Boise State Basketball: Best mid-major nobody is talking about in 2022
What’s Next
As mentioned, the Broncos will travel to Fresno State to take on Justin Hutson’s tough Bulldog squad. In his fourth season at the helm, the Bulldogs are currently on pace for their highest Ken Pom ranking in his tender at 59 and sit in the top 60 of the net rankings as well. Boise State will have their hands’ full star Center Orlando Robinson who scored 22 points in the team’s first clash.
The only problem that night was that Robinson did not get any help. Back in the December 28th matchup, Robinson was the only Bulldog scorer in double figures while Boise State had three. This time around, look for junior Anthony Holland to step up for Fresno State, who did not play in the first matchup. He will need to play a big roll as he did in Fresno State last time out in a road win over New Mexico, a game in which Robinson missed some time due to an ankle injury. All signs point to Robinson playing Friday considering he played the final nine minutes of Tuesday’s win.
"“It’s going to happen for sure”"
Friday will be a test, but the Broncos are confident. In a story by Bronco Nation News’ B.J. Rains, who offers fantastic, exclusive Boise State content, fifth-year senior Abu Kigab remarked, “It’s going to happen for sure,” when asked whether the Broncos will shatter the school’s all-time winning streak record.
The quick turnaround is nothing new for the Broncos, but they will need role players like Max Rice, Naje Smith, and perhaps even Pavle Kuzmanovic, who missed some time and had not played since December 22nd before making two free throws in limited action on Tuesday, to step up.
Rice has been capable of nailing the long ball but has struggled this season. He ranked in the top 20 percentage-wise in Mountain West play last year but is just 3-29 this season. With that being said, Rice has made a three-point attempt in each of the last two games, and a breakout will be coming. The Broncos must take things one game at a time as the calendar will soon flip to February and a trip to Laramie, Wyoming awaits.
After that, though, the schedule eases up with four home games out of five contests. Finally, Boise State will finish with two road games the final three games including a road bout with Colorado State, likely to be the toughest challenger yet. The Broncos could play the Rams, before that, however, if their home matchup from January 7th is made up beforehand.
Next. 10 candidates to replace Chris Mack at Louisville. dark
In total, the Broncos are playing well, statistically the second hottest team in the country. But the question remains whether or not the momentum will continue. Boise State has yet to play in a Mountain West championship game and has not appeared in the tournament since 2015. This year, Leon Rice has all the pieces to make a run, we will see in the coming weeks if, in fact, that happens.