The Boise State Broncos are the

intercollegiate athletic College athletics encompasses non-Professional sports, professional, College, collegiate and university-level competitive sports and games. World University Games The first World University Games were held in 1923. There were originally called ...

teams that represent

Boise State University Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It became a p ...

, located in

Boise, Idaho Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown ar ...

. The Broncos compete at the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

(NCAA) Division I level as a member of the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations ...

(MW). The Broncos have a successful athletic program overall, winning the WAC commissioner's cup for the and years. Boise State joined the MW on July 1, 2011. Boise State's best-known program is

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

, which attained a perfect 13–0 record in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

, capped by an overtime win in the

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been pl ...

over the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman, Oklahoma, Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early part ...

. 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 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

and

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

seasons. The school's

Albertsons Stadium Albertsons Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium in the western United States, located on the campus of Boise State University in Boise, Idaho. It is the home field of the Boise State Broncos of the Mountain West Conference. Known as Bronco S ...

introduced its famous blue

artificial turf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. It is most often used in arenas for sports that were originally or are normally played on grass. However, it is now being used on residential lawns and commerc ...

(now FieldTurf) in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal en ...

. 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 Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

which have consistently had nationally ranked players.

Conference affiliations

Mountain West The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations ...

(MW) – joined 2011 ''(current)'' * Western Athletic (WAC) – joined 2001 * Big West – joined 1996 * Big Sky – joined 1970

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 in the

Southland Conference The Southland Conference, abbreviated as SLC, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it ...

, men's indoor track competing in the

Mountain Pacific Sports Federation The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) is a college athletic conference with members located mostly in the western United States, although it now has members as far east as Pennsylvania. The conference participates at the NCAA Division I ...

, and gymnastics in the

Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference The Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference (MRGC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I women's gymnastics conference for schools that do not have women's gymnastics as a sponsored sport in their primary conferences. Establi ...

Varsity sports

Football

The Boise State Broncos Football program represents Boise State University in college football and compete in the

Football Bowl Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

(FBS) of Division I as a member of the

. They are led by head coach

Andy Avalos Andrew Avalos (born November 5, 1981) is an American football coach and former player. He is head football coach at Boise State University, his alma mater. He previously worked as an assistant at schools including Boise State and Oregon before re ...

, and play their home games at

Basketball

The Boise State Broncos Basketball program represents Boise State University in college basketball and compete in the NCAA Division 1 as a member of the Mountain West Conference. They are led by coach Leon Rice, and play their home games at

ExtraMile Arena ExtraMile Arena (formerly BSU Pavilion and Taco Bell Arena) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the western United States, on the campus of Boise State University in Boise, Idaho. It is located on the east end of campus, between West Campus L ...

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 The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

7–1 on Friday, November 13.

Tennis

Former varsity sports

Baseball

Boise State played intercollegiate baseball through the 1980 season. Their first season in the

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference (BSC) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the eig ...

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 , mottoeng = "The truth will set you free" , established = , former_names = Academy of Idaho(1901–1915)Idaho Technical Institute(1915–1927)University of Idaho—Southern Branch(1927–1947)Idaho State ...

and

Weber State Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. History Weber State University was founded ...

in the Southern Division.

Montana State Montana State University (MSU) is a public land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's largest university. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 68 fields, and doctoral degrees in 35 field ...

dropped the sport after the season and

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

in 1972, so Boise State was moved to the Northern Division for 1973 with

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Monta ...

and Gonzaga. After the season, athletic director

Lyle Smith Lyle Hilton Smith (March 17, 1916 – July 26, 2017) was an American football and basketball player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Boise Junior College—now Boise State University&mdas ...

stepped down as head baseball coach, succeeded by Ross Vaughn, an assistant coach at

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a U.S. state, state in the Northwestern United States, Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first President of the United States, U.S. p ...

in Pullman pursuing a doctorate in

biomechanics Biomechanics is the study of the structure, function and motion of the mechanical aspects of biological systems, at any level from whole organisms to organs, cells and cell organelles, using the methods of mechanics. Biomechanics is a branch of ...

. Following the 1974 season, the Big Sky discontinued its sponsorship of baseball (and four other sports); Southern Division champion Idaho State dropped their program a few weeks later, 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 Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected m ...

(and later,

Eastern Washington Eastern Washington is the region of the U.S. state of Washington located east of the Cascade Range. It contains the city of Spokane (the second largest city in the state), the Tri-Cities, the Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam, the Hanf ...

). Due to budget constraints, both BSU and Idaho discontinued baseball following the 1980 season. Head coach Vaughn stayed with the university another three decades as a

kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, biomechanical, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kinesiology to human heal ...

professor and an associate dean. Boise State played on campus through the 1979 season, until displaced due to construction of the BSU Pavilion (now

). The final infield is now occupied by the tennis courts; home plate was at (), 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 Borah High School is a three-year public secondary school in Boise, Idaho, one of four traditional high schools in the Boise School District. It serves students in grades in the southwest portion of the district. It is named after a prominent ...

. With the elimination of wrestling in 2017, the baseball program returned in 2019 for the 2020 season; a coaching search began in September 2017, and Gary Van Tol was hired as head coach However, that season was canceled after the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

was declared leading to baseball's second elimination when the athletic department's budget was reduced by $3 million. Most of the remaining players moved to other Bronco programs or transferred to

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Divisi ...

schools.

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 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division ...

. 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. Boise State Wrestling competes at home in the Bronco's Gym or the

, 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. 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 The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

team finishes & 5 top-10 NCAA team finishes * 2 individual NCAA Champions: Ben Cherrington 157lbs(2006) & Kirk White 165lbs(1999)

National Championships

NCAA team championships

Boise State has won one NCAA team national championship. *Men's (1) **

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

: 1980 (Division I-AA)

NJCAA team championships

Boise Junior College won one

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

team national championship. *Men's (1) **Football : 1958 (

)

Unclaimed national championships

The

and

BSU football teams were both named national champions for their undefeated seasons and wins in the

by the Nevada Dental Association *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

Current head coaches

*(as of August 2017)

Hall of Fame

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vo ...

Randy Trautman Randall Ray "Randy" Trautman (May 27, 1960 – March 1, 2014) was a professional football player, a defensive lineman in the Canadian Football League for the Calgary Stampeders. Born and raised in Caldwell, Idaho, Trautman graduated from Caldw ...

– DT, 1978–1981

References

External links

* {{Navboxes , titlestyle = {{CollegePrimaryStyle, Boise State Broncos, color=white , list = {{Mountain West Conference navbox {{Southland Conference navbox {{Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference {{Idaho Sports {{Authority control Baseball teams disestablished in 1980