2016 Potato Bowl, Colorado State vs. Idaho: Date, time, location and everything to know

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The 2016 Potato Bowl – college football’s unquestioned top postseason game named for a vegetable – is set for Dec. 22 on Boise State’s blue turf. It’ll be the only college game of the day, though the Giants and Eagles play an NFL game, too.

This is the Potato Bowl’s 20th year. It has had a variety of sponsors in two decades, with the current backer being the Idaho Potato Commission, which represents the interests of the potato industry in the state. This has previously been dubbed the Humanitarian Bowl and MPC Computers Bowl, at various points.

The tie-ins come this year are for the Mountain West and the MAC. Previous versions of the game have sometimes been tight, including last year’s contest between Akron and Utah State. Some past game MVPs are Matt Ryan, Jared Zabransky and Colin Kaepernick. So some good players have done some good things here, and the stage is one of the sport’s most unique. Here’s to hoping some geese come to visit.

Here’s what you need to know about this year’s Potato Bowl:

Date and time: Dec. 22, 7 p.m. ET

TV channel: ESPN

Location: Boise, Idaho

Stadium: Albertson’s Stadium

Last year’s score: Akron 23, Utah State 21

Last year’s attendance: 18,876

Teams with the most all-time appearances: Boise State, 4

Teams with the most all-time wins: Boise State, 3

Colorado State (7-5, 5-3 in Mountain West)

Colorado State head coach Mike Bobo is in his second season as the Rams’ head coach, and he’s already led the program to back-to-back seven-win regular seasons. The Rams were sitting at 3-4 by Week 7, but CSU was able to win its last four out of five games to get to the seven-win mark. The Rams were able to get some signature wins such as Utah State, UNLV, Fresno State, and beat San Diego State to cap off the end of the season.

The Rams began the season with Colin Hill as their quarterback, but a knee injury sidelined him for the season in early October. Backup signal-caller Nick Stevens has performed well stepping in for Hill, throwing for 1,491 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Being able to extend Colorado’s bowl-eligible streak of three years isn’t exactly a cakewalk, but that’s exactly what Bobo has done this season.

Idaho (8-4, 6-2 in Sun Belt)

Idaho came into 2016 following a 4-8 record in 2015, and the Vandals have greatly improved in just a single season. Idaho finished the year with a win over Georgia State, which put them at 8-4 -- a drastic improvement from the losing season they had last year. The Vandals opened this year by losing three of their first five games, but with wins over UNLV, UL-Monroe, and New Mexico State, bowl eligibility was looked like a definite possibility for the first time since 2009.

On offense, Vandals quarterback Matt Linehan leads the way, having thrown for over 2,600 yards. Running back Aaron Duckworth’s chipped in a bit on the ground. Defensively, the Vandals have struggled all season, placing near the bottom of the country in scoring defense and by advanced metrics like S&P+.

Aside from the defensive struggles, head coach Paul Petrino (yes, the brother of Bobby Petrino) has to take some credit for the turnaround Idaho has shown in a season. To have eight wins following 4-8 season isn’t half bad -- we’ll just have to wait and see what Idaho can do in a bowl for the first time in seven seasons.