Presented by HARMON TRAVEL.
Wednesday Weekly: January 28, 2026.
At halftime Tuesday night, San Jose State was hangin’ around, as Boise State led by only three points in the silent Event Center. The Broncos were playing well, shooting 50 percent from the field, but the Spartans kept draining three-pointers. SJSU was still within three with 16½ minutes left in the game—then Boise State went on a 47-19 run the rest of the way, and the Broncos rolled in an 89-58 romp to even their Mountain West record at 5-5. Believe it or not, they now lead the all-time series against San Jose State 43-4. And there may be only one game left between the two teams. The atmosphere there Tuesday is one reason the Mountain West is losing five schools to the Pac-12, but that’s a story for another day.
Things went swimmingly after the Broncos kicked it in gear early in the second half—they shot 59 percent from the field for the game and put five guys in double figures. One of them was true freshman Bhan Buom, who produced 11 points in just 10 minutes. Bit by bit, Buom is becoming a contributor. Boise State has now mowed through the bottom of the Mountain West, and it came at a good time. The net result of this four-game winning streak is confidence, pure and simple. So is the moxie all the way back? We’ll find out Friday night, as Boise State faces the team that punched it in the mouth three weeks ago, Grand Canyon. As sleepy as it was in San Jose last night, it will be the polar opposite in Phoenix.
THE OTHER TEAM AT THE BOTTOM
Takeaways from Boise State’s 96-54 rout of Air Force last Saturday: it was hard to tell what it means in the big picture, but the Broncos were focused when they could have sleep-walked. Coach Leon Rice went to his bench early, and the guy who delivered most was true freshman Spencer Ahrens with four first-half three-pointers and 18 points for the game. There was a scary moment 5½ minutes into the game when Andrew Meadow suffered an injury to his right eye and went to the locker room. Meadow did return later in the half but played just 11½ minutes and took only three shots. And there was an exhilarating moment with less than two minutes remaining when one-time student manager and now walk-on practice player Brennan Ramirez scores the first points of his career on a three-pointer.
GROUP OF 6 NEWCOMER GRADES
There are still guys coming out of college football’s transfer portal, but most major transactions are done, so smoke has cleared on who was successful. Patrick Murray, ESPN+ college football analyst, has ranked the top 12 newcomer classes in the Group of 6 (transfers and recruiting combined), and a third of it consists of the new Pac-12. The No. 1 G6 program in the country is Boise State—some validation of the job the Broncos have done in roster management. Colorado State, with new head coach Jim Mora Jr., is No. 5, Texas State is No. 9, and San Diego State is No. 12. Looking at the portal only Boise State lost 17 active players and added 12, but there was a solid net gain in talent. By the way, No. 2 on the newcomers list was Appalachian State and No. 3 was UNLV, now the Mountain West favorite.
BRONCOS & VANDALS ON SUPER BOWL SUNDAY
Now that DeMarcus Lawrence and George Holani have broken Boise State’s eight-year Super Bowl drought, what parts will they play a week from this Sunday for the Seattle Seahawks? Lawrence did his thing in the NFC Championship Game, logging the only sack of the Rams’ Matthew Stafford and forcing a fumble. Holani, the emergency replacement at backup running back, netted only four yards on three carries, but he had three catches for 27 yards, including two grabs for first downs to help set up two of the Seahawks’ touchdowns. The Idaho Vandal in the Super Bowl, Christian Elliss, has made it to the big one for the second time in four years. Elliss represents the Patriots and is coming off the pivotal forced fumble against Denver that led to New England’s only touchdown Sunday.
Mike Prater thought of this, and I didn’t. I was able to confirm it for him, though. Super Bowl LX will mark the first time the Broncos and Vandals have been on opposite sides in the game. I looked through my lists, and yes, I don’t show that it’s ever happened. Twice there was a Bronco and a Vandal on the same team: Matt Paradis and Shiloh Keo for the Denver Broncos in 2016 and Markus Koch and Eric Yarber for the Washington Redskins in 1988. But this is a first. Lawrence and Holani are the 11th and 12th Boise State alums in the Super Bowl (assuming they play). Elliss was already the 11th Idaho guy—he also appeared three years ago for the Eagles.
THIS WOULD BE A MUCH BIGGER CATCH
I mentioned this after the Golden Globes, but bear with me here for a minute. Two weeks ago we were saluting Chris Petersen’s election to the College Football Hall of Fame. His head coaching career began in 2006 with a 45-0 win over Sacramento State on the Blue. Yes, the Broncos looked pretty good that night, but nobody could have predicted that they would be the only undefeated team in the country that season and would upend Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. On the other side of the field for Sac State was a wide receiver named Ryan Coogler. He caught one pass for 11 yards. Almost 20 years later, Coogler is a famous filmmaker, and his blockbuster “Sinners” received a record 16 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. Coogler himself was nominated for Best Screenplay and Best Director.
STEELIES LIGHT THE LAMP
All you have to do is score more goals than your opponent, and a hot offense certainly helps. The Idaho Steelheads, leading the ECHL with 3.77 goals per game, potted 12 against the Allen Americans last weekend, and they needed almost every one of them. The Steelheads won 6-4 and 6-5 decisions—the second one in overtime. Brendan Hoffman tallied three times in the Allen series and now leads the league with 24 goals. The Steelies have a three-in-three week coming up with games Friday, Saturday and Sunday on the home ice of the Tulsa Oilers.
SALUTING SAMMY
I don’t know what kind of odds Sammy Smith has of getting to the cross country skiing podium at the Winter Olympics, but if she does, it’s going to be a story. The Boise High grad has been named to the U.S. Olympic team for the upcoming games in Milan/Cortina. Smith is also a standout on the Stanford women’s soccer team, and her allegiance to that squad saw her skip the fall World Cup cross country season. She had less than a month after the NCAA title game to prep for the U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships, where she won the 1.5-kilometer skate sprint. The Opening Ceremonies are nine days away.
YOTES GET THEIR MOJO BACK, BUT THEN…
It might have been College of Idaho’s biggest win of the season. The Coyotes went on the road last Friday and avenged a humbling home loss to Lewis-Clark State, edging the Warriors 68-66 in Lewiston. LCSC had surprised the Yotes 87-67 in early December in Caldwell. Dougie Peoples won it on a three-pointer off an inbounds play with 1.8 seconds remaining. C of I then walloped Walla Walla 102-64 last Saturday, with Rey Johnston putting up 25 points and Peoples 22.However, there may be some road weariness with this team, as the Yotes went up I-84 Tuesday night and lost 83-68 at Eastern Oregon.
This Day In Sports…brought to you by BACON BOISE…fresh breakfast and brunch every day!
January 28, 1984, 40 years ago today: Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers sees his record-setting 51-game point-scoring streak come to an end, as the visiting Los Angeles Kings not only ice the “Great One” but win the contest 4-2. During the streak, Gretzky amassed an amazing 61 goals, 92 assists, and 153 points. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em? It was four years later that the Oilers would shake up Alberta by trading Gretzky to the Kings. He would spend eight years in L.A. before finishing his career via one season with the St. Louis Blues and three with the New York Rangers. Gretzky remains the NHL career leader in points and assists.
(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.)
