Boise State is favored on most Las Vegas Bowl odds menus, but many believe Washington’s strength of schedule means they can handle the Broncos. Check out the Maaco Las Vegas Bowl betting preview and pick.
William Mancebo
The game pits the Mountain West Conference champ against the fifth-place finisher in the Pac-12. With Boise State finishing its conference slate in a three-way tie, it faces Washington, picked over Arizona State, which also finished at 7-5 in Pac-12 play.
It is a low-level bowl, but features a pair of Top 25 schools. BSU ranked 15th in the final USA Today Coaches Poll, while Washington checked in at No. 23. The Huskies have momentum, piling up four straight conference wins in November, including upsets of Stanford and Oregon State.
Washington played in the highest-scoring bowl in history last season, losing 67-56 to Robert Griffin III's Baylor Bears in the Alamo Bowl. That game came on the heels of a 13-7 win over Nebraska in 2010 in the Holiday Bowl.
Boise State’s defense must clamp down on the Huskies early if it hopes to make it four straight bowl victories. But handicappers like the strength of schedule Washington endured in 2012 and see that as a possible factor in the upset here.
The total was hovering at 46.5 as of Monday as most sports books.
Pick: Washington +5 (courtesy of PickShark.com)
Maaco Las Vegas Bowl History
Data includes original name of bowl, current name, teams, point spread of the second listed team, SU winner and ATS winner.
Year Bowl Team1 Team 2 Team2 Line ATS win
1996 | Las Vegas Bowl | Nevada | 18 | Ball State | 15 | Push | |
1997 | Las Vegas Bowl | Oregon | 41 | Air Force | 13 | 3 | OREG |
1998 | Las Vegas Bowl | North Carolina | 20 | San Diego State | 13 | 7 | Push |
1999 | Las Vegas Bowl | Fresno State | 16 | Utah | 17 | -5 | FRESNO |
2000 | Las Vegas Bowl | Arkansas | 14 | UNLV | 31 | -1 | UNLV |
2001 | Las Vegas Bowl | Utah | 10 | Southern Cal | 6 | -3.5 | UTAH |
2002 | Las Vegas Bowl | New Mexico | 13 | UCLA | 27 | -9.5 | UCLA |
2003 | Las Vegas Bowl | Oregon State | 55 | New Mexico | 14 | 2.5 | OREGST |
2004 | Las Vegas Bowl | Wyoming | 24 | UCLA | 21 | -12.5 | WYOMNG |
2005 | Las Vegas Bowl | BYU | 28 | California | 35 | -8 | BYU |
2006 | Las Vegas Bowl | BYU | 38 | Oregon | 8 | 3.5 | BYU |
2007 | Las Vegas Bowl | UCLA | 16 | BYU | 17 | -6.5 | UCLA |
2008 | Las Vegas Bowl | BYU | 21 | Arizona | 31 | -3 | ARIZON |
2009 | Las Vegas Bowl | BYU | 44 | Oregon State | 20 | 2.5 | BYU |
2010 | Las Vegas Bowl | Utah | 3 | Boise State | 26 | -16.5 | BOISE |
2011 | Las Vegas Bowl | Arizona State | 24 | Boise State | 56 | -14 | BOISE |
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