Presented by HARMON TRAVEL.
Wednesday Weekly: February 25, 2026.
It was another one of those “last matchups for the foreseeable future” Tuesday night in ExtraMile Arena (although this would make for a great non-conference pairing). Wyoming, just behind Boise State in the mid-level Mountain West standings, was in control in the first half—until it wasn’t. The Broncos took the lead at the halftime buzzer on a banked-in Drew Fielder three-pointer to cap a 9-0 surge. The run became 22-5 early in the second half, and the Broncos kept the Cowboys at arm’s length from there in a 72-62 victory. Dylan Andrews controlled the flow, leading Boise State with 20 points, Fielder produced another solid night with 18 points and seven rebounds, and Javan Buchanan had his best game in three weeks with 17 points and six boards.
But if Boise State has any chance of an upset run in the Mountain West Tournament in two weeks, it’ll have to do all the dirty work—kind of like it did Tuesday night against the Cowboys. A deeper dive into the box score tells you what you need to know. The Broncos equaled their season high with seven blocked shots, five of them in the first half. And Boise State’s work on the glass is what really sealed Wyoming’s fate. The Broncos outrebounded the Pokes 22-10 in the second half and had 10 offensive boards for the game, leading to 17 second-chance points. That kind of effort will offset a 5-for-21 night from three-point land. It was a gritty win against a team that had taken down Grand Canyon in Phoenix last Saturday.
REFLECTING ON THE SPECTRUM & SPARTANS
I was thankful for spell-check last week, as I wanted to get the word “discombobulated” right. That aptly described the Boise State offense we saw in the 19-point loss at Utah State. It was a string of stuck-in-mud possessions for three-quarters of the game, as the Broncos scored just two points in the final 8½ minutes of the first half and started the second going 5-for-26 from the field. Boise State had one player in double-figures, Fielder with 14 points, and the 56 for the game was the lowest output of the season. Of course, the Broncos did bounce back last Saturday with their 84-69 win over San Jose State. The story there was a “confidence rebuilder” for Andrew Meadow, who scored 16 points after being held to single digits in five straight games.
HERE’S TO TEAM IDAHO, HOWEVER YOU SLICE IT
The 2026 Winter Olympics are in the books, capped by the 2-1 U.S. overtime win over Canada in men’s hockey on Sunday that gave the Americans their first gold medal since 1980. As far as Team Idaho goes, you’d have to call this the most successful Winter Olympiad in terms of medal count. After winning her second career gold medal in her final Winter Games, Sun Valley’s Hilary Knight was chosen as one of the two U.S. flag bearers in the Closing Ceremony Sunday night. And this was only the second time Idaho Olympians came home with two golds, as Victor’s Breezy Johnson won the first of the Games for the U.S. by taking the women’s downhill. And if you count mogul skier Jaelin Kauf, who is claimed by the Teton Valley, you can add two silver medals to the total. I’m counting her, anyway.
It couldn’t have ended any better for Knight last Thursday. A day after getting engaged, Knight scored her 15th career Olympic goal and 33rd career point, both American records, in the gold medal game against Canada in Milan. Not only that, it came with 2:04 left in regulation after the U.S., trailing 1-0, had pulled its goalie. Knight’s tally would send the game into overtime, where the Americans grabbed their 2-1 victory. For Knight, the victory gave her a second gold medal to make her the most decorated player in U.S. women’s hockey. What a way to go for the 36-year-old captain in her fifth and final Olympiad.
KAGE CASEY & THE COMBINE
Former Boise State star Kage Casey goes through the grinder this week in front of the NFL’s top brass in the interview rooms at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis—then Casey and the other offensive linemen will be the last group to go through drills on Sunday. The three-time first-team All-Mountain West pick will no doubt express a willingness to play anywhere on the O-line—at guard, and even at center. But Casey’s been pretty good at left tackle, ranked fifth last season by Pro Football Focus among those who played over 800 snaps. And in 2024, he had the third-best pass-blocking grade among left tackles. This is the 22nd straight year the Broncos have been represented at the NFL Combine. Casey is also set to participate in Boise State’s Pro Day on March 24.
NCAA CALLS IT AN ‘EMERGING SPORT’
The future is now for girls flag football in Idaho. Optimist Youth Football is facilitating the first girls flag high school league in the Treasure Valley, and it’ll be 7-on-7, keeping it aligned with the trend in high schools and colleges across the country. High school girls flag kicks off this spring, and signups are strong. I’m tellin’ ya, this will be a sanctioned sport in the state by the end of the decade. In January, Nebraska became the first Power 4 athletic program to add women’s flag as a varsity sport, launching in 2028. To get local girls prepped for the sport, Optimist Youth Football is holding a flag clinic for girls aged 8-17 Saturday morning 8 to noon in the Caven-Williams indoor facility at Boise State. Special guest instructor will be USA Football Master Trainer Michael Patterson. History in the making.
COACHING TREE BRANCHES
You think there’s a Bronco-Vandal thread running through Kellen Moore’s staff with the New Orleans Saints? The L.A. Rams staff has been finalized, and it’s happening down there, too. Former Boise State assistants Ron Gould and Scott Huff are running backs and tight ends coach, respectively, under Sean McVey. Gould assisted under Pokey Allen in the mid-1990s, and Huff was maybe the best center in Broncos history and was later a Boise State staffer. Jimmy Lake, who with the Broncos under Chris Petersen, is the Rams defensive passing game coordinator for the secondary. And former Idaho great Eric Yarber is the senior offensive assistant for wide receivers. Here’s the footnote on Gould: an often-forgotten fact is that he is married to Pac-12 commissioner Teresa Gould.
ALL-STAR CLASSIC ON THE STEELIES HORIZON
The Idaho Steelheads have a relatively calm late-winter week on tap, as they play a two-game series against the Wichita Thunder tonight and Saturday in Idaho Central Arena. The Steelheads dropped two of three games at Tahoe last week, allowing 13 goals in the two defeats. They’ve now lost four of their last six games. The exciting news for the Steelies the past week is that they’ll be hosting the 2027 ECHL All-Star Classic next January. The two-night event will include a Fan Fest and Skills Competition, the All-Star Game, and the induction of the ECHL’s 19th Hall of Fame class.
TOUGH TEST TO GET WIN NO. 20
Thirty-win seasons have become an expectation for the College of Idaho men’s basketball program, but there’s nothing wrong with 20. The Yotes go for that more modest milestone tonight as they open Cascade Conference tournament play at Oregon Tech. C of I lost a chance at a host spot in the tourney when they fell to Southern Oregon 73-67 in Caldwell last Saturday and ended up as the No. 5 seed. So they travel to Klamath Falls to play the Owls, who they routed 87-64 last Friday. On the other hand, Tech roughed up the Yotes 98-66 in early January. Split the difference, and this one should be tight.
This Day In Sports…brought to you by TURN RIGHT SERVICES…building trust, one project at a time!
February 25, 1964: In Miami Beach, 21-year-old Cassius Clay shocks the world by dethroning heavyweight champion Sonny Liston. Displaying lightning-quick feet and hands, the brash young boxer kept the powerful Liston frustrated for six rounds. Claiming a shoulder injury, Liston didn’t come out for the seventh, relinquishing his crown. It was a big weekend in Miami—the Beatles were also in town during the first visit to America to make their second appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. The Beatles met up with the future Muhammad Ali and did some clowning around with him.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
