Boise State’s road to rebound: What Broncos must fix for 2026-27 men’s basketball season in new-look Pac-12

Broncos were one-and-done at Mountain West Tournament

Boise State's RJ Keene II. | Boise State Athletics

A frustrating season for the Boise State men’s basketball team came to a fitting end in Wednesday’s opening round of the Mountain West Tournament. 

After winning five straight games to close the regular season, the sixth-seeded Broncos (20-12) started flat and were run off the court by No. 11 San Jose State (9-23) at Thomas & Mack Center, 84-74. The Spartans had won just three of their previous 21 games entering the MWC Tournament with two of the victories coming against Air Force (3-28). 

Boise State will miss the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season. Head coach Leon Rice said the Broncos do not plan to participate in a postseason tournament and will instead focus on retooling the roster for this summer’s move to the Pac-12 alongside fellow MWC schools Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State. 

“We’re going to go out and get some dogs. We’re hunting for ‘em,” Rice said following Wednesday’s loss. “I want guys who want to wear the blue and orange with such pride, and we’ve always had that. And that’s what I’m going to go get this offseason, the toughest guys and the guys that will compete and guys that will lead and the guys that will just continue to fight.”

The lack of leadership was apparent before Boise State opened the season with an incomprehensible 79-78 home loss to Division II Hawaii Pacific, arguably the worst defeat in program history. 

In late September, Pearson Carmichael, RJ Keene II, Andrew Meadow and Dominic Parolin posed for a photo with Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy while wearing Utah Utes gear. The Utes were hosting Texas Tech in a Big 12 football game. 

Rice called the photo a “lapse of judgment.”

Boise State basketball players hanging with @stoolpresidente at Utah-Texas Tech. pic.twitter.com/506E4ROa46

— B.J. Rains (@BJRains) September 20, 2025

Six weeks later, the Broncos were out-played on their home court by a Hawaii Pacific team that went on to finish 13-9 in the PacWest Conference. 

Boise State rebounded to close its non-conference slate with an 8-3 record, but the Broncos limped to a 1-5 start in MWC play that included consecutive blowout home losses to Grand Canyon and Utah State. The Utah State shellacking came with extra embarrassment as Aggies students took over the Boise State student section to witness the historic 25-point victory. 

Utah State's student section takes over ExtraMile Arena. | Triston Hartfiel, Utah State Athletics

The Broncos once again recovered and went 11-3 down the stretch with notable victories over New Mexico and San Diego State, but the Jekyll and Hyde team turned in another head-scratching performance at the MWC Tournament. 

“I’ve never had a team that could play at the two complete extremes,” Rice said. “It’s not going to happen again. You’ve got to have a team full of dogs that fight.”

Along with a general lack of competitiveness, the slow-footed Broncos were regularly tormented by scoring guards. 

Boise State’s perimeter players didn’t possess enough quickness to hang with the MWC’s best guards. When the opposing guards entered the paint, the Broncos had minimal rim protection to alter shots. 

Here are some notable guard performances against Boise State this season: 

• Corey Camper Jr., Nevada: Career-high 35 points.

• Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn, UNLV: Averaged 34.5 points over two games, including a then-career-high 36 points. 

• Luke Haupt, New Mexico: Career-high 30 points.

• Leland Walker, Wyoming: Career-high 30 points.

The Broncos were a non-competitive 0-4 against the talented scoring backcourts of Grand Canyon (Jaden Henley, Makaih Williams) and Utah State (MJ Collins Jr., Mason Falslev). To compete in the new Pac-12, Boise State needs to sort out its defensive issues. 

On offense, the Broncos have a clear need at point guard with Dylan Andrews out of eligibility. Boise State must also improve its three-point shooting after finishing the season at 34.2 percent, which ranks No. 173 in the country as of Thursday morning.