Boise State Men's Hoops Lives in the Shadow of the High-Profile Football Program

Imagine being the little show that has the misfortune of playing across the street to the award-winning Broadway extravaganza, and you may just get an idea of what it might be like living in the shadow of the Boise State football program.

Boise State's football team, over the past 10 years, has the highest winning percentage in the nation of any Division I football team at 86.8 percent. The men's basketball team, which plays its games just across the parking lot on the campus of BSU, has managed a 55 percent winning mark over the same time frame. 

How can one be so successful and the other not follow suit? 

The answer is almost too easy, but let's start with the size of the city first. Boise, despite being the state capitol and biggest city in Idaho, comes in with a population (for the city proper) at under the 300,000 according to recent Ada County figures. The state has a total population (according to the U.S. census) of 1.5 million—in a state that ranks 11th in the nation in size. 

A small city means a small media market, without prime media exposure…well, unless you are the football program with featured games on ESPN. The little hoops exposure the city has received has been from stops for the first round of March Madness.

While the NCAA basketball tourney has made eight stops in Boise, dating back to the 1990s, the last visit was in 2009, and there is no indication that the tourney will return anytime soon. It is a question of economics. Boise State's Taco Bell Arena can only seat 12,000 people, making it among the smallest venues for March Madness consideration.

What worked in the past, with new arenas with better seating capacity opening up, is apparently not working now. 

A small venue can also mean a small fan base. Bronco football games are generally a sell-out, averaging more than 32,700 fans in the 2011 season, while the basketball team drew a home average attendance of 4,367 fans in 2011-12.

Compounding the issue is that Boise State plays in conferences that, while they have produced some decent teams, are not quite the NCAA hoops tourney staple that they would hope to be. In 2001-02, the Broncos were in the WAC before moving to the Mountain West in 2011-12.

And while those conferences are not as noted as some of the higher profile Division I conferences for basketball, the Broncos—aside from three 20-plus winning seasons over the past 10 years—have often been sub-.500 and among the bottom dwellers in conference standings.

What that translates to is simple—Boise State is not that high on the list of must-visit destinations for some of the best high school hoops talent. Credit the high-end media coverage, the seemingly perennial discussion (or debate, depending on one's perspective) of BSU's gridiron rankings for a better class of athletes showing up on the BSU campus for football.

The chance to play on a big stage can be a compelling factor. 

Injuries can also have an impact on a smaller program. In football, the depth charts generally have a couple of players that can fill in while basketball rosters boast 15 players. Lose one or two key players to injuries, and a promising season can head south in a hurry.

The Bronco hoops program in the 2011-12 campaign was led by a sophomore, Jeff Elorriaga, who contributed to the Broncos fast start at 9-1 before a 1-7 slide and season-ending injury. When that injury happened, the Broncos were already without another guard, Igor Hadziomerovic, who was out with a broken foot.

And it should be noted that Elorriaga was a walk-on, which delves into the question of recruiting—another piece of the puzzle. A successful program depends on the right mix of players, regardless of where they came from or how highly ranked they were leaving high school.

After all, only three teams express interest in Kellen Moore coming out of high school—BSU, the University of Idaho and Eastern Washington University. Moore picked the Broncos and went on to become the winningest quarterback in Division I history, compiling at 50-3 record over his four-year stint in the blue and orange.

The final piece is coaching, and the tradition established by the staff in charge of that program. 10 years ago, Rod Jensen was at the BSU helm. He was succeeded by Greg Graham, who lasted eight years (2002-03 to 2009-10) and compiled a 142-112 record.

Graham's best season was in 2007-08 season when the team tied for first in WAC conference play, won the WAC tourney, and then got booted in the first round of the NCAA tourney by Louisville.

Leon Rice, a former assistant at Gonzaga, took over the reins in 2010-11 and posted a 22-13 record, finishing second in the WAC, in his first year. His team was off to a hot start in 2011-12, but got untracked and finished 13-17, eighth in the MWC

Still, hope remains high that Rice can turn the program around. BSU Sports Information Director Joe Nickell remains upbeat about the coming fortunes of the team, stating, "They got some guys. ... I think they are building the foundation."

Nickell also acknowledged that having a winning team competing for championships will fill the seats and bolster recruiting efforts.

Accomplish that, and perhaps that little show playing across the street (or, in this case, parking lot) from the Broadway hit might start to compete for attention.