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Wednesday Weekly: March 18, 2026.
There is a precedent for Boise State skipping postseason opportunities in men’s basketball. It was 10 years ago, when the Broncos could have gone to a secondary tournament after finishing the season—coincidentally—20-12. That year, Boise State ended the regular season with a shocking loss at—coincidentally—San Jose State. And the Broncos were then broomed in the first round of the Mountain West Tournament by Colorado State. There was an extenuating circumstance then, as senior Anthony Drmic was one Aussie three-pointer short of Tanoka Beard’s then-school record 1,944 career points. Boise State was toying with an invitation to a new tournament called the Vegas 16, but that became a farce when it dwindled to the Vegas 8, and the Broncos packed it in.
BREED OF ‘DAWG’
“Dawg” season is underway for Boise State men’s basketball and coach Leon Rice, who wants to bring in some “dawgs” to get the Broncos’ moxie back. What’s the template for that? May I suggest someone like Utah State’s Karson Templin? After all, it doesn’t have to be a starter. Templin played just 14 minutes in the Aggies’ Mountain West championship game win and scored just two points. But he did have five rebounds in that time—two on the offensive end—and a blocked shot. (And he usually plays more and is a lot better offensively.) When I first saw Templin in ExtraMile Arena two seasons ago, I thought to myself, “Now there’s a guy opposing fans love to hate.” You could see him get under the Broncos’ skin. Templin plays really, really hard, and he plays fearlessly. Rice needs to go get himself some of those.
THE ODD MW POSTSEASON
As you know, your NCAA Tournament bracket has only one Mountain West team on it. The MW is a one-bid conference for the first time since 2017, getting only champion Utah State in. The Aggies, a No.9 seed, will be on a familiar floor, though, as they face No. 8 Villanova Friday at Viejas Arena in San Diego. San Diego State, meanwhile, was in the first four out, and New Mexico must have been in the next four out.
Five Mountain West teams made the NIT. Boise State and San Diego State would have made it eight had the Broncos and Aztecs wanted to participate. At any rate, the first two teams played Tuesday night, as Wyoming fell 74-70 at Wichita State and UNLV won 75-72 at UC Irvine. Tonight the remaining three MW teams play home games: New Mexico against Sam Houston, Nevada versus Murray State and Colorado State against Saint Joseph’s. The NIT seeds only 16 of the 32 teams—in four sets of four. New Mexico is a No. 1 seed, Nevada’s a 2 and Colorado State’s a 3.
THE VANDAL DANCE
No matter what happens in Idaho’s NCAA Tournament game against Houston Thursday night, the Vandals will be over .500 all-time against Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson. He coached some other Cougars in Pullman once upon a time. Sampson led Washington State from 1987-1994 and faced Idaho each season in non-conference play. The Vandals were really, really good at that time and went 5-3 against Sampson and Wazzu. So their lead in the personal series against him will be safe. Of course, this is a No. 15 seed against a No. 2, and last Sunday was the 25th anniversary of Hampton’s legendary upset of Iowa State, which was coached by former Idaho head man Larry Eustachy, in Boise. This is March Madness. Granted, Houston is a monster—but you never know where mojo will take you.
Last Sunday was also the 36th anniversary of the Vandals’ last trip to the NCAA Tournament. It came five days after beating Eastern Washington in the Big Sky championship game at the Boise State Pavilion. The opponent was Louisville, who won 78-59 in Salt Lake City. It would be the final game in the career of Big Sky Player of the Year Riley Smith, and the final game at Idaho for coach Kermit Davis (until his one-year return seven seasons later). Now the monkey is off the Vandals’ back.
PRO DAY SPOTLIGHT
Boise State’s Pro Day lineup has been finalized for next Tuesday. There’ll be 18 former Broncos—plus two former Idaho State Bengals—auditioning in front of an assortment of NFL personnel. One will be Boise State’s only NFL Combine invitee and its only projected draft pick, offensive lineman Kage Casey. It’ll be an especially important day for tight end Matt Lauter, whose draft stock took a hit with an off-year in 2025. Lauter’s receptions as a senior were down by 10, to 37, and his touchdowns went from seven as a junior to two. Hopefully Pro Day can help him get back in the conversation. And it’ll be the second time around for kicker Jonah Dalmas, who finished his career in 2024. Dalmas will try to show scouts that the Fiesta Bowl against Penn State was not representative of the player he is.
MCWEAPON TRIVIA
Here’s a tough trivia question: who has had the longest NFL career of any former Boise State running back? Key word: “longest.” Well, that distinction went to Jeremy McNichols last season when he logged his eighth season in the league, passing the late Doug Martin. Now McNichols is set for a ninth, as he has re-signed with Washington on a one-year contract. He reached this record unconventionally. In three of the eight seasons he didn’t have a single yards from scrimmage, and in another he had only four. But he did play. McNichols has 846 rushing yards and 518 receiving yards in his career, with seven total touchdowns. His past two years with the Commanders have been his best, though—more than half of his rushing yards have come over that stretch.
NEXT ON THE AC BOISE DOCKET: OMAHA
The euphoria of that victory in Athletic Club Boise’s first game in franchise history a week and a half ago have morphed into prep for Game 2. AC Boise will be in Nebraska to face Union Omaha on Sunday—the temperature will be manageable back there with a high of 64, but it will be windy. Omaha opened with a 1-0 loss to Spokane Velocity FC, the team that will be at Athletic Club Boise Stadium for ACB’s home debut on April 4.
TSA IS FAMILIAR WITH THESE STEELIES
The Idaho Steelheads are an affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, and that sometimes leaves roster management out of their control—even down the home stretch of the regular season. Last Friday, the Stars reassigned Steelheads goaltender Ben Kraws to Texas of the AHL, and simultaneously sent fellow goalie Arno Tiefensee from Texas back to Idaho. Then on Sunday, after the Steelies split a pair of games with the Allen Americans, they flip-flopped. Kraws is back in a Steelheads gear and Tiefensee has returned to Austin. Meanwhile, defenseman Jake Boltmann has signed a PTO with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda. Having presumably sorted it out, the Steelies kick off a nine-game homestand with the first of three against the Tulsa Oilers tonight.
HE WORE NO. 17 FOR THE HORNETS
While he didn’t win the Oscar for Best Director Sunday night, Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” won four Academy Awards out of a record 16 nominations, and Coogler did win for Best Screenplay. Which gives me a chance to revisit a quirky piece of trivia I brought up six weeks ago. Chris Petersen’s head coaching career began in 2006 with a 45-0 win over Sacramento State on the Blue. On the other side of the field for Sac State was wide receiver Ryan Coogler. He caught one pass for 11 yards. It’s right there in the box score. Turns out I was part of the announcing crew for that game on KTVB. Almost 20 years later, Coogler is one of the most successful filmmakers in Hollywood. So there you go.
This Day In Sports…brought to you by BACON BOISE…fresh breakfast and brunch every day!
March 18, 2021, five years ago today: Shaking off the disappointment of playing its way out of the NCAA Tournament, Boise State takes a thrilling 85-84 win over SMU in the first round of the NIT. The Broncos scored the first 14 points of the game and led 30-9 after nine minutes were gone. But the Mustangs whittled back and caught Boise State midway through the second half. The Broncos won on Devonaire Doutrive’s putback with 10 seconds left. The victory snapped a four-game losing streak that had taken away any hope of an at-large bid in the Big Dance. Boise State would fall to Memphis in the quarterfinals. The entire 2021 NIT was played in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex due to COVID-19 precautions.
(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.)
