November has arrived, and Boise State is staring straight into the part of the season where nothing comes easy anymore. Spencer Danielson has a name for it: “compete month.”
“Everything that came maybe easy in-season is really hard now - meetings, practice, a little cold outside. You have to be your best now, and it’s hard,” Danielson said Monday. “That’s why you’re going to see the college football landscape in the next month drastically shift and change, and the best teams will continue to grow.”
The Broncos are right in the thick of that shift. Boise State landed at No. 25 in the College Football Playoff committee’s first rankings Tuesday, the lone Group of Six team in the mix and the highest-ranked G6 program in the projected 12-team bracket.
That puts the Broncos in position to make a real run at a second CFP appearance in three years, but the path is still lined with traps. Boise State would need to win its final four regular-season games and the Pac-12 championship game to finish 12-1 and strengthen its case.
The first test comes Saturday at Colorado State, where the Rams may look ordinary on paper at 3-5 and 1-3 in Pac-12 play, but their offense has a dangerous edge thanks to quarterback Hauss Hejny. Hejny has thrown 14 touchdown passes in just over four games, and after missing time with a hamstring injury, he has come back sharp. Since returning, he’s thrown for 519 yards and four touchdowns in two games.
“They have a really athletic quarterback, and he can move around the pocket as well as get out of the pocket very well,” Boise State fifth-year edge Jayden Virgin-Morgan said Wednesday. “And he has a lot of weapons on the outside as well as very good running backs, and I think this offensive line is super aggressive.”
Still, Colorado State’s defense has been bleeding production all season. The Rams allow an FBS-worst 42.4 points per game and 261.1 rushing yards per game, which lines up nicely for a Boise State team that leans on its ground game.
The bigger test on the schedule may be Oregon State, a 5-3 team that has already taken losses to Texas Tech and Houston, ranked No. 15 and No. 17 in the CFP rankings, and then dropped a surprise 38-22 decision to San Diego State last weekend. Even with that stumble, the Beavers bring one of the most explosive passing attacks in the country. Braden Atkinson leads the nation with 2,977 passing yards, and freshman receiver Jesse Legree is No. 1 nationally with 1,110 receiving yards.
That game could also shape the Pac-12 Championship Game site. If Oregon State beats Boise State on the road and wins out, the Beavers would own the head-to-head edge and likely host the title game in Corvallis, Oregon. A Boise State win would likely send the championship game to Boise, though it could also open the door for other teams to pass Oregon State in the standings.
San Diego State is another tricky stop. The Aztecs have dealt with a mumps outbreak that produced 14 cases and caused key players to miss time earlier in the season, yet they still sit at 4-5 overall and 3-2 in Pac-12 play, good for third place behind Oregon State. If Boise State gets past Oregon State the week before, San Diego State could still be in the championship mix and would have plenty to play for against the Broncos.
That matters because the Aztecs already beat Boise State 17-7 in a rain-soaked game last year, and most of that roster is back in 2026, including quarterback Jayden Denegal, their top four pass catchers and 2025 Mountain West rushing leader Lucky Sutton.
Then comes the flex week wrinkle. The Pac-12 will announce each team’s eighth and final conference game after Week 12 and no later than six days before the final slate.
Boise State will be on the road for that one and could draw Fresno State, Washington State, Colorado State or Utah State. Of those four, the Broncos only play Utah State at home this season.
The league will set those flex-game matchups with its CFP hopes in mind, and Boise State sits squarely at the center of that calculation.
The Pac-12 Championship Game is set for Friday, Dec. 4, and the host will be the team with the best in-conference record.
No. 25 Boise State at Colorado State is set for 4 p.m.
Saturday at Canvas Stadium in Fort Collins, Colorado. The game will air on USA Sports, with radio coverage on KBOI 670 AM and KBOI 93.1 FM/Sirius XM Ch.
- Boise State leads the series 13-1 and is a 17.5-point favorite.
The forecast calls for a high of 61, a low of 31, humidity at 41%, sunny skies and a 10% chance of rain.
In Other News...
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Boise State wasted no time making a statement to open the 2026-27 season, rolling past West Coast Baptist in a game that looked lopsided from the start and wound up rewriting the program record book. Leon Rice had plenty to like afterward, pointing to the way Dovydas Butka, Damari Wheeler-Thomas, Jerquarius Stanback and Aginaldo Neto all contributed in a performance that reflected the kind of depth and pace the Broncos want to show this year.
The bigger question now is how much of that opener carries over when the competition level rises sharply. Boise States next chance to prove the early surge was more than a warm-up comes against Butler, a Big East opponent, in a nationally televised game that should tell a lot more about where this team really stands. [Read more 🡒]
Boise State Heads Into Key Road Test With A Huge Offensive Question
Boise State heads into a tricky road matchup at Colorado State with its offense carrying more uncertainty than usual. The Broncos are already dealing with a shuffling lineup, and the availability of starting quarterback Maddux Madsen is now one of the biggest questions hanging over the trip after he was listed as questionable.
If Madsen cannot go, backup Max Cutforth is expected to make the start, adding another layer to a game that already comes with personnel issues up front and in the backfield. Running back Sire Gaines and left guard Carson Rasmussen are both ruled out, leaving Boise State to piece together answers at multiple spots as it tries to stay on track away from home. [Read more 🡒]