Tuesday, February 10, 2015.
The fans will have a say—even in matters that nobody can do anything about. The Boise State Athletic Department announced yesterday it is forming a Fan Advisory Committee and is looking for members of Bronco Nation to participate. "The purpose of the committee is to foster dialogue between all Bronco fans and the athletic department at Boise State. This will consist of topics directly relating to the fan experience, ticket sales and other subjects relating to athletic events for all intercollegiate sports at Boise State." Sure to surface will be ways to counter the late kickoff and tipoff times that have eaten into attendance at Albertsons Stadium and Taco Bell Arena. With that said, fans have an opportunity to show how much they like tomorrow night's 7 p.m. tipoff time for the Air Force game.
The Mountain West is shut out again in the rankings this week, but Boise State has at least moved the needle on one of the lists. Man, the Coaches Poll sure likes the conference more than the AP Poll. San Diego State is the only school even receiving votes in AP this week—the Aztecs got two points. Four Mountain West teams are in the "Others Receiving Votes" category in the Coaches Poll, led by SDSU with 18 points (ranked 30th if you count down that far). Colorado State received nine votes, the Broncos four, and Wyoming three.
Under the radar Sunday was the fact that Boise State's 17th victory clinches the fourth winning season in five years for the Broncos under coach Leon Rice. Next they can set their sights on a 20-win campaign, which would also make it four out of five for Rice. Boise State has eight games left in the regular season, plus at least one in the Mountain West Tournament and—if all goes well—at least one more in some kind of postseason event. Jerry Palm, the CBS Sports Bracketology expert, said yesterday on Idaho SportsTalk the Broncos' destination is unlikely to be the NCAA Tournament unless they win the Mountain West.
On the other hand, USA Today's "Bubble Tracker" shows Boise State as one of its "four borderline teams on the rise," and that was before the Broncos' 61-46 triumph over San Diego State. The USA Today capsule: "If there's such a thing as playing out of a hole, that's what the Broncos are doing. After losing four in a row, Boise State has won six (now seven) in a row. Playing in the Mountain West and sporting a 95 strength-of-schedule are not helping this team's cause, but there's plenty of time to keep the momentum going behind explosive scorer Derrick Marks." The loss to Loyola-Chicago in Las Vegas and, interestingly enough, the home defeat on the buzzer-beating three-pointer by Utah State, are holding the Broncos back.
Boise State has officially added returning LDS missionary Durrant Miles to its 2013 football recruiting class. Miles is the 6-4, 220-pound defensive end who originally signed with the Broncos two years ago. Boise State is loaded on the defensive line this year, but it won't be in 2016 after seniors-to-be Robert Ash, Tyler Horn, Deuce Mataele, Rondell McNair, Armand Nance, Justin Taimatuia and Antoine Turner leave. Miles and fellow D-line recruits Matt Locher and Sam Whitney give Boise State a head start on the replacement process.
One of Idaho's all-time greats, Joel Thomas, has his first NFL coaching gig. Thomas has been named running backs coach for the New Orleans Saints after spending the last two seasons in the same post at Arkansas under Bret Bielema. Thomas has also assisted with Washington, Louisville and the Vandals. You may remember one of his prize pupils. In Thomas' final game at Washington, Bishop Sankey was named MVP of the 2012 Las Vegas Bowl after he compiled a career-high 205 rushing yards in the Huskies' 28-26 loss to Boise State. Thomas is familiar with Saints star quarterback Drew Brees, having been a graduate assistant at Purdue when Brees was a senior there in 2000.
This has to be a first: an FCS player using the early graduation rule to transfer to one of the top football programs in the country—with a chance to be the starting quarterback. Vernon Adams is departing Eastern Washington after three seasons to join the race to replace Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota at Oregon. In three years at Eastern, Adams threw for 10,438 yards and 110 touchdowns. He was a runner-up for the Walter Payton Award, given to the FCS' best offensive player, the past two seasons and is a two-time Big Sky Offensive Player of the Year. Adams almost ruined Chris Petersen's new job last September. He threw for 475 yards and seven TDs without an interception before his Eagles were outlasted by Washington, 59-52.
The Idaho Steelheads will have a new goaltender when they return to action this weekend. Henri Kiviaho, who had been elevated to starter when Olivier Roy was injured, has been called up to the AHL's Texas Stars—and former NHL first-round draft pick Jack Campbell has been reassigned by the Dallas organization to the Steelheads. Campbell has spent virtually his entire pro career with Texas after being selected 11th overall by Dallas in the 2010 NHL Draft. In 87 games at the AHL level, Campbell is 38-33-9 with a 2.62 goals-against average. He did get one NHL game in, making 41 saves for the Stars in a loss at Anaheim in October, 2013.
The College of Idaho men's and women's ski team will be on semi-home snow next week when they compete in the USCSA Western Regional Championships. The event was originally scheduled for Powderhorn Ski Area in Colorado, but poor snow conditions there have forced a move to Brundage Mountain in McCall. The four-day event, which was also hosted by Brundage last year, will bring approximately 140 collegiate racers and their support teams to the McCall area. Both C of I squads won overall team titles at the NWCSC conference championships over the weekend at Bogus Basin.
This Day In Sports…February 10, 1950:
The birthday of one of the most decorated Olympians of all-time. Swimmer Mark Spitz won seven gold medals at the 1972 Summer Games, a record that stood for 36 years until Michael Phelps broke it in Beijing in 2008. More impressively, Spitz broke world records in all seven events he entered in those Olympics. During his career he won nine gold medals and one silver overall in the Summer Games. Mark Spitz…65 years old today.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment Sunday nights at 10:30PM on KTVB's Sunday Sports Extra and anchors five sports segments each weekday on 93.1 The Ticket. He also served as color commentator on KTVB's telecasts of Boise State football for 14 seasons.)
