Sports
Fiesta Bowl: Penn State-Boise State Preview, Props, Prediction
Oct 12, 2024; Honolulu, Hawaii, USA; Boise State Broncos running back Ashton Jeanty (2) cuts through the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors defense for a touchdown during the first quarter at Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex. Mandatory Credit: Marco Garcia-Imagn Images GLENDALE, Ariz. — The College Football Playoff quarterfinals kick off with a lone game on Tuesday, with No. 6 seed Penn State taking on No. 3 seed Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Eve.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET at State Farm Stadium.
ODDS AND TRENDS
Despite being the higher seed, Penn State was a consensus 11.0-point favorite as of Tuesday morning. That includes at DraftKings and BetMGM, where the Nittany Lions have been backed by 62 percent of the spread-line money. Meanwhile, the line had moved to 12.0 at some sportsbooks such at BetRivers.
Penn State’s moneyline to win the game outright opened at -375 at BetMGM, but has moved to -450 with the public backing the Nittany Lions with 70 percent of the money.
“The Penn State faithful are backing the Nittany Lions heavily in the first quarterfinal game,” trading manager Seamus Magee said. “Boise State and Heisman runner-up Ashton Jeanty covering would be great for the book.”
PROP PICKS
–Ashton Jeanty Under 131.5 Rushing Yards (-115 at BetMGM): This has been the most popular player prop at the book, with the public wagering heavily on Boise State playing from behind and being forced out of a Jeanty-dominated game plan. The Heisman runner-up enters the game with 2,497 yards and 29 touchdowns on the ground this season.
–Over 53.5 Total Points: The line opened at 54.5 points — the second fewest among the four quarterfinal games — but has shifted down a full point despite the public backing the Over with 79 percent of the total bets and 74 percent of the money.
FIESTA BOWL HISTORY ON LINE
The Broncos, who earned a bye into the matchup in Glendale by winning the Mountain West title, are 3-0 in the Fiesta Bowl.
Penn State (12-2), which advanced to the quarterfinals after beating visiting SMU 38-10 last week in the opening round, is 7-0 in the Fiesta Bowl.
“Our guys are very aware of our history here at Penn State,” coach James Franklin said after a practice this week in Phoenix. “We spend a lot of time in the offseason talking about those things, or former players come back and talk to our guys.”
Boise State (12-1) won its three Fiesta Bowls between 2007 and 2014, including a 43-42 classic in overtime over Adrian Peterson and Oklahoma in 2007.
The Broncos were underdogs in that game and in wins over TCU in 2010 and Arizona in 2014.
“We might not have what everybody else has, but we definitely have enough,” Boise State coach Spencer Danielson said. “We’re going to continue to push forward.”
THE NEWS
Boise State is the last non-Power 4 conference team to win the Fiesta Bowl.
“Boise State has been built on earning our right to play against one of the top football teams in the country like Penn State,” Danielson said. “I believe in our team … please count us out. People, media, count us out. I know how we are going to work, and I know we are going to work to play our absolute best.”
Franklin, an assistant coach at Washington State and Idaho State in 1998 and 1999, respectively, appreciates the Boise State program after coaching in the area.
“Boise State has the ingredients to succeed,” Franklin said. “It’s in the university. It’s in the community. It’s embedded there. And that’s why you’ve seen so many people be able to go there and have success.”
Franklin also praised Jeanty for what he means to Boise State being in the playoffs.
“I think it starts and ends with Jeanty,” Franklin said. “He can run away from you and score from a distance. Breaks a ton of tackles — 1,300 yards of his rushing yards are after contact, which is like a ridiculous stat.”
Jeanty, who finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting, has 344 carries for 2,497 yards and 29 touchdowns. He took home the Maxwell Award as the most outstanding player in the sport and was a unanimous All-American selection.
Jeanty is 132 yards from breaking the NCAA single-season rushing record set by Barry Sanders at Oklahoma State in 1988.
Danielson is similarly in awe of Penn State senior tight end Tyler Warren.
Warren, who has a team-best six TD receptions, leads the Nittany Lions in receptions (92) and receiving yards (1,095). Both of those marks are single-season Big Ten records for tight ends. He won the Mackey Award as the nation’s best tight end and finished seventh in the Heisman voting.
“Tyler Warren is elite,” Danielson said. “That’s not just my opinion; I’m very positive he’s going to be the first tight end taken off the board in the NFL draft because of that.
“He can do it all. He is extremely violent at the point of attack. He can catch every ball. He’s one of their top targets on all downs. And he can play wildcat and throw the ball. You talk about just an extremely gifted athlete, we’ve got to know where (Warren) is at all times.”
PREDICTION
Boise State’s lone loss this season came back on Sept. 7 by three points at top-ranked Oregon. The Broncos have reeled off 11 consecutive wins since, but only one against a ranked opponent — a 21-7 victory over then-No. 20 UNLV in the Mountain West championship. Penn State, a power team from a Power 4 conference, presents an obstacle Boise State has yet to encounter this season. The Nittany Lions should control the line of scrimmage on both sides, and how deep the Broncos remain competitive in the game depends on how long they can prevent falling behind by double digits. –Penn State 38, Boise State 20
–Field Level Media
Sports
Flyers strike in 3rd to snap Bruins' 8-game point streak
Feb 28, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Flyers left wing Noah Cates (27) reaches for the puck against the Boston Bruins in the first period at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images The Philadelphia Flyers scored back-to-back goals to start the third period and held on to defeat the visiting Boston Bruins 3-1 on Saturday afternoon.
Travis Konecny and Jamie Drysdale both scored and assisted on each other’s goals for Philadelphia, which has won two of its three games since the Olympic break. Drysdale tallied the eventual game-winner with 8:05 left.
Sean Couturier added an empty-net goal with 55 seconds remaining, Christian Dvorak recorded two assists, and Dan Vladar was excellent with a 26-save performance to help the Flyers win.
Boston’s Charlie McAvoy extended his point streak to nine games with a third-period goal that cut the hosts’ lead to 2-1.
Jeremy Swayman made 14 saves for Boston, which entered on an eight-game point streak (5-0-3).
With the game scoreless through two periods, the Bruins looked to take a 1-0 lead 1:05 into the third as Hampus Lindholm’s point shot beat Vladar, but the goal was immediately waved off due to goaltender interference.
Instead, Konecny scored first at 3:41. After Dvorak’s shot into the zone hit a stanchion behind the net, he recovered the bounce and made a tight backhand feed to his oncoming linemate to bury into an open side of the net.
Drysdale doubled Philadelphia’s lead at 11:55 by slipping down the slot on a Konecny pass and firing an open wrist shot past Swayman’s blocker.
The Bruins found an answer from McAvoy 1:08 later. Pavel Zacha won the faceoff right to Hampus Lindholm, who found his fellow defenseman cutting to the net to make it a 2-1 game.
Swayman followed up that goal by stopping Konecny on a breakaway with 5:36 left, but Boston could not find an equalizer.
Philadelphia had a 7-6 shot advantage in a scoreless first. Swayman made one of his best early saves halfway through as Trevor Zegras fired a turnaround shot from the slot.
Vladar made two close-range stops on Morgan Geekie within the first eight minutes of the second period, including one early in Boston’s second power play. The first stop occurred when David Pastrnak set up Geekie for a one-timer in the slot at the 5:00 mark.
Less than a minute after Vladar’s second stop on Geekie, Swayman returned to the highlight reel at the other end of the ice. Konecny’s wraparound put the puck on goal before Swayman robbed Dvorak with the glove on a rebound effort coming to the doorstep.
After Boston’s first man advantage came up empty, Vladar made another big save as Sean Kuraly separated from the Flyers’ defense for a breakaway with 5:43 left in the second.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Heat rally in 4th quarter to take down Rockets
Feb 28, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) argues with Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. (11) during the first quarter at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images Bam Adebayo posted a double-double, and Andrew Wiggins ignited a fourth-quarter rally after returning from an in-game injury to lead the Miami Heat to a 115-105 victory over the visiting Houston Rockets on Saturday.
Adebayo paired 24 points with 11 rebounds to help the Heat snap a two-game skid. Pelle Larsson (20 points) and Tyler Herro (18) contributed to the balanced scoring attack for the Heat, who also received double-digit efforts from Jaime Jaquez Jr. (14 points) and Kel’el Ware (13 points and a game-high 15 rebounds) off the bench. The Heat shot 50% overall from the floor.
But it was Wiggins, who took an elbow to the jaw from Rockets center Alperen Sengun and needed stitches in his cheek to close the gash, who led a critical fourth-quarter surge. He assisted on a Ware alley-oop and a Larsson 3 to put the Heat ahead 100-92 before his transition dunk resulted in a three-point play and a 111-103 lead with 2:24 remaining.
Wiggins finished with 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
Kevin Durant scored a game-high 32 points and added eight assists for the Rockets. Amen Thompson (20 points, 11 rebounds) and Tari Eason (10 points, 11 boards) added double-doubles, while Reed Sheppard chipped in 14 points and five assists for Houston.
The Rockets turned an early run, capped by a Sheppard 3, into a 14-4 lead, only for the Heat to respond with an 8-0 rally. Adebayo hit a 3-pointer to give Miami a 27-26 lead, and the Heat carried a 32-28 advantage into the second quarter after hitting 6 of 13 from beyond the arc in the first.
Miami extended its lead to double digits on a Ware tip-in, and led 41-28 before the Rockets scored their first basket of the second quarter with an Aaron Holiday 3-pointer at the 7:07 mark. That ended a 19-2 run by the Heat and sparked another Houston rally, featuring Sheppard and Durant combining to hit three 3-pointers and tie the game at 48.
The Rockets led 52-51 at the intermission after Miami missed 7 of 8 3-pointers in the second.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Braeden Carrington explodes for 32 points as Wisconsin routs Washington
Feb 28, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Wisconsin Badgers guard Braeden Carrington (0) shoots a three point shot over Washington Huskies guard Zoom Diallo (5) during the second half at Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images Braeden Carrington came off the bench Saturday to score a career-high 32 points and Wisconsin knocked down 17 3-pointers to earn a 90-73 Big Ten Conference road win over Washington in Seattle.
Nick Boyd added 22 points, nine rebounds and five assists for the Badgers (20-9, 12-6 Big Ten), while Nolan Winter chipped in 13 points and nine rebounds. Wisconsin canned 44.7 % of its 38 3-point attempts, with Carrington going 9 of 15.
Freshman Hannes Steinbach led the Huskies (14-15, 6-12) with 22 points and 11 rebounds, his 18th double-double of the season and the most by a Big Ten player since Jared Sullinger of Ohio State collected the same total 29 years ago. Zoom Diallo scored 21 points.
Washington made 46% from the field but simply couldn’t mute the Badgers’ potent perimeter game. Bouncing back from an 85-71 upset loss Wednesday night at Oregon, Wisconsin earned a 39-35 edge on the boards and committed only six turnovers.
The final margin flattered the Huskies a bit. The Badgers led by as many as 28 points in the second half and cleared the bench by the time Washington scored the final seven points to make the margin more respectable.
Wisconsin set an early tone by stepping up its defense from the loss at Oregon. It held the Huskies without a field goal for a 6:04 stretch of the first half and opened up a 17-4 lead with 13:28 left when Carrington converted a 3-pointer.
Steinbach made two foul shots with 6:51 left to pull Washington within 22-14 but the Badgers pulled away when Carrington hit a 3-pointer and fed Winter for a layup and a 27-14 cushion.
With Boyd canning a short jumper from the baseline, Wisconsin went into halftime with a 36-21 advantage. The Huskies made only 7 of 28 field goals in the first 20 minutes and were outrebounded 25-17.
Boyd led the charge with 14 points in the half, sinking 7 of 14 shots from the field.
–Field Level Media
