Las Vegas Bowl: Boise State, Oregon To Battle At Sam Boyd

LAS VEGAS, NV - The matchup for this year's Las Vegas Bowl has been set. The Boise State Broncos will take on the Oregon Ducks on Saturday, Dec. 16 from Sam Boyd Stadium. The matchup was announced on Sunday along with 39 other post-season college football contests. Here's a look at how each team's path led them to Sin City.

How Boise State got here

Boise State came into the 2017 campaign unranked, but turned in another fine season under head coach Bryan Harsin. The Broncos finished the season 10-3 as Mountain West Conference Champions. They avenged a Nov. 25 loss to Fresno State by beating the Bulldogs one week later, this past Saturday, in the conference championship game. In four seasons since Harsin took over, Boise State has posted a 41-12 record and has won three MWC titles.

After a 2-2 start, Boise State rattled off seven consecutive wins to situate themselves to play for the Mountain West championship game. The 10-3 record was good enough to finish the season as the No. 25 ranked team in all of college football. The Broncos will enter the game averaging 32 points per game while surrendering just over 22 per game. The Broncos are 2-1 in bowl games under Harsin. His team most recently lost last year's Cactus Bowl to Baylor 31-12.

How Oregon got here

The Ducks started hot this season, hosting and dismantling FCS team Southern Utah University 77-21 in Eugene, OR in the season opener. That aided a 4-1 start, but their hot start was cooled when the Ducks lost three straight in the middle of the season. Since then they are winners of three out of four games and finished the regular season 7-5.

Oregon is a different team away from home this season and that might worry head coach Willie Taggart as he brings his team to the desert. The Ducks are 6-1 at Autzen Stadium in Oregon this year, but just 1-4 when playing on the road.

Taggart's team finished 7-5 in Taggart's first season as the head coach and they enter the game as 6.5 point favorites over the Broncos. After the Ducks were chosen for the Las Vegas Bowl, OregonLive.com opined that the bowl game might actually be a wrench in Oregon's plans for the future. The trip to Las Vegas will reportedly interfere with a recruiting trip scheduled for that weekend.

The Las Vegas Bowl is still currently looking for a sponsor for this year's game, according to Sports Business Daily.

WHO: Boise State Broncos vs. Oregon Ducks. Boise State leads the all-time series 2-0, last beating Oregon 19-8 in 2009.

WHAT: 2017 Las Vegas Bowl

WHERE: Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas, NV

WHEN: Saturday, Dec. 16 at 12:30 p.m. PST

OPENING LINE: Oregon -6.5, O/U 59

Image: Boise State linebacker Leighton Vander Esch (38), with quarterback Brett Rypien (4) and offensive linesman Mason Hampton (59), holds up the trophy after the team's 17-14 win over Fresno State in an NCAA college football game for the Mountain West Conference championship in Boise, Idaho, Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017. (Otto Kitsinger/Associated Press)