Well, so much for any hopes of a potential multi-day Las Vegas run.
In a season of extreme highs and even more extreme lows, Boise State elected to use all of the good juju it accumulated over the last two weeks and throw it straight into the Fountains of Bellagio on South Las Vegas Boulevard.
From the get-go, it was apparent on Wednesday night that San Jose State came to play and that despite only being able to use seven players, they would go down scratching and clawing.
The absurd part is that they
didn’t even have to resort to that do-or-die mentality.
By the under-eight mark, the Spartans had captured an eight-point lead, powered by former Bronco Sadraque NgaNga.
Boise State went on a mini run to close the gap, but despite their best efforts to collect momentum heading into halftime, Spartan guard Colby Garland swished home a buzzer-beating three to put San Jose State ahead at the break, 41-39.
Nothing that a Boise State team on a five-game win streak can’t deal with, right?
Right?
Rather than storming out of the locker room with steam coming out of their ears, ready to take someone’s head off, they operated with tenseness and uncertainty.
Wide-open shots along the perimeter were being passed up, as if each player were playing “Hot Potato” with the ball in hopes of not ending with the rock at the end of the shot clock.
It was the hope that someone else would step up.
But when everyone is waiting for Superman to appear, that means there is no Superman amongst the group.
Boise State cut its deficit to six with ten minutes to go in the second half, but a quick Spartan 12-2 run over the next three minutes of game time put this contest out of reach via a 74-58 scoreline.
The last five minutes of the Mountain West nightcap were ugly to watch if you were a Bronco fan.
Starters were leaving uncontested three-point attempts well short, barely grazing the front of the iron.
Typically reliable free-throw shooters were missing violently, clanking shots off the back of the rim.
It was an abrupt landslide that no one on the Boise State sideline had an answer for.
To put this result into historical context, San Jose State had only won two Mountain West tournament games prior to Wednesday.
Leon Rice was also 24-2 all-time against San Jose State prior to this game.
This was a coaching masterclass by Tim Miles, something that shouldn’t serve as a surprise considering how much he gets out of a program with so little financial support.
On the other hand…Leon Rice has to be scratching his head about what just happened.
With the most expensive roster to date and the bringing in of Dylan Andrews from UCLA, this was supposed to be a return to the NCAA Tournament after narrowly missing out a year ago.
Instead, we are talking about a ten-point loss in the first round of the Mountain West tournament to a team that finished 8-23 in the regular season and 3-17 in conference play.
Two of those conference wins came against Air Force.
A Quad 4 loss to a team coming into last night ranked No. 236 in KenPom is flat-out unacceptable.
I don’t know what the future holds for this roster, but with Boise State’s move to the Pac-12 next year and the need to deal with perennial conference title contenders, including powerhouse Gonzaga, there is a need for change.
Is there possible staff turnover lurking between the longtime trio of assistant Mike Burns, assistant Tim Duryea, and head coach Leon Rice?
This is two straight hoops seasons where the end result would be considered a failure.
2025-26 stung worse, though, with the opening loss to Division II Hawaii-Pacific turning the Broncos into a punching bag for a bit of time, and now this loss to an 8-23 San Jose State team, ending the season.
Athletic director Jeremiah Dickey holds the highest of standards for success at Boise State.
But on that same note, this is a “What have you done for me lately?” type of business.
The Broncos will be sitting at home while their in-state neighbors, the Idaho Vandals, just clinched a Big Sky tournament title and a trip to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1990.
It’s a party in Moscow.
It’s an interrogation in Boise.
Interesting times lie ahead in the Gem State, one way or another.
With San Jose State’s win, they will move on to the Mountain West quarterfinals to take on No. 3 seed New Mexico in the Thursday nightcap on CBS Sports Network. The game is scheduled to tip off at 9:30 p.m. (Mountain Time).
