The BCS left Boise State behind.

That's fine by the Broncos. They landed one of the most intriguing matchups of the non-BCS bowl games in the next month.

The No. 9 Broncos will face No. 11 TCU in the Poinsettia Bowl on Dec. 23 in San Diego, after the Fiesta Bowl bypassed selecting the Broncos and instead went with 10th-ranked Ohio State to face No. 3 Texas.

The Broncos were considered a long shot to land a BCS berth with Utah ranked higher. The Utes were ranked seventh in the final BCS standings, while Boise State was ninth. Utah was selected to play Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.

"We're excited. We love San Diego. A lot of our players are from Southern California and this is a great, great matchup with TCU," Boise State coach Chris Petersen said.