MWC Commissioner Gloria Nevarez: Boise State 'has earned one of the top four seeds'

It’s certain that Boise State will be in the College Football Playoff — but will the Broncos earn a top-four seed and with it, a first-round bye?

Mountain West Conference commissioner Gloria Nevarez feels that Boise State — who defeated UNLV 21-7 in Friday night’s Mountain West Championship Game — should have one of those seeds and issued a statement saying as much on Saturday night.

“Participation in the college football playoff isn’t about entitlement,” the statement, which was shared by the Mountain West Conference’s X (formerly Twitter) account said. “It should not be contingent upon a conference patch or the logo on the helmet. It’s based on performance and Mountain West champion Boise State’s body of work this season, including an 11-game win streak, has earned it one of the top four seeds ahead of the Big 12 champion.”

Statement from MW Commissioner Nevarez on CFP seeding. pic.twitter.com/Gu6JlwswWy

— Mountain West (@MountainWest) December 8, 2024

The Big 12 champion in question is Arizona State, who punched its CFP ticket on Saturday with a 45-19 win over Iowa State in the Big 12 Championship Game. After the game, ASU coach Kenny Dillingham said that he felt the 11-2 Sun Devils “Should be treated like an 11-1 team,” as one of their two losses came without quarterback Sam Leavitt. Dillingham defended that stance by citing the CFP omission of an undefeated Florida State team in 2023, noting that the Seminoles’ exclusion was justified because their quarterback, Jordan Travis, was injured and would not be available for the CFP.

In the 12-team playoff, the top four seeds go to the four highest-ranked conference champions. Coming into the weekend, it was clear that two of those spots would go to the Big Ten and the SEC as their Conference Championship Game participants (Oregon/Penn State and Texas/Georgia) were all ranked in the top-five, and No. 4 was Independent Notre Dame, who can’t receive a bye. The remaining byes would go to two of Boise State, Arizona State and the ACC Champion. Boise State and Arizona State were ranked at 10 and 15, respectively, before their wins over UNLV and Iowa State. The ACC Championship Game, meanwhile, pits No. 8 SMU against No. 17 Clemson.

[Mountain West Conference on X]