Boise State steps into the reborn Pac-12 with the kind of profile that makes everyone else in the league look up.
The Broncos officially joined the conference on Wednesday, coming over from the Mountain West with Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State. The new eight-team football league also includes Pac-12 holdovers Oregon State and Washington State, plus former Sun Belt member Texas State, which has won three straight bowl games.
If there’s an early favorite, Boise State has earned that label the hard way. Over its 15-year stretch in the Mountain West, the program collected seven titles: 2012, 2014, 2017, 2019 and 2023-25. Since 1999, the Broncos have put together 19 seasons with at least 10 wins, and their 12-2 mark in 2024 delivered the program’s first College Football Playoff trip.
The betting market sees it the same way. As of Wednesday, Boise State sat as a +154 favorite to win the Pac-12 in 2026. San Diego State followed at +360, with Texas State (+550), Washington State (+750), Fresno State (+800), Utah State (+1100), Oregon State (+3000) and Colorado State (+4000) rounding out the board.
Head coach Spencer Danielson said in April that the Broncos’ identity has to stay rooted in the same traits that got them here.
“It’s going to come down to how hard we play and how physical we play,” Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson said of the team’s outlook in April. “The three things that I’m doubling down on this year … (are) playing fast, playing hard and playing together, and the playing fast part is playing harder and more physical than every team. That is the foundation of this place and I know if we can say ‘Yes’ to those things, we’ll be hoisting the trophy in December and it’s going to say Pac-12 on it.”
The projections back up the buzz. ESPN’s preseason SP+ rankings, released in March, placed Boise State at No. 39 nationally, the highest ranking of any Group of Six team in the metric.
San Diego State is next among the new Pac-12 members at No. 71 after going 9-4 last season. Fresno State checks in at No. 78, then Washington State at No.
85, Texas State at No. 89, Oregon State at No.
91, Utah State at No. 97 and Colorado State at No. 99.
Boise State also brings back proven production on both sides of the ball. The Broncos return six offensive starters, including senior quarterback Maddux Madsen and running back Dylan Riley.
Madsen has thrown for 6,586 yards in his Boise State career, with 61 total touchdowns - 50 passing and 11 rushing - against 18 interceptions. Riley posted 1,274 yards of total offense and 12 touchdowns in 2025.
On defense, senior edge rusher Jayden Virgin-Morgan is among five returning starters.
That combination of returning experience and established star power leaves Boise State in position to make a run at the Pac-12 championship game right away, and maybe to do what the numbers already suggest: enter the league as the team everyone else is chasing.
In Other News...
Boise State Faces One Massive Question In Its New PAC-12 Home
Boise States move into the rebuilt PAC-12 is official, and after 15 seasons in the Mountain West, the Broncos are stepping into a league that suddenly looks like a real force in the Group of Six race. The new PAC-12 now has eight football members, with five of them coming from the Mountain West, and the early read from SP+ is that the conference has more overall strength and better returning production than either the American Athletic Conference or the league Boise State just left behind.
The bigger question for the Broncos is how quickly that new home translates into a path back to the top of the national conversation. Boise State, Colorado State and Oregon State all look like teams that could take a step forward in preseason projections, and the conferences floor appears higher than most of its peers, with no team buried near the bottom nationally. Even so, the real test for Boise State is whether joining a more competitive, better-regarded league helps it separate from the pack or simply puts it in a deeper race for the same spotlight. [Read more 🡒]
Boise State Faces One Season Question That Could Change Everything
Boise States 2024 season was shaped as much by the training room as the depth chart, with injuries hitting all over the roster and forcing the Broncos to keep adjusting on the fly. Eleven of 22 primary starters missed at least one game, and the ripple effect showed up in the way the offense and defense had to keep reshuffling pieces just to get through the year.
The biggest concern now is whether the Broncos can build enough defensive depth to avoid living that same script again. Players such as Jaden Mickey, Zion Washington, Ty Benefield and Jeremiah Earby were all part of the rotation questions that made health such a recurring issue, and Boise State knows that a more stable, deeper defense could change the ceiling of the entire season. [Read more 🡒]
Boise State Officially Enters The Pac-12 In A Program Defining Moment
Boise States long-anticipated leap into the Pac-12 became official Wednesday, a program-defining step that gives the Broncos a new stage and a different level of weekly competition. The university marked the moment with a launch party at Albertsons Stadium, where donors, alumni, former student-athletes, university leaders and fans gathered to take in a move that has been years in the making.
Athletic director Jeramiah Dickey framed the switch as a direct match with Boise States identity and long-term vision, one tied to recruiting, exposure and the kind of reach the school has been chasing. It also opens the door to new rivalries and a clearer path to Pac-12 championship races, even if the full shape of that future will take some time to unfold. [Read more 🡒]