The college basketball offseason is here, and we decided to have some fun over the next few months, ranking ALL 364 teams in D1. Number 148 is Boise State basketball.
Before you say we’re crazy – or that all of this is up for debate, let’s go over the very intricate process of how we came to this conclusion. We took a very statistical approach – with the help of Chat GPT – taking into consideration everything from March Madness wins and finishes, to AP Poll appearances, to conference players of the year. And then, a good friend of ours, Scott Blanchard, took our approach to the MAX.
Click here to visit the FIRST article, which explains how the formula works!
Here’s the breakdown of Boise State basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 0
- NCAA wins: 0
- Bids: 10
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 17.0
- Bids per season: 0.18
- AP Polls: 2
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 0
- NBA players drafted & played: 2
- Conference Players of the Year: 4
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 7
- Conference tournament titles: 6
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on Boise State basketball
Boise State basketball has been a great program, but we’ll start with the not-so-good here. Their 10 NCAA Tournament bids are the second most, only behind Iona. for a program to never win a game in March Madness.
But now, to the good! The Broncos have been a dominant Mountain West program lately, with seven straight seasons of at least 10 wins in conference play, and doing so in 11 of their last 12. In the 16 seasons Leon Rice has been the head coach, the Broncos have had 14 winning records and 13 20-win seasons. They have been nothing short of the gold standard in the Mountain West over the last decade and a half. And it has led to five trips to the NCAA Tournament.
Their best chance at a run was in 2021-22, as the Broncos won 27 games. Tyson Degenhart was just a freshman, but there was so much talent on the roster that they got an 8-seed. Degenhart would lead them back to the big dance the next two seasons as a 10-seed both times, but of course, they came up empty in the round of 64 each time.
While Rice has been the best coach in program history, other coaches have also done solid jobs at Boise State. From 2002-10, Greg Graham went 142-112 and led them to the NCAA Tournament in 2008. He was the WAC Coach of the Year (they didn’t go to the Mountain West until 2011).
Bobby Dye coached the Broncos from 1983-95 when they competed in the Big Sky. His Boise State teams went to the tourney in 1988, 1993, and 1994, and won two regular season conference titles. Dye went 213-133 with Boise State, second only to Rice in program history.
Boise State also made the big dance in 1976, under head coach Bus Connor. He didn’t fare well overall, but it was still a notable season and a first for Boise State to go dancing.
Over time, the Broncos have gotten better as they’ve entered stronger conferences. Not every program benefits from that, but Boise State basketball has taken it in stride.