Boise State Broncos

The Boise State Broncos are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Boise State University, located in Boise, Idaho. The Broncos compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Mountain West Conference (MWC). The Broncos have a successful athletic program overall, winning the WAC commissioner's cup for the 2005–06 and 2009–10 years. Boise State joined the MWC on July 1, 2011.[2]

Boise State Broncos
UniversityBoise State University
ConferenceMountain West
NCAADivision I (FBS)
Athletic directorCurt Apsey
LocationBoise, Idaho
Varsity teams18 (7 men's and 11 women's)
Football stadiumAlbertsons Stadium
Basketball arenaExtraMile Arena
Other arenasAppleton Tennis Center
Boas Tennis/Soccer Complex
Bronco Gym
Donna Larsen Park
MascotBuster Bronco
NicknameBroncos
ColorsBlue and Orange[1]
         
Websitewww.broncosports.com
Boise State is a member of the Mountain West Conference

Boise State's best-known program is football, which attained a perfect 13–0 record in 2006, capped by an overtime win in the Fiesta Bowl over the Oklahoma Sooners. They finished the season as the only major undefeated college football team. BSU's football team has won the Fiesta Bowl two more times, following the 2009 and 2014 seasons. The school's Albertsons Stadium introduced its famous blue artificial turf (now FieldTurf) thirty-five years ago in 1986.

Other notable programs at BSU include the nationally ranked women's gymnastics team, which competes in the Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference, the men's and women's basketball team, and the tennis teams which have consistently had nationally ranked players.

Conference affiliations

Teams sponsored

Boise State University sponsors teams in seven men's and eleven women's NCAA sanctioned sports, primarily competing in the Mountain West Conference, with the beach volleyball program competing as an independent, men's indoor track competing in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, and gymnastics in the Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference.

Men's sports Women's sports
BasketballBasketball
Cross countryBeach volleyball
FootballCross country
GolfGolf
TennisGymnastics
Track & Field†Soccer
Softball
Tennis
Track & Field†
Volleyball
† – Track and field includes both indoor and outdoor

Football
Main article: Boise State Broncos football

The Boise State Broncos Football program represents Boise State University in college football and compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of Division I as a member of the Mountain West Conference. They are led by head coach Bryan Harsin, and play their home games at Albertsons Stadium.

Basketball
Main articles: Boise State Broncos men's basketball and Boise State Broncos women's basketball

Soccer

The 2009 women's soccer team participated in the first round of the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship tournament. Boise State was eliminated in the first round, losing to host UCLA 7–1 on Friday, November 13.

Tennis
See also: Boise State Broncos tennis

Baseball

Boise State played intercollegiate baseball through the 1980 season. Their first season in the Big Sky Conference was 1971, with all eight teams split into two divisions and a best-of-three series between the division winners to determine the conference title. The Broncos and fellow newcomer Northern Arizona joined Idaho State and Weber State in the Southern Division.[3][4] Montana State dropped the sport after the season and Montana in 1972, so Boise State was moved to the Northern Division for 1973 with Idaho and Gonzaga.[5] After the season, athletic director Lyle Smith stepped down as head baseball coach, succeeded by Ross Vaughn, an assistant coach at Washington State in Pullman pursuing a doctorate in biomechanics.[6][7][8]

Following the 1974 season, the Big Sky discontinued its sponsorship of baseball (and four other sports);[9][10] Southern Division champion Idaho State dropped their program a few weeks later,[11] and three-time conference champion Weber State soon followed. The three Northern Division teams joined the newly formed Northern Pacific Conference (NorPac) for the 1975 season and competed against Portland State, Portland, Seattle U., and Puget Sound (and later, Eastern Washington).[12][13][14] Due to budget constraints, both BSU and Idaho discontinued baseball following the 1980 season.[15][16] Head coach Vaughn stayed with the university another three decades as a kinesiology professor and an associate dean.[6][7][8]

Boise State played on campus through the 1979 season, until displaced due to construction of the BSU Pavilion (now ExtraMile Arena). The final infield is now occupied by the tennis courts; home plate was at (43.60317°N 116.20043°W / 43.60317; -116.20043), center field was to the northeast, and the first base line was aligned with the sidewalk along the southern wall of ExtraMile Arena. For their last season in 1980, the Broncos played home games at Borah Field (now Bill Wigle Field) at Borah High School.[17][18]

With the elimination of wrestling in 2017, the baseball program returned in 2019 for the 2020 season; a coaching search began in September 2017,[19] and Gary Van Tol was hired as head coach in November.[20] However, that season was canceled after the COVID-19 pandemic was declared leading to baseball's second elimination when the athletic department's budget was reduced by $3 million.[21] Most of the remaining players moved to other Bronco programs or transferred to Pac-12 Conference schools.[22]

Wrestling

In 1999, as an assistant coach for the Broncos, Greg Randall helped guide Kirk White to the 165-pound national title. In his 14 seasons as head coach, Gregg Randall's teams have finished in the top-three at the conference tournament 10 times. In 1988, BSU wrestling joined the Pac-10 Conference.[23] Randall has led the Broncos to the top of the Pac-12 Conference four times, to go along with seven top-25 finishes at the NCAA Championships including a 9th-place finish at the 2010–11 NCAA Championships. In 2006 Randall guided his first individual NCAA Champion as a head coach with Ben Cherrington capturing the national title in the 157-pound weight class. Cherrington was the second wrestler Randall has helped to a first-place finish at the NCAA tournament. Cherrington completed his season undefeated at 20–0 and won the 157-pound title at the NCAA National Championships. Cherrington's NCAA victory marked the second time in Boise State history a Bronco has own an individual national collegiate wrestling title.[24] Boise State Wrestling competes at home in the Bronco's Gym or the ExtraMile Arena, both located on campus. After the 2016 season, Randall was replaced by former CSU Bakersfield wrestler and coach Mike Mendoza after a 9-26-1 record over the previous three seasons.

In April 2017, after a 2–9 season and an 11-35-1 record over four years, Boise State announced they would eliminate their wrestling program. The school also cited a desire to closer align itself with the Mountain West (which does not sponsor wrestling), a $350,000 loss during the 2016–17 season, and a plan to resurrect the school's baseball program.[25]

Boise State Broncos Wrestling achievements:

  • 16 total conference Championships
  • Pac-12 Conference Champions: 2000, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2011
  • 20 individual All-Americans
  • 12 top-20 NCAA team finishes & 5 top-10 NCAA team finishes
  • 2 individual NCAA Champions: Ben Cherrington 157lbs(2006) & Kirk White 165lbs(1999)[26]

National Championships

NCAA team championships

Boise State has won one NCAA team national championship.[27]

NJCAA team championships

Boise Junior College won one NJCAA team national championship.[28]

  • Men's (1)

Unclaimed national championships

The 2006 and 2009 BSU football teams were both named national champions for their undefeated seasons and wins in the Fiesta Bowl by the Nevada Dental Association[29]

  • Men's (2)
    • Football : 2006
    • Football : 2009

Individual national championships
  • Men's Skiing (Slalom): Bill Shaw, 1974
  • Men's Track & Field (High Jump): Jake Jacoby, 1984
  • Men's Track & Field (Triple Jump): Eugene Green, 1991
  • Wrestling (165 lbs.): Kirk White, 1999
  • Men's Track & Field (Javelin): Gabe Wallin, 2004
  • Men's Track & Field (Javelin): Gabe Wallin, 2005
  • Wrestling (157 lbs.): Ben Cherrington, 2006
  • Women's Track & Field (Long Jump): Eleni Kafourou, 2009
  • Men's Track & Field (Decathlon): Kurt Felix, 2012
  • Women's Track & Field (10,000 meters) : Emma Bates, 2014
  • Women's Track & Field (Steeplechase) : Allie Ostrander, 2017
  • Women's Track & Field (Steeplechase) : Allie Ostrander, 2018

Athletic staff

Athletic directors
Name Years
Curt Apsey2015–present
Mark Coyle2012–2015
Curt Apsey (interim)2011
Gene Bleymaier1982–2011
Mike Mullally1981–1982
Lyle Smith1968–1981

Current head coaches
NameSportYear
Bryan HarsinFootball6th
Greg PattonTennis20th
Leon RiceBasketball (men's)8th
Jim ThomasSoccer (women's)5th
  • (as of August 2017)

Hall of Fame

College Football Hall of Fame

References
  1. "Boise State Athletic Brand Standard Guidelines" (PDF). August 8, 2019. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
  2. "Broncos Officially Join Mountain West Conference". BroncoSports.com (Press release). July 1, 2011. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
  3. "Big Sky baseball: split loop planned". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). May 19, 1970. p. 13.
  4. "Vandals list baseball play". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). January 28, 1971. p. 22.
  5. "Key games: Big Sky Conference". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). April 23, 1973. p. 17.
  6. Prentice, George (April 24, 2013). "Ross Vaughn: Boise State's boy of summer heads for home". Boise Weekly. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
  7. Squires, Sherry (May 22, 2014). "New scholarship to honor Ross Vaughn". Boise State University. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
  8. "Ross E. Vaughn" (PDF). Boise State University. (faculty). Retrieved August 18, 2017.
  9. "Idaho off probation, loop titles dwindle". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). May 5, 1974. p. 13.
  10. "Baseball axed in Big Sky". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). May 29, 1974. p. 15.
  11. "Idaho (State) drops baseball". Ellensburg Daily Record. (Washington). June 5, 1974. p. 9.
  12. "Idaho, Gonzaga join new baseball circuit". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. June 24, 1974. p. 16.
  13. "Portland State, Portland to play in baseball league". The Bulletin. (Bend, Oregon). Associated Press. June 24, 1974. p. 12.
  14. Jordan, Jeff (January 19, 1975). "Idea's time has arrived". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 3, sports.
  15. "Boise State drops baseball program". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. May 6, 1980. p. C1.
  16. Goodwin, Dale (May 13, 1980). "Baseball's 'out' at Idaho". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. 19.
  17. "Vandals visit Boise for pair". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). April 9, 1980. p. 4C.
  18. "Pointer, Aldeman help Idaho sweep Boise". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). April 10, 1980. p. 2B.
  19. Rains, B.J. (September 5, 2017). "Boise State announces search for baseball coach, hopes to begin play in 2020". Idaho Press-Tribune. (Nampa). Retrieved September 7, 2017.
  20. "Gary Van Tol Named Boise State Head Baseball Coach". BroncoSports.com (Press release). November 30, 2017. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
  21. "Boise State baseball players 'heartbroken' after university's decision to cut program". Idaho Statesman. July 4, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  22. "With no more hope of saving the program, Boise State baseball players are on the move". Idaho Statesman. July 30, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  23. "BSU Wrestling" (PDF). Pac-12.com. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
  24. "BS Broncos Wrestling". Boise State Athletics. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
  25. Southorn, Dave; Katz, Michael (April 18, 2017). "Anger, frustration, shock: Wrestlers grapple with loss of Boise State program". The Idaho Statesman. Retrieved April 20, 2017.
  26. "Bronco Wrestling team" (PDF). Boise State Athletics. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
  27. "CHAMPIONSHIPS SUMMARY : THROUGH JULY 1, 2016" (PDF). Fs.ncaa.org. Retrieved September 17, 2016.
  28. NJCAA National Football Championship
  29. "This Publication Named UCF As Its College Football National Champion". January 31, 2018. Retrieved July 16, 2018.
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