Boise State and Northern Illinois will help guide you into your long Christmas weekend when they partake in the Poinsettia Bowl, kicking off at 4:30 p.m. ET from sunny San Diego. Both of these teams ended their regular seasons under less than positive circumstances, but only one will be able to end the year on a good note.
Watch the Boise State vs. NIU Poinsettia Bowl online: Time, TV schedule, live stream, 3 things to know
The Broncos and Huskies get together in San Diego and will desperately try to avoid a very disappointing end of their seasons.
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
For Boise, they’re primarily going to rely on their running game on offense. Brett Rypien was efficient at quarterback this year, but not particularly explosive. Jeremy McNichols, though, had a very nice year, rushing 221 times for 1244 yards and 18 touchdowns. If he has a good day, the Broncos should be in good shape.
Northern Illinois’ biggest concern is at quarterback. They finished the year with third-string Tommy Fiedler taking the snaps, and that wasn’t their plan considering he’s a walk-on true freshman. This moment may be too much for him at this point, but Northern Illinois has a history of productive passers and they’ve had time to prepare.
How to watch, stream and listen
TV: 4:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
Radio: Boise State | Northern Illinois
Online streaming: WatchESPN
Spread: Boise State is favored by 8 points.
Make friends: Get to SB Nation’s team blog chats for this game at One Bronco Nation Under God for Boise State fans and Hustle Belt for NIU fans.
Three big things to know
1. Get the bad taste out of their mouths. Both Boise State and Northern Illinois are used to better years than they had in 2015. A bowl win would go a long way towards keeping things positive going into the offseason.
2. What happened to Boise? The Broncos were getting a lot of hype as a possible Group of Five representative for the New Years Six bowl slot before the season, and saying they would go undefeated wasn’t thought to be particularly crazy. A funny thing happened though, and it’s that we were all wrong. They lost a close game to BYU early, but the wheels fell off after a shocking 52-26 beating at the hands of Utah State that honestly wasn’t as close as the score would indicate. They went 3-3 in the final half of the season, and looked incredibly un-Boise-like. Can they snap out of it now?
3. NIU didn’t end so hot either. The Huskies, long a stalwart of the MAC, did win the MAC West this year, so it’s hard to say things were terribly disappointing. Once they got to the title game, though, they were completely outclassed by Bowling Green. If there’s any bleed-over into the bowl game, this won’t be pretty for the Huskies.
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