SAN JOSE – San Jose State enters Saturday’s game against Hawaii with six wins, meaning they are likely to be playing in a bowl game for the second time in three years, something that hasn’t happened since 1987.
There are 73 other teams that also have met the bowl-eligible criteria for the 41 games scheduled, leaving eight slots open heading into Week 12 of the season.
The Spartans (6-4 overall, 4-3 Mountain West) will have to wait to see if they are going bowling — they won six games and didn’t get picked to play in a game as recently as 2013 — and a win at home against Hawai’i (2-5, 3-9 MW) undoubtedly will help their cause.
Mountain West teams have automatic tie-ins with five bowls, but also could end up with at-large berths. Seven MW teams are bowl eligible.
The winner of the Mountain West championship game between Boise State and Fresno State will play Dec. 17 in the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl played at SoFi Stadium.
Bowl invitations go out Dec. 4. Here are the most likely bowl destinations for SJSU:
- New Mexico Bowl (Dec. 17 in Albuquerque, New Mexico)
- Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (Dec. 20 in Boise, Idaho)
- EasyPost Hawaii Bowl (Dec. 24 in Honolulu, Hawaii)
- Barstool Arizona Bowl (Dec. 30 in Tucson, Arizona)
Yahoo Sports, CollegeFootballNews.com and Action Network predict the Spartans will play in the Hawai’i Bowl. There could be a benefit for this game attendance-wise, since starting quarterback Chevan Cordeiro is from Hawaii and played for the Rainbow Warriors. SJSU also likes to do a lot of recruiting out of the islands.
Mountain West Connection and Bleacher Report choose the Spartans to play in the Barstool Arizona Bowl, which SJSU played in 2020 when it lost 34-13 to Ball State.
SJSU’s at-large destinations could include:
- Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl (Dec. 17 in Frisco, Texas)
- Cure Bowl RoofClaim.com Boca Raton Bowl (Dec. 20 in Boca Raton, Florida)
- SERVPRO First Responder Bowl (Dec. 22 in University Park, Texas)
SJSU still has one more potential regular-season game remaining after Saturday at New Mexico State. The Oct. 22 non-conference game was postponed after the death of freshman running back Camdan McWright. Both teams have an open date on Dec. 3, but there is no official statement from the Aggies and Spartans on whether or not that game will be played.
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