Spartans move into Top 25 in AP’s poll
Not ranked since 2012, they go for MWC title against Boise State
San Jose State is back in the Associated Press Top 25.
The AP poll, released Sunday morning, placed the Spartans at No. 25 after beating Nevada Friday night to advance to the Mountain West championship game, which will be played in Las Vegas next Saturday. They were last ranked in the poll following the 2012 season, when they finished 11-2 and ranked No. 21 after a victory in the Military Bowl.
The Spartans’ entry into the AP poll is only their second time being ranked among the Top 25 since 1975, when they were 20th in the UPI coaches poll.
The Mountain West announced Sunday morning that its title game between the Spartans (6- 0) and Boise State (5-1 overall, 5- 0 Mountain West) will be played at UNLV’s Sam Boyd Stadium, the site of San Jose State’s most recent win, and their current practice facility.
The game kicks off at 1:15 p.m. Saturday and will air on FOX.
The Spartans secured their spot as the “home” team in the title game with a 30-20 comeback win Friday night over Nevada, completing an undefeated regular season.
Brent Brennan’s team has been on the road since a Santa Clara County health order banned contact sports in the team’s home county due to a spike in coronavirus cases early this month. The Spartans practiced at Scotts Valley High School for several days, then flew to Hawaii Dec. 3 and won a scheduled home game against the Rainbow Warriors in Honolulu.
SJSU returned to the mainland
and practiced in Las Vegas, where it played Nevada.
The championship game is effectively a rescheduling of the Spartans’ Nov. 28 date with Boise State, which was called off before kickoff due to a positive test and contact tracing in the Broncos’ program. It was set to be San Jose State’s first game on a major television network since 2006, but instead it marked the second cancellation in as many weeks for SJSU — both due to opponents’ virus status.
Now, the Spartans will have their share of the national spotlight in their first conference championship game in program history.
“It should be a heck of a football game, and it’s awesome that our players have earned the right to be in it,“Brennan said of the matchup after Friday night’s win. “It’s so awesome to say, ‘ Hey, guess what we’re doing next Saturday night? Yeah, we’re playing for the conference championship.’”