It’s bowl season, which means we have a lot of football to watch between Dec. 13 and Jan. 19! Ohio State, Utah, Georgia Southern, Army, Texas A&M — and just about everyone in between — will take part in a total of 47 games that will ultimately conclude with the 2026 CFP National Championship.
NESN has you covered with previews for each and every game — with our next contest featuring an old friend:
2025 Bucked Up LA Bowl – Hosted by Gronk
Matchup: Boise State Broncos vs. Washington Huskies
Date: Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025
Kickoff: 8 p.m. ET
Stadium: SoFi Stadium — Inglewood, Calif.
TV: ABC
Game Overview
The LA Bowl kicks off bowl season in the FBS — pitting a group-of-five conference champion against a power-four program who didn’t qualify for their own conference championship game. It’s not the most historically significant bowl game, but its short history has suggested that G5 teams can keep up with the P4 — with Utah State (2021), Fresno State (2022) and UNLV (2024) winning three of the four matchups. UCLA took home the crown in 2023.
It’ll be the final installment of the game, which is expected to fold following this season, according to On3’s Brett McMurphy
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Team Overviews
Boise State Broncos
Conference: Mountain West
Head Coach: Spencer Danielson
Record: 9–4 (MWC Champion)
Boise State has taken a step back this season, following up their appearance in the 2024 College Football Playoff with three fewer wins and a significant downgrade in their invitation to the 2025 LA Bowl. It’s hard to give them too much slack, however, as they once again came out victorious in the Mountain West Conference Championship — their third in a row.
Maddux Madson, their starting quarterback, is fully healthy after suffering what was initially viewed as a season-ending injury, however. Dylan Riley has been good, if not somewhat underwhelming, replacing Ashton Jeanty — with the club’s rushing total dipping from 3,365 in 2024 to 2,449 in 2025.
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Jayden Virgin-Morgan, Jeremiah Earby, A’Marion McCoy and Ty Benefield lead the way on a defense that has remained competitive — however, the latter isn’t expected to play after declaring for the 2026 NFL Draft.
Washington Huskies
Conference: Big Ten
Head Coach: Jedd Fisch
Record: 8-4
Washington hasn’t quite been able to separate themselves in the Big Ten, but there’s no doubt they have the talent to win non-conference games — going 5-2 in such situations since the start of 2024.
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Washington head coach Jedd Fisch made it clear that he expected his players to participate in this game during a press conference on Wednesday, meaning we could see the likes of quarterback Demond Williams Jr., running back Jonah Coleman, wide receiver Denzel Boston and cornerback Tacario Davis.
The Huskies are taking this thing seriously.
Players to Watch
Boise State
QB Maddux Madsen
RB Dylan Riley
DL Jayden Virgin-Morgan
DB Jeremiah Earby
DB Ty Benefield
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Washington
QB Demond Williams Jr.
RB Jonah Coleman
WR Denzel Boston
LB Zach Durfee
CB Tacario Davis
Key Notes
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Boise State has been pretty successful in bowl games, going 14-9 since becoming eligible in 1999.
Washington has struggled across that same stretch, going 7-12.
The LA Bowl will officially fold following this game, which has brought up questions about the future of secondary bowl games after the expansion of the College Football Playoff — my take: bring back those cool gift baskets for the players.
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Betting Lines
DraftKings Sportsbook: Washington -10 | O/U 46.5
FanDuel Sportsbook: Washington -9.5 | O/U 52.5
BetMGM: Washington -9.5 | O/U 52.5
The Pick: Washington
Featured image via Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images
