Tag: Boise State Broncos

Boise State extends unfortunate record of futility after another NCAA Tournament loss

The Boise State Broncos are the first college basketball team to go 0-10 in the NCAA Tournament after losing to Colorado on Thursday.

Leon Rice and the Boise State Broncos faded down the stretch on Thursday, ultimately falling to Colorado in the play-in game, 60-54, and sending the Buffs into a matchup against No. 7 seed Florida on Friday.

For the Broncos it extended an unfortunate college basketball record as they are now 0-10 in NCAA Tournament contests – the first and only program to play 10 games in the big dance and failing to win a single one of them.

“This is a really, really tough draw and then a tough, tough, tough loss that we’ll have trouble with for the rest of our lives,” Rice said after the game. “That’s the way it is.”

The Mountain West as a conference has struggled to find success in the tournament, outside of San Diego State’s run to the national championship last year, and Boise State has been a big part of that.

Despite going dancing three years in a row, and five of the last 14 seasons under coach Rice, they have yet to advance in the field of 68. They had plenty of opportunities on Thursday but shot just 34% from the field and 2-18 (11.1%) from three while only getting to the free throw line six times.

Colorado will take on Florida Friday at 4:30 PM ET on TBS.

LSU softball remains unbeaten with a win over Boise State

The Tigers are still unbeaten after holding off a Boise State rally.

The LSU softball team picked up win No. 10 as it remains unbeaten to begin the 2024 season after an 8-5 win over Boise State on Friday.

The Tigers got on the board early with a two-run single in the first, and they added three more runs in the second with another pair of RBI singles. The Broncos broke the shutout in the fourth inning with a homer, but LSU got that run back in the bottom of the inning.

Boise made things interesting in the fifth inning with another homer, this time plating two runs and cutting the lead to one. But a sac-fly from [autotag]Taylor Pleasants[/autotag] and an RBI single from [autotag]Ali Newland[/autotag] in the bottom of the frame ended any hope at a comeback.

[autotag]Emma Strood[/autotag] earned her second win of the year, pitching four innings while allowing five runs. [autotag]Raelin Chaffin[/autotag] came in to pitch the final three innings, allowing just one hit.

LSU will now play the second leg of a doubleheader against Houston on Friday night.

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Boise State’s Cole Rueck wins Genesis Invitational Collegiate Showcase in playoff

Past winners of the event include Will Zalatoris, Sahith Theegala and Scottie Scheffler.

For the second straight year, it took a playoff to determine a champion at the Genesis Invitational Collegiate Showcase.

Boise State sophomore Cole Rueck made a short birdie putt on the 11th hole at Riviera Country Club on Monday to win the 2024 Collegiate Showcase. With the win, he earned an exemption into the Genesis Scottish Open in July. Normally, winners would receive an exemption into this week’s Genesis Invitational, but since the tournament has become one of the PGA Tour’s signature events in 2024, the exemption is being awarded for the other Genesis-sponsored event on the schedule.

Rueck topped Washington’s Petr Hruby on the second playoff hole. Both players finished their round at even-par 71. The playoff began on Riviera’s par-4 10th hole, where both players carded pars. Each player found the fairway on the 11th, but Hruby’s approach went into the greenside bunker while Rueck came up short. However, Rueck chipped it to seven feet for the win, and he knocked it in.

There were two competitions during the Collegiate Showcase, so the amateur group playing with Hruby secured the team competition and earned a $50,000 donation to the Washington golf program.

Kristopher Stiles, the 2024 Pathway Player, finished eighth in the field of 15 collegiate athletes.

This was the 10th playing of the Collegiate Showcase. It is the first year the Showcase winner earns an exemption into the Genesis Scottish Open. Past winners of the event include Will Zalatoris, Sahith Theegala and Scottie Scheffler.

Former five-star recruit expected to transfer to Boise State

Another former five-star commit could be heading to Boise State.

The Boise State Broncos and new head coach Spencer Danielson could be closing in on another former five-recruit coming to the blue turf. Former Texas A&M Aggies and Ole Miss Rebels wide receiver Chris Marshall is expected to commit to the Broncos.

After brief stops in the SEC, Marshall spent the last season with Kilgore Junior College in Marshall’s home state of Texas. He appeared in six games for the Kangaroos with 21 receptions for 449 Yards and five touchdowns. Marshall averaged 21.4 yards per reception.

Danielson is bringing in some serious talent as the Broncos look to make their case for the 12-team playoff in 2024. They will likely have to duke it out with the Tulane Green Wave and UTSA Roadrunners for that spot as the top Group of Five programs this next season.

The Broncos recently added former five-star quarterback Malachi Nelson, who entered the transfer portal after sitting during the 2023 season behind Caleb Williams. Nelson joins a transfer class that includes Vavion Woodard (Ball State), Cam Camper (Indiana), and Jeremiah Earby (California). Marshall would be another addition that is coming over with Power Five experience.

Malachi Nelson, in 2024, will face three current Pac-12 schools

Malachi Nelson will play more Pac-12 schools at Boise State than he would have at USC in 2024.

The 2024 college football season will be especially notable for a lot of obvious reasons. One is the emergence of the new 12-team College Football Playoff. Another is the movement of various schools to new conferences. USC will be off to the Big Ten, along with three other current Pac-12 schools: UCLA, Washington, and Oregon.

In 2024, USC will face two of those three schools: Washington and UCLA. The Trojans will not face Oregon.

As a result, Malachi Nelson — who just transferred to Boise State from USC — will actually play more current Pac-12 schools this year as a member of the Broncos than he would have if he had stayed at USC and remained a Trojan.

Boise State’s 2024 schedule includes games against Oregon, Oregon State, and Washington State. Keep in mind that Washington State and Oregon State hammered out an agreement to play Mountain West schools in football for the coming year. They aren’t conference games, but this is a partnership between OSU and WSU — the so-called “Pac-2” — and the Mountain West.

It will be weird, and fascinating, for USC fans to see Malachi Nelson playing schools USC has commonly played for the past few decades, but which will no longer be part of USC’s conference, in 2024.

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Malachi Nelson’s transfer to Boise State seems to be motivated by one factor

NIL money was not Malachi Nelson’s point of focus in transferring to Boise State. That much seems clear.

The decision by Malachi Nelson to transfer to Boise State gives the Broncos their highest-rated player ever. Since recruiting services began, and since the star system came into existence, Boise State has never had a higher-ranked prospect than Nelson, who was a five-star prospect when USC brought him in as a freshman.

Given that Nelson was linked to Miami as a possible landing spot, the fact that Nelson chose Boise State reveals something obvious about his thought process. Miami is a very heavy hitter in the NIL space, with power brokers who can bring a very big bag to the table. Miami football is — on the field — a bad product, but Mario Cristobal pulled in several more blue-chip recruits than Lincoln Riley and USC for this cycle. Miami’s NIL clout played a big role in that.

Nelson’s pivot away from Miami is a statement in itself. The money wasn’t the top focus for the quarterback. He wanted to go to a school where he would play football as a starter in 2024. Playing time mattered most.

Nelson’s need for playing time — a perfectly reasonable desire from his point of view — was so acute that the quarterback entrusted his career to a first-year head coach, Spencer Danielson. Boise State fired Andy Avalos late in the 2023 season and appointed Danielson as the interim. Danielson won the Mountain West championship to lock down the permanent head coaching job. BSU did not look outside the program for Avalos’s replacement.

Malachi Nelson knew what he wanted. He got it. We wish him the best in 2024.

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Malachi Nelson transfers to Boise State, ends speculation about returning to USC

Malachi Nelson to Boise State is a wild plot twist in the portal.

The Malachi Nelson story has taken a fascinating turn. Nelson, who transferred from USC before Miller Moss lit up Louisville in the Holiday Bowl and before Will Howard announced his new school, could have reconsidered his place in the portal and on the USC roster. He did not.

He wanted to go somewhere to play in 2024, a perfectly understandable and reasonable desire. He didn’t want to be a QB2 sitting behind Moss at USC or anyone else at another school.

He was rumored to be in the mix for the Miami Hurricanes, a high-profile program which competes with the likes of Florida State and Clemson in the ACC. When the Miami speculation grew, it didn’t seem likely that Nelson would wind up on the blue turf of Boise, Idaho, playing in the Mountain West Conference.

Life is full of surprises.

Nelson is headed to Boise State. The news broke Saturday night. This is a big score for new Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson, who took over from Andy Avalos this past season as the interim and was named permanent head coach late in 2023.

With Nelson fully out of the picture at USC — this closes the door on that possibility, at least for 2024 — the Trojans do need a backup quarterback in the portal. We’ll keep you posted.

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Former five-star USC quarterback linked to a Mountain West team

Malachi Nelson, one of the top five quarterback prospects in the 2023 class, threw three passes as a freshman with the Trojans.

Former five-star quarterback Malachi Nelson, who spent his freshman 2023 season with USC, is scheduled to make his first official visit at Boise State in the next few days, according to a report from ESPN’s Pete Thamel on Thursday.

Thamel also reported that the Broncos are the current favorite for Nelson, who was 247Sports’ No. 5 quarterback in the Class of 2023.

“(Nelson is) looking for a blue-collar program to blend in and prove himself,” Thamel’s report read on social media.

The ESPN reporter said Nelson was drawn to the Broncos because of their high number of returning starters, including several members of the offensive line. Broncos offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan reportedly recruited Nelson as far back as middle school when he still worked for Washington.

Boise State finished the season with an 8-6 record and a Mountain West title after a late four-game win streak culminated in a 44-20 victory over UNLV in the conference title game. Interim head coach Spencer Danielson was promoted to the position full-time after the triumph.

Sophomore quarterback Taylen Green played in 13 games for the Broncos last season, throwing for 1,752 yards, 11 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. He announced his commitment to transfer to Arkansas last month.

Nelson threw three passes in his freshman campaign, completing one for no gain.

Former Husker coach named defensive coordinator at Boise State

A former Nebraska defensive coordinator has been promoted to the same job at his current school.

A former Nebraska defensive coordinator has been promoted to the same job at his current school. Boise State announced the promotion of defensive line coach Erik Chinander to defensive coordinator.

Chinander just finished his first season in Boise, where he served as assistant head coach and defensive line coach. He had been the defensive coordinator at UCF and Nebraska.

Chinander served as the defensive coordinator of the Cornhuskers from 2018 to 22. He was fired four games into the 2022 season after the team gave up 49 points and 580 yards in a 49-14 loss to Oklahoma.

Boise State is preparing for the LA Bowl on Saturday against UCLA.

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2023-2024 College Football Coaching Carousel

Texas A&M hires Duke’s Mike Elko as the coaching carousel continues to spin.

The end of the college football season is here and the coaching carousel is once again getting fired up. This season saw two early head coaching changes within the Big Ten to get an early jump on things, but more coaching changes are popping up as we close in on the end of another regular season around the nation.

We’ll keep track of all of the head coaching changes in our updated coaching carousel tracker to see what head coaches are out and who is replacing them. This will be updated daily as needed with the latest head coaching changes as jobs open up and are filled. As is so often the case in college football, one coaching vacancy being filled will lead to another opening popping up as a result.

As of Thursday, Dec. 8 there are 2 head coaching vacancies in college football, including 1 power conference job to fill. A total of 19 head coaching changes have been made this year.

Below is the updated chart for this year’s edition of the head coaching carousel in college football. After that is a bit more detail on each job opening, listed in alphabetical order.