Tiebreaker prevents San Jose St. from title game
Despite beating UNLV 37-31 Saturday to finish in a threeway tie for first place in the Mountain West Conference, San Jose State was left on the outside looking in Sunday.
UNLV will host Boise State in the Mountain West Conference championship game Dec. 2 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas after a computer ranking was used to break the tie.
Boise State, UNLV and San Jose State each finished the regular season 6-2 in conference play. Because all three teams did not face each other and no team was included in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, the tie was broken by an average of four computer rankings from Anderson & Hester, Colley Matrix, Massey and Wolfe.
San Jose State beat UNLV on the road Saturday for its sixth straight win after a 1-5 start, but the computer rankings listed UNLV first among the three teams tied for first, allowing the Rebels to host the championship game. Boise State was second and San Jose State third.
“It’s unfortunate. I think we were one of the top two teams in the league,” San Jose State athletic director Jeff Konya told the Associated Press on Sunday. “I’m sure the other institutions and athletic directors and administrations would say similar things for their program and advocate there. It’s unfortunate that somebody was going to be the third wheel, and apparently the computer decided it was us.”
San Jose State coach Brent Brennan was trying to stay optimistic during his postgame news conference Saturday.
“Of course I think we should get a chance to play next week,” Brennan said. “Come on, man. Of course I do . ... I think we absolutely deserve a chance to play. But those things aren’t up to me.
“However it shakes out, we’ll deal with it and we’ll move on and we’ll get back to work and worry about the next one, whatever it is.”
The Mountain West said in a statement that when divisional play was eliminated in 2022, the tiebreaker system was reviewed and changed to ensure the two teams with the strongest body of work are in the championship game.
The CFP ranking (or computer rankings if no team is ranked in the CFP) became the third tiebreaker after win percentage in conference play and head-tohead matchups.
“That’s the thing about computers,” Konya said. “You sometimes miss context. Computers don’t necessarily know who’s playing, who’s injured, when you’re playing a team, is it a
short week, is there rest? And that's unfortunate, because some of that context sometimes gets lost, and I think some of that context could have helped our narrative, not be sitting out.”
Boise State reached the title game after its coach, Andy Avolos, was fired Nov. 12. The Broncos were 5-5 at the time and headed for a third straight fourloss season.
Under interim coach Spencer Danielson, the defensive coordinator, the Broncos beat Utah State and Air Force to end the regular season. Danielson is the second interim head coach to take over midseason and lead his team to its league championship game. The other was Clay Helton with Southern Cal in 2015.
UNLV finished the regular season 9-3 overall for its best record since the 1984 team went 10-1. The Rebels are bowl eligible for the first time since 2013.
Boise State has won eight of 11 all-time meetings with the Rebels.
San Jose State (7-5 overall), meanwhile, is left waiting to find out its bowl opponent after Chevan Cordeiro threw two touchdown passes and
Kairee Robinson ran for two scores in the victory against UNLV.
San Jose State took control early, using Cordeiro's 56-yard scoring strike to Sam Olson on the fourth play from scrimmage to grab the lead. Jacob De Jesus fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and the Spartans' Jay'Vion Cole recovered the ball at the UNLV 23yard line. That led to a 25yard field goal by Kyler Halvorsen.
Robinson added a 25yard touchdown run for a 17-0 lead before the Rebels scored on a 7-yard run by Jai'Den Thomas to get within 10 points after one quarter.
Halvorsen and Jose Pizano
traded second-quarter field goals, and the Spartans took a 20-10 lead into halftime.
Thomas scored on a 3yard run to cut UNLV's deficit to three early in the third quarter. Cordeiro followed a 3-yard touchdown toss to Isaac Jernagin, Halvorsen kicked his third short field goal, and San Jose State took a 30-17 lead into the final quarter.
Robinson's 40-yard touchdown run with 11:27 left to play gave the Spartans a three-score lead. UNLV answered with Thomas' 2-yard scoring run and Jayden Maiava's 29-yard touchdown pass to Corey Thompson Jr. to get within 37-31 with 1:27 remaining.
Cordeiro completed 19 of 26 passes for 249 yards for San Jose State. Robinson
finished with 165 yards on 16 carries. Nick Nash had three receptions for 98 yards.