College Hoops Team of the Week: Boise State Broncos

Dec 3, 2012, 10:00 AM EDT

Team of the Week: Boise State Broncos

Boise State was supposed to finish near the bottom of the Mountain West this season. With powerhouse programs like UNLV, San Diego State and New Mexico populating the top of the league and teams like Colorado State and Nevada around to occupy the middle of the league, there really wasn’t much space for a Boise State team that looked to still be a year away from relevancy to climb.

It looks like we’re going to have to make space now, as Boise State put together one of the more impressive performances of the young season as they went into Omaha and smacked around a very good Creighton team. (For what it’s worth, Creighton was up by 32 in the first half against St. Joseph’s in their next game.) The Broncos have a slew of good perimeter players — led by Derrick Marks, who had 35 against Creighton, and Anthony Drmic — and shoot a lot of threes, which makes them a dangerous team when those threes start dropping.

The reason to keep an eye on this team, however, is that the Creighton win isn’t their only win of the season. Boise is now 6-1 on the season, with their only loss coming by four at Michigan State.

Teams Deserving of a Shoutout

Baylor Bears: The Bears bounced back from a rough start to the season in the biggest of ways: by going into Rupp Arena and knocking off the Kentucky Wildcats, 64-55. The Bears put all five starters in double figures, led by 17 from Pierre Jackson. Now here’s the question that we need answered: which is the real Baylor team? The one that lost at home to Charleston, or the one that beat Kentucky in Lexington. And given the fact that Baylor won despite turning the ball over 19 times and getting just five points from their bench, is this really a sign of Baylor’s strength or Kentucky early-season struggles? Regardless, asking what a win really means is a much, much better conversation to have than discussing how bad a loss is.

Minnesota Golden Gophers: Might the Gophers be for real? After putting together a pretty impressive performance out in the Bahamas, the Gophers went straight to Tallahassee, where they worked over Florida State. After a win over North Florida on Saturday night, Minnesota is now 8-1 on the season. The best news of all? They are doing it while Trevor Mbakwe is still a shell of his former self.

Miami Hurricanes: In Durand Scott’s first game back, the Hurricanes beat a good Detroit team by 15 points. Three nights later, when Michigan State came to town, the Canes won again, proving it wasn’t coincidence. They followed that up with a trip to Amherst, MA, where they beat UMass by 13 points. With Shane Larkin and Trey McKinney-Jones playing well, this looks like a team that could end up finishing in the top three in the ACC if NC State and UNC continue to struggle.

Wichita State Shockers: The Shockers continue to put together an impressive non-conference schedule. In addition to wins over Iowa and at VCU, Wichita State knocked off Tulsa this week and then went to Air Force and beat a 6-2 Falcon team on their home floor. The Shockers are now the only undefeated team left in the Missouri Valley.

Wyoming Cowboys: Boise State isn’t the only MWC surprising people early in the season. Wyoming is as well. After rolling through seven their first seven games, the Cowboys finally had a chance to make a statement, and they did just that against Colorado. Leonard Washington had 22 points, seven boards, four assists, three blocks and two steals in the win.