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Wednesday Weekly: June 17, 2026.
We don’t know if Boise State athletic director Jeramiah Dickey was seriously considered for the same post at Kentucky. But the point is, Dickey’s not going, as the Wildcats have settled on Michigan State AD J Batt, finalizing a six-year deal with him. It sounds like UK ultimately wanted a Power 4 heavyweight. At any rate, never once during this process did Dickey disappear from social media or give any hint that he wouldn’t be at Boise State a year from now. It was full speed ahead with all of the Broncos’ initiatives, from the North End Zone project to the new Sports & Entertainment Group for unique major events to the feasibility study for Albertsons Stadium and ExtraMile Arena.
Dickey’s job gets harder every day as the gulf between the Power 4 and Group of 6 quickly widens. He is a key figure as the revamped Pac-12 becomes reality three weeks from today, trying to help position it as the best Group of 6 conference and keep Boise State in the realignment discussion when the next seismic shift could happen at the dawn of the 2030s. Dickey—along with everyone down to you and me—is sorting out the athletics stance of the sole finalist of Boise State’s presidential search, David Hahn, announced on Tuesday. So far, so good, it seems.
BOISE STATE A CLEAR FAVORITE
It’s college football preview magazine season, and Athlon and Lindy’s are on newsstands near you. First, the basics: both publications have Boise State winning the Pac-12, both have the Broncos representing the Group of 6 in the College Football Playoff, and both have Boise State seeded 12th and playing fifth-seeded Indiana in the first round. The discrepancy between the Broncos’ rankings—24th in Athlon and 29th in Lindy’s—and the rest of the Pac-12 is striking. San Diego State is picked second by both magazines, and the Aztecs are No. 67 in Athlon and No. 73 in Lindy’s. They diverge on their all-conference lists, as Boise State has 10 first-teamers in Athlon and only three in Lindy’s.
A SNUB & A SURPRISE
Right on cue, Phil Steele released his All-Pac 12 squads, and he placed five Boise State players on the first team. Steele is the guy who goes four teams deep (he has a lot of time on his hands). That makes it easier to see snubs and surprises. Boise State’s biggest snub is tight end Matt Wagner as a third-teamer. Wagner finished last season strong, splitting time more with star senior Matt Lauter. The surprise is true freshman wide receiver Rasean Jones out of Rocky Mountain being named fourth team without having taken a college football snap. The buzz about Jones apparently made it all the way to Steele’s headquarters in Cleveland.
OTHER PRESEASON PROPS
From Athlon’s annual unit rankings, Boise State is rated No. 1 by Athlon in the Pac-12 in every position group except wide receiver, where it is No. 2. That’s hardly a knock on the Broncos wideouts, a group that’s in rebuild mode. And, along those lines, Athlon has new Boise State wide receiver Terrious Favors as the No. 1 recruit in the Pac-12 this year. Favors, the 5-9 flyer from Atlanta, made a favorable impression in the Spring Game in April with four catches for 32 yards. Athlon also has the Pac-12 as the No. 5 conference in the land (Phil Steele infamously has it as No. 6 behind the American). This is what sets the Pac-12 apart, according to Athlon: “There’s no obvious bottom-feeder.”
STRONG START ALREADY FOR TEXAS STATE
There have only been two four-star commits for the Group of 6 so far in the 2027 recruiting cycle, and both of them have been to a school in the new Pac-12. Who is it, pray tell? Texas State. The Bobcats have received verbals from running backs Daylon Gordon of Wylie, TX, and Victor Scott of Lancaster, TX. There’s a reason Texas State nabbed an invite to the Pac-12. That place is all-in. As columnist John Canzano observed at the time: “Texas State offers the best bottom line and has positioned itself as an ambitious and motivated member that isn’t deterred by risk.” Athlon and Lindy’s pick the Bobcats to finish sixth in the Pac-12, but Lindy’s has Texas State sophomore Brad Johnson as its first-team quarterback over Boise State’s Maddux Madsen.
NOT PART OF THE HOOPS PLAN
If Boise State basketball has a Plan B for developing its backcourt next season, it’s already time to go to it. The Broncos confirmed in a statement Monday that Ty Rodgers, the 6-6 transfer from Illinois, is sidelined “indefinitely” after suffering a “significant lower-body injury in a team-sanctioned workout last week. He has already had successful surgery, the program says. The term “injury-plagued” seems to apply to Rodgers, as he has not played a game in well over two years—since he helped the Illini to the Elite Eight in 2024. He infamously has attempted only one three-pointer in his career (and missed it), but his defensive toughness and physical presence were supposed to bring the “dawg” characteristics that coach Leon Rice craves. At least this happened during summer drills—but wow.
CAM MARTIN RE-EMERGES
Here’s a “where are they now” on former Boise State forward Cam Martin, because he’s bubbling under in the NBA the same way Tyson Degenhart is. It’s just that—due to a debilitating shoulder injury—we never got to see the real Cam Martin during his one season with the Broncos in 2023-24. He played last season for the Wisconsin Herd in the G League and averaged 6.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game before having knee surgery in February. Martin is hoping to recover in time to play in the NBA Summer League next month for the Milwaukee Bucks. Martin will be remembered for his two monster free throws and ensuing blocked shot that beat San Diego State at the end of overtime in Viejas Arena two years ago. The win essentially got Boise State into the NCAA Tournament.
A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING THIS YEAR
Let’s hope this forgettable record lasts a long time: the largest margin of defeat in the young history of Athletic Club Boise. A 1-1 game early in the second half turned into a 5-1 rout at Forward Madison FC last Saturday night, as the hosts scored four times over the final 25 minutes. It’s probably fortunate that ACB doesn’t have a Wednesday game this week, so they can take a deep breath and hit the reset button. AC Boise is back on the home pitch Saturday evening to face Union Omaha, which dealt them a 3-2 loss in late March in Nebraska.
HAWKS MUST HAVE ‘CHUKARS FATIGUE’
After beating the woeful Idaho Falls Chukars in five of six games last week at Memorial Stadium, the Boise Hawks turn right around and play them three times on the road this week. The first game in the series was Tuesday night, and this time it didn’t go the Hawks’ way, as Idaho Falls won only its third game of the season in a 17-16 slugfest. Still, Boise is off to a great start at 16-9 and sits in third place in the Pioneer League, four games out of first.
A BRONCO TEES IT UP AT THE U.S. OPEN
It’s U.S. Open week, and for the first time in four years, there’s (shall we say) elevated local interest. Former Boise State golfer T.K. Kim is in the field at Shinnecock Hills for the 126th edition of the tournament, beginning Thursday. Kim qualified for the Open last month at a final qualifying event in Dallas by nailing a birdie on his final hole. He competed at Boise State from 2009-13 and ranks in the Broncos career top 10 for top 25 finishes and was a 2013 All-Mountain West selection and an NCAA Regional participant. Former Bronco Troy Merritt has appeared in four U.S. Opens, including three straight at the beginning of the decade, making the cut in two of those. Fellow Boise State Hall of Famer Graham DeLaet played in one, missing the cut in 2014.
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June 17, 2021, five years ago today: The Arizona Diamondbacks set a modern major league record with their 23rd consecutive road loss, falling 10-3 to the Giants in San Francisco. The D-Backs surpassed the 1963 New York Mets and the 1943 Philadelphia Athletics, both of whom had lost 22 in a row on the road. Two nights earlier, Arizona felt like it would end the slide when it built a 7-0 lead over the Giants. But San Francisco came all the way back to win 9-8, capped by an eighth-inning grand slam from Mike Yastrzemski. The Diamondbacks were outscored 137-60 in the 23 defeats.
(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.)
