BOISE, Idaho — The start of Mountain West Media Days saw seven new head coaches walk into Circa Resort and Casino on Wednesday, but it was business as usual for Spencer Danielson and the Broncos.
Boise State football was voted as the preseason favorite by a media panel for the 14th-straight year, receiving 38 of 46 first-place votes. The Broncos' 543 total points was well ahead of No. 2 UNLV (471 points) and No. 3 Fresno State (460 points), who claimed four first-place votes each.
The preseason poll marks the 17th-straight year Boise State has been tabbed to win either a conference or division title, covering each year since it joined the Mountain West in 2011 and beyond.
Wednesday's Mountain West Media Days announcements have been painted mostly blue and orange. Not only did the Broncos land atop the predicted order of finish, but Ashton Jeanty claimed preseason Offensive Player of the Year honors and Ahmed Hassanein earned co-Defensive Player of the Year.
Jeanty and Hassanein were joined by Boise State's Kage Casey, Andrew Simpson, A'Marion McCoy, Jonah Dalmas and James Ferguson-Reynolds on the preseason all-conference list. Jeanty and the Broncos are expected to go back-to-back as the conference's top offensive player and champions.
The roller coaster 2023 season saw the Broncos capture their record fifth Mountain West title and reach bowl eligibility for the 26th-straight year. Danielson was promoted after becoming the first interim head coach in FBS history to win a conference championship game.
New head coaches this season includes Danielson, Jeff Choate (Nevada), Bronco Mendenhall (New Mexico), Sean Lewis (San Diego State), Ken Niumatalolo (San José State), Nate Dreiling (Utah State, interim) and Jay Sawvel (Wyoming). Dreiling was named interim head coach for the 2024 season after the university announced Blake Anderson would be fired for cause.
Troy Calhoun and the Air Force received 384 total points to land fourth in the preseason poll. The Falcons were followed by Colorado State with 337 points and Wyoming with 296 points in the top half of the league.
2024 Mountain West Predicted Order of Finish
- Boise State - 38 first-place votes - 543 points
- UNLV - 4 first-place votes - 471 points
- Fresno State - 4 first-place votes - 460 points
- Air Force - 384 points
- Colorado State - 337 points
- Wyoming - 296 points
- Utah State - 285 points
- San Diego State - 251 points
- Hawaii - 214 points
- San Jose State - 185 points
- New Mexico - 85 points
- Nevada - 77 points
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