Mountain West ChampionshipUNLV (10-2, 6-2) at Boise State (8-4, 6-2)Friday, 8 p.m. ET (Las Vegas)UNLV and Boise State will meet for the Mountain West title for the third consecutive season, thanks to a composite average of four nationally recognized metrics used to settle a four-way, first-place tie with San Diego State and New Mexico.The Broncos, who won this game last year, 21-7, in Boise and 44-20 in 2023 in Las Vegas, lead the series, 12-3. Boise State has won 10 in a row against the Rebels dating back to 1976. It’s the fifth time in 25 months the two teams have played. Boise State scored 28 consecutive points to start the second half en route to a 56-31 victory on Oct. 18 in their last matchup to improve to 7-0 all-time against the Rebels on their blue home turf.After losing back-to-back games to the Broncos and visiting New Mexico, the Rebels and first-year head coach Dan Mullen rallied to close out the season with four straight wins over Colorado State, Utah State in double overtime, Hawaii and Nevada to hit 10 wins. It marked the first time in school history the Rebels registered double figures in victories in back-to-back seasons.Boise State, meanwhile, rebounded from back-to-back losses to Fresno State and at San Diego State to close with wins over Colorado State and at Utah State, the latter by a 25-24 score when Dylan Riley scored on a six-yard touchdown run with 2:26 remaining. Redshirt sophomore Max Cutforth, filling in for injured starter Maddux Madsen, threw for 341 yards and two touchdowns in the win and garnered Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week honors.–Players to Know:UNLVQB Anthony Colandrea — The junior dual-threat transfer from Virginia was named conference Offensive Player of the Year on Tuesday, the first Rebel to earn that honor since Hall of Famer Randall Cunningham did it in both 1983 and 1984 in the Big West Conference. Led the conference in passing yards (3,050), touchdown passes (22) and total offense (300.42 ypg).
