Can Boise State still win the Mountain West? Here’s why senior leaders ‘truly believe’
Just over halfway through the Mountain West men’s basketball regular season, Boise State’s hopes for a first-place finish look slim.
The Broncos’ 7-4 conference record has them in fifth place, three games behind New Mexico (10-1). Even with nine games still remaining in Mountain West play, the Broncos are seen as long shots for the regular season title. But belief remains strong in the locker room.
“Some people might be counting us out right now, but we truly believe that we can still win,” senior guard Alvaro Cardenas said after Saturday’s 82-60 victory over Fresno State.
Boise State coach Leon Rice has often pointed toward the 2014-15 season as an example of how the Broncos can rebound after a bit of a bumpy beginning. That season, Boise State started 0-3 in Mountain West play before winning 14 of 15 games to clinch a share of the regular season title.
Boise State has played every league team at least once and Wyoming twice, with the Broncos winning both games against the Cowboys. For the first time in 2025, each team is playing a 20-game conference slate, for a home-and-home series with everyone.
The positive way to slice things? All four of Boise State’s conference losses this season have come against the four teams ahead of them: New Mexico (84-65), Utah State (81-79), Colorado State (75-72) and San Diego State (76-68).
Three of those losses have come on the road, with Boise State’s only home loss coming against San Diego State. And two of those losses, against Utah State and Colorado State, came via last-second 3-pointers.
That means a tough game at SDSU still remains, but the Broncos get those other teams at home in February and March.
While the loss at Colorado State may sting, the losses at New Mexico and Utah State were, at the very least, unsurprising. New Mexico has a 39-9 record at home since the start of the 2022 season, while Utah State’s home record in that span is 39-5. Both venues are tough places to play, and both teams are strong this season.
“We know that we’ve played probably one of the toughest schedules out of everybody in the conference, especially in the top five,” Cardenas said. “But we know now we can get a little bit more in rhythm, and we can win those big games.”
The trick will be not to falter away from home. Boise State is just 2-4 in true road games, including an 84-73 nonconference loss at San Francisco in November.
The Broncos will have a chance to get that turned around on Tuesday night when they travel to UNLV (11-11, 5-6) for a 9 p.m. Mountain time tipoff. Boise State routed UNLV 81-59 at ExtraMile Arena a month ago, and has a four-game winning streak in Las Vegas against the Rebels.
A make-or-break February stretch then will follow the Broncos’ home game against San Jose State on Friday night: road trips to San Diego State and Nevada, and home games against New Mexico and Utah State.
On Monday, senior forward Tyson Degenhart said that he doesn’t think the team needs to be perfect to make a run at the title, but that it does need to give 100% effort as the rematches with the Lobos, Aggies and Rams play out.
“I think we can show how much better we’ve gotten since last time we played (all of) them,” Degenhart said. “We never want to be satisfied with where we’re at right now; we always know we can get better. It’s an exciting time here, and I’m excited to have them come to Boise so we can play them again.”
