Presented by THE JAMES.
Wednesday Weekly…March 13, 2024.
Only the Selection Committee knows for sure this Sunday, but the bracketologists have Boise State in the field in the NCAA Tournament. Every time you hear about that, you hear about seed projections. To some it may be blah-blah-blah, but it’s really important. The lower the seed number, the more favorable the matchup as the Broncos try to win a game in the Big Dance for the first time in school history. Jerry Palm and Joe Lunardi both had Boise State as a No. 7 seed after the win at San Diego State. That, of course, means the Broncos would play a 10 seed and theoretically would be favored. They were a No. 10 last year and lost to Northwestern. Boise State’s highest seed ever was No. 8 two years ago, but it didn’t work out against No. 9 Memphis. For the Broncos, it’s not good enough just to get in. They need more wins for seeding purposes.
ASSUME NOTHING
You never know, of course, but it’s assumed that Boise State will be playing New Mexico Thursday night in the Mountain West quarterfinals. The Lobos meet Air Force today in the tournament’s first round. They beat the Falcons by 19 in Colorado Springs, however, they took that infamous 78-77 loss to Air Force in The Pit 2½ weeks ago. And while it’s doubtful New Mexico will let that happen again, this contest is on the same court where the Falcons shocked UNLV by 32 points. Whomever it is tomorrow, that team will be in a rhythm and will have momentum, while the Broncos will be rested. They’d rather be rested. Also in the first round today, Fresno State and Wyoming play four days after the Cowboys beat the Bulldogs by 39 in Save Mart Center, and disappointed Colorado State meets San Jose State.
CHISELED IN BRONCO NATION MEMORY BANKS
Following Boise State’s 79-77 overtime win at San Diego State last Friday night, we’re left with two scenes that will remain part of Broncos hoops lore for a long, long time. One, of course, was Max Rice’s halfcourt heave with two minutes left in overtime. The other was Cam Martin’s three-pronged finish. Martin is a one-year Bronco, and often those players are eventually forgotten. I mean, how much do you remember about Christian Sengfelder? And he was good. But there’s a good chance in the coming years when somebody mentions Martin, you’’ll remember his huge offensive rebound at the end in Viejas Arena, plus the two free throws that won the game, plus the blocked shot at the buzzer to end it. The Mountain West Tournament’s going to be tough, but Boise State wouldn’t want to go into it any other way.
ALL-MW IS AN ACCOMPLISHMENT
The official All-Mountain West teams were released yesterday, and the Broncos’ Tyson Degenhart was named first-team in a season where the MW is absolutely loaded with talent. O’Mar Stanley, Bronco Nation’s favorite transfer from St. John’s, was second-team. Rice and Chibuzo Agbo were honorable mention. Rice was a second-teamer last year, but his portfolio was slightly better then. The Coach of the Year is hardly a surprise—Utah State’s Danny Sprinkle, who could be in line for national honors. Player of the Year was not San Diego State’s Jaedon Ledee, though, but USU’s Great Osobor.
ROUND ROBIN RETURNS
Everybody will play everybody—home and away—moving forward in Mountain West men’s basketball. The league announced last week it is going to a 20-game conference schedule from the current 18 beginning next season. This season, Boise State skipped the road game at UNLV and the home game against Wyoming. There’s been a lot of debate about that unbalanced schedule. No more. It should make Mountain West basketball even better.
QB1 OUT OF THE GATE
The primary media takeaway from Boise State’s first spring football practice Monday: Maddux Madsen is conceding nothing in the race to be the Broncos starting quarterback next season. Despite his ongoing recovery from a knee injury just four months ago, Madsen was on the field Monday, and he wasn’t holding a clipboard. He was immersed in drills, taking reps with the first team and doing everything that didn’t require contact. Yes, USC transfer Malachi Nelson was out there, too. But Madsen ruled the day. And offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter was taking it all in. Madsen’s career numbers: 1,234 passing yards with nine touchdowns, three interceptions and a 62 percent completion rate, and 121 rushing yards with two TDs.
A RODNEY DANGERFIELD IN OUR MIDST
With spring ball underway, it’s a good time to note that Boise State coach Spencer Danielson is getting no respect—no respect at all. Chris Vannini of The Athletic, usually the sage scribe among Group of 5 writers, has released his sixth annual ranking of the Top 15 Group of 5 coaches. It’s weighted toward recent accomplishments, but isn’t the Mountain West title a recent accomplishment? No. 4 is Air Force’s Troy Calhoun, who Danielson beat last season. No. 5 is Jeff Tedford of Fresno State. Okay. No. 9 is Bronco Mendenhall of New Mexico. Based on what? No. 15 is UNLV’s Barry Odom, who Danielson beat last year. Even the “just missed” list does not include Danielson. It does have Utah State’s Blake Anderson, who Danielson beat last season. The Broncos should be printing that off and cutting it out.
REMEMBER THE FULLBACK DAYS?
It’ll be fascinating to see how one particular position develops during spring drills at Boise State. It’s one that hasn’t been official on the Broncos depth chart in almost 15 years by my count, since Richie Brockel occupied it. We’re talking about fullback. Word came out this winter that Boise State is going to deploy a fullback next season, and that was both before and after Bush Hamdan left for Kentucky. Koetter may have other ideas, but it makes sense with Ashton Jeanty lining up at running back-slash-tailback. The most excited Bronco may be senior Tyler Crowe. The former Skyview High star is a prime candidate for that role—and besides, it will get him on the field more. Crowe is effective when he carries the ball, and you can envision him crossing up defenses when they load up to stop Jeanty.
STEELHEADS SPEAKING CANADIAN
Well, at least the Idaho Steelheads may come home with French accents. The most unique road trip in franchise history continues tonight outside Montreal as the Steelheads open a three-game series tonight against the Trois-Rivières Lions. The Steelies spent last weekend (and then some) in St. John’s, Newfoundland. The first game versus the Newfoundland Growlers last Friday was postponed by a big snowstorm, forcing the series to go through Monday. The Growlers thumped Idaho 6-2 on Saturday, but the Steelheads came back to win the final two games in the set.
YOTES AVOID THE RUST
If College of Idaho can get out of the NAIA First and Second Rounds this weekend with two victories, the Coyotes will have their fifth 30-win season in six years under Colby Blaine. The Yotes are hosting the games in Caldwell starting with their first round matchup Friday night against Jessup University. C of I goes in with a handful of Cascade Conference postseason awards, including a big one for sophomore guard Samaje Morgan, the conference Player of the Year. Morgan has put up 14.1 points and 4.0 assists per game, and he’s done it while averaging just 24 minutes, which is how the Yotes roll. Believe it or not, that’s the most floor time of any College of Idaho player this season.
THE BIG SKY’S CONUNDRUM
The Big Sky Tournament has been a boon to downtown Boise, but sometimes it doesn’t put its best foot forward in the Big Dance. This year the top two seeds, Eastern Washington and Northern Colorado, each received byes into the quarterfinals. But they were bounced there by Sacramento State and Idaho State, respectively. The Hornets were ousted by Montana State 74-71 Tuesday night, and the Bengals were taken out 72-58 by Montana. If MSU beats the rival Grizzlies in the title game tonight, the Bobcats will have climbed to .500 (17-17). Should one-bid conferences protect their top two teams the way the West Coast Conference does, with the top two seeds getting byes all the way into the semifinals? A team like Sacramento State, which came into the tourney 8-23, would have to win as many as six games to win the title.
This Day In Sports…brought to you by GREENWOOD’S SKI HAUS…serving generations of Idaho ski families.
March 13, 2015: The Boise State women’s basketball team wins its first Mountain West championship and earns only its third NCAA Tournament berth ever with a 66-60 win over New Mexico in the MW Tournament final. Bronco sophomore Brooke Pahukoa was named tournament MVP as Gordy Presnell won his second title as BSU coach—the other came in 2007 in the WAC. Boise State would draw the legendary Tennessee Lady Vols in the first round of the NCAA Tournament the following week and would stay with UT before falling 72-61 in Knoxville.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra and anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK. He also served as color commentator on KTVB’s telecasts of Boise State football for 14 seasons.)
VISIT OUR SCOTT SLANT SPONSOR SITES:
Bacon Boise
Zamzows
The James
Louie’s Pizza & Italian Restaurant
Greenwood’s Ski Haus
Commercial Tire
