Broncos in Maui: Boise State aims for fruitful Thanksgiving week, starting with USC

Since the opening night of the 2025 season, Leon Rice and the Broncos have flown under the radar.

A loss to Division II Hawai’i Pacific will do that to you.

But since then, they have won four in a row, including a pair of wins against two teams within the top 130 of KenPom – Utah Valley and Wichita State.

And the rest of the Mountain West has floundered with inexcusable losses:

• UT Martin def. UNLV 86-81

• Montana def. UNLV 102-93

• USC Upstate def. Fresno State 67-66

• Youngstown State def. Grand Canyon 90-81

• UC Davis def. Nevada 75-71

• Troy def. San Diego State 108-107

• Denver def. Colorado State 83-81

• Hawai’i Pacific def. Boise State 79-78

The season isn’t over before Thanksgiving, but this week is pivotal for the conference to uphold its recent history of sending four or more teams to the NCAA tournament in the last four years.

This is especially true for Boise State.

A decade ago, participating in the Maui Invitational was the peak of multiple-team events (MTEs).

Gonzaga battling the young phenom trio of Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett, Cam Reddish, and Duke.

Obi Toppin and Dayton going toe-to-toe with Kansas.

Chaminade competing amongst giants.

However, with the Players’ Era tournament taking over as the top-tier MTE ticket, Maui has lost a bit of its luster.

But for the Broncos, there are still plenty of chances to collect some quality Q1/Q2 wins with this year’s field:

• Arizona State (Big 12) – KenPom Ranking of 84th

• Boise State (MWC) – KenPom Ranking of 60th

• Chaminade (Pacific West Conference / Division II) – N/A KenPom Ranking

• NC State (ACC) – KenPom Ranking of 19th

• Seton Hall (Big East) – KenPom Ranking of 87th

• Texas (SEC) – KenPom Ranking of 41st

• USC (Big Ten) – KenPom Ranking of 25th

• Washington State (Pac-12) – KenPom Ranking of 154th

The Broncos will face USC today (Monday, Nov. 24th) on ESPN2.

With a win, there is potential for them to play the highest-ranked team in the field – NC State.

If you are Leon Rice and company, you couldn’t have asked for a better runway to at least two quality opponents that are low-risk, high-reward opportunities.