Boise State did everything it needed to do on Saturday afternoon at Albertsons Stadium, rolling past Memphis 38-20 in a game that carried real College Football Playoff weight. Even so, the Broncos still came up empty when the AP Top 25 dropped.
That was the expectation going into the weekend: the winner of Boise State-Memphis would probably find its way into the rankings. Instead, other results around the country left the Broncos waiting a little longer for their first AP Top 25 appearance since last season’s preseason No. 25 spot.
Boise State did not exactly get punished for the win, but it also didn’t gain ground. The Broncos picked up 54 points in this week’s poll, down from 86 last week, and if the rankings were stretched past 25, Boise State would actually slide from 26th to 28th. Florida sits just ahead of the Broncos with 83 points, while Oklahoma State is just behind with 36.
Even with the miss, Boise State remains the highest-ranked Group of Six team. That matters because the highest-ranked Group of Six team in the College Football Playoff Committee’s final rankings gets a playoff berth. The AP poll is not the CFP ranking, but it still gives a strong read on where Boise State stands in the national picture.
Western Michigan is the closest challenger among Group of Six programs. The Broncos’ next test against the Broncos - in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on Sept. 26 - now looks even bigger, with Western Michigan sitting 30th overall after earning 35 points.
Boise State also just missed in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll, where the head coaches, including BSU coach Spencer Danielson, voted the Broncos in at 44 points. That would also place Boise State 28th.
Louisville is ahead of them there with 160 points, and Kansas State is just behind with 24. Western Michigan again stands as the next-best Group of Six team, with 10 points and a 38th-place showing.
So why didn’t Boise State crack the Top 25 after a convincing win? The short answer: there just wasn’t much room.
Every team ranked 12th or lower in last week’s AP poll won, which meant the bottom half of the rankings stayed mostly frozen. The only team to fall out was Washington, and even that came after a 16-14 win over Utah State.
Michigan replaced the Huskies after beating No. 11 Oklahoma 17-10 and entering the poll at No.
- Oklahoma dropped to No.
The ripple effects also worked against Boise State. The Broncos opened the season by losing 34-27 to No.
2 Oregon, a defeat that looked better when the Ducks were rolling. But Oregon’s 39-31 loss to unranked Oklahoma State this weekend weakened that result in voters’ eyes.
Memphis may have taken another hit, too. The Tigers opened with a 27-21 win over UNLV, a result that looked strong at the time because the Rebels were expected to be in the CFP mix. But UNLV was hammered 44-6 by North Texas this past weekend, which made Memphis’ best win look less impressive - and by extension, Boise State’s win over Memphis a little less shiny in the eyes of voters.
In Other News...
Boise States Latest Poll Snub Says Plenty About This Team
Boise State did enough in its Week 2 win over Memphis to look like a team deserving more attention, yet the Broncos were still stuck on the outside of the Coaches Poll after a 38-20 home victory. The performance itself made the case: Boise State controlled the game on the ground and showed the kind of physical edge that usually gets noticed this time of year.
The Broncos piled up 357 rushing yards, with junior tailback Dylan Riley breaking out for a career-high 206. Memphis coach Charles Huff even praised Boise State after the game, which only sharpens the question around how this team is being viewed nationally and how long it can keep making that kind of statement without breaking into the rankings. [Read more 🡒]
Spencer Danielson Sends Clear Message As Boise State Loses Composure
Spencer Danielson made his frustration clear in the first half of Boise States non-conference game against Memphis, and it came after a stretch in which the Broncos felt they were fighting more than one opponent. Multiple pass interference calls went against Boise State as Memphis quarterback Marcus Stokes pushed the ball downfield, while tight end Hunter Tipton added a touchdown for the Tigers. Even with the officiating drawing Danielsons attention, Boise States offense answered with two quick touchdowns before halftime and kept the game tight.
Still, the Broncos could not quite steady themselves before the break. Memphis slipped in a last-second field goal to take a 20-17 lead into halftime, leaving Boise State with both a narrow deficit and a growing sense of irritation over how the first half had been called. For Danielson, the larger concern was not just the score, but the way his teams composure seemed to fray as the game moved toward halftime. [Read more 🡒]
Floridas Poll Push Comes Down To One Big Test
After two weeks of college football, the AP Top 25 has already started to shift, with Texas taking over No. 1 after its win over Ohio State and a few familiar names sliding out after early losses. Florida is part of that next layer of conversation, but so are teams like Boise State, which are trying to convince voters they belong in the mix after an uneven start to the season.
For the Broncos, the path back into clearer poll territory is about more than just a win. They need to make a clean impression, and the first part of that is putting together a sharper showing against South Dakota while proving the issues from the opening stretch were more about timing than trend. How Boise State handles the little things from here will go a long way in determining whether pollsters are ready to take another look. [Read more 🡒]