Boise State takes on Northern Illinois in the matchup between two of the bigger brand name schools not in a power conference in this afternoon's Poinsettia Bowl. These two teams have been to BCS/New Year's Day bowl games and each have a Heisman finalist to its credit.
This year these teams took a step down from their normal dominance, but they both are still good teams. One key player out in this game is starting Boise State linebacker in Tanner Vallejo who did not travel due to violation of team rules. This loss is not a huge deal as replacing Vallejo will be sophomore Joe Martarano who was fifth in the team in tackling.