BOISE — BYU and Western Michigan have played one common opponent this season — Northern Illinois.
While the Cougars fell to the eventual Mid-American Conference champions at home, 7-6, the Broncos beat NIU 28-21 at home in their regular-season finale.
BYU and Western Michigan meet in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl Friday (2 p.m. MST, ESPN) at Albertsons Stadium.
“They beat a team that we lost to,” said Cougar coach Kalani Sitake. “In their last game they beat Northern Illinois, so that’s a good matchup for us.”
After opening the season with back-to-back losses to Syracuse and Michigan, Western Michigan (7-5) won six consecutive games.