Boise State athletics and Arizona Bowl executives confirmed the Broncos shut down all football activities and are unable to compete in Friday’s contest.
BOISE, Idaho — The Boise State University football team has withdrawn from the Arizona Bowl after tests confirmed an outbreak of COVID-19 among the players.
Barstool Sports president Dave Portnoy first confirmed the Broncos dropped out in a Tweet Monday afternoon. Shortly after, a Boise State source confirmed the announcement with KTVB’s Jay Tust.
According to a statement from Boise State athletics, all team activities have been shut down in response to COVID-19 protocols and the school confirmed reports of the Broncos being unable to play.
“We feel for the young men in our program who were very much looking forward to closing out their season, and for some, their football careers,” Boise State director of athletics Jeramiah Dickey said. “I would personally like to thank Kym Adair and her team at the Arizona Bowl for putting together a first-class student-athlete and fan experience that we are extremely disappointed to miss.”
Boise State (7-5) was scheduled to play Central Michigan (8-4) on Friday in the Arizona Bowl, which was planned to be available only on the barstoolsports.com streaming app.
On Sunday KTVB’s Jay Tust reported that players were being tested as part of the program’s COVID-19 protocol as they returned to campus from the Christmas weekend.
One BSU source told Tust that some players tested positive when they returned Sunday night, but that the team felt they were in an “okay” position at the time.
According to another source, some players were affected by travel delays getting back to Boise after Christmas.
The team had planned to fly to Tucson Tuesday ahead of Friday’s scheduled bowl game. Central Michigan arrived in Arizona Sunday night.
In a statement released by the Arizona Bowl, officials said bowl executives are discussing options to invite another university to face off with Central Michigan in this year’s game, which could include a change in the original Dec. 31 kickoff date.
“We are doing everything in our power to ensure that the Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl will be played,” chairman of the Arizona Bowl Board of Directors Ali Farhang said. “… Our Bowl leadership will exhaust every option to bring Tucson a Bowl experience this year.”
Boise State earned bowl eligibility for the 24th-straight season in 2021, but Monday’s news marks the third time in four seasons the Broncos will not play in a bowl game despite a winning record.
The Broncos opted out of playing in a bowl game last year amid the pandemic, lost to Washington in the Las Vegas Bowl in 2019 and the 2018 First Responder Bowl was ruled a no contest due to lighting in the first quarter against Boston College.
For the first time since the 1997 and 1998 seasons, Boise State will not play in a bowl game in back-to-back years.
