‘It’s hard to put into words’: Boise State officially joins the Pac-12 Conference
It’s official: Boise State is in the Pac-12 Conference.
After 15 years competing in the Mountain West, Boise State held a Pac-12 launch party on Tuesday evening ahead of the school’s official conference switch at the stroke of midnight on July 1.
Tuesday’s event at Albertsons Stadium opened the North End Zone concourse to the public for the first time since its construction. It featured a live band, interviews with coaches on the big screen, and a fireworks display on the south end of the stadium.
The school also announced plans to erect an 11-foot statue of Boise State great Kellen Moore in front of the Bleymaier Football Center, with an unveiling planned for the upcoming season.
“It’s hard to put into words,” Boise State Athletic Director Jeramiah Dickey said on Tuesday, almost 21 months after the school first announced its intention to move to the Pac-12 in September 2024.
“Time flies when you’re having fun, and it’s been a long process,” Dickey continued. “So it’s a relief to a certain extent that we’re taking that next step; we’re closing one chapter and starting a new one.”
Dickey was joined at the event by program head coaches Spencer Danielson (football), Leon Rice (men’s basketball) and Gordy Presnell (women’s basketball). All three coaches expressed their excitement about the rising level of competition in the Pac-12 and the fact that Boise State will have to hit the ground running this fall.
That feels especially important for the women’s basketball team, which just enjoyed its best season (25-9, 14-6 Mountain West) since 2019-20. The Broncos finished fourth in conference play before falling in the conference tournament semifinals, but will want to keep the momentum going into 2026.
“I’ve been in a number of leagues here,” Presnell said. “And I’ve never seen the excitement that we have right now, and excitement on the phone when you’re talking to a potential recruit.”
Presnell and his staff have already been hard at work, having secured the commitment of former San Diego State guard CJ Latta. The 5-foot-10 junior is originally from Minico High School in Rupert, where she was named the Idaho 4A Player of the Year as a senior in 2022.
The men’s team also has a big challenge ahead of it. Rice pointed out on Tuesday that new Pac-12 teams have competed in three of the past nine NCAA Tournament championship games — Gonzaga (2017, 2021) and San Diego State (2023). Both teams lost on all three occasions.
“It’s gonna be the premier basketball conference on the West Coast,” Rice said. “... I think it’s great for our fans, because instantly all of a sudden you got some rivalry situations — us and Gonzaga, Washington State, Oregon State, these northwest schools.”
While both basketball teams have often been among the chasing pack in recent years, the football team is riding off into the Mountain West sunset with three straight conference titles.
However, Danielson is well aware that his “no week’s off” mantra will take on a new meaning in the Pac-12.
Of the five Mountain West teams moving to the Pac-12, four of them — Boise State, Utah State, Fresno State and San Diego State — finished within the top five of last season’s standings. Colorado State was the odd team out, having finished last. Those five teams will be joined by Pac-12 holdovers Washington State and Oregon State, as well as former Sun Belt team Texas State.
“I know for our players, they’re fired up,” Danielson said. “For them, it’s just ‘tell us who we’re playing.’ But they know week in and week out you’re going to play teams that are on the hunt as well.”
