The Associated Press Top 25 basketball preseason rankings were released Monday morning, populated by many of the teams one would expect: UConn, Kansas, North Carolina, Duke, Gonzaga, etc.
No Mountain West teams made the Top 25, but the one with the most points in the voting was Boise State.
The Broncos got nine points from voters, putting them at 39th if the rankings were extended. The only other conference team to receive votes was the one that spends the most time in college hoops' Top 25: San Diego State. But the Aztecs, who were ranked No. 17 in the final 2023-24 poll, received just two points.
San Diego State is just 18 months removed from its national championship game loss to Connecticut in 2023, but none of the Aztecs' six top scorers from that game are still with the program.
While Boise State's football team is no stranger to the Top 25 -- the Broncos are back in there this season, having been ranked four weeks in a row -- the basketball team has made it just twice in program history. Coach Leon Rice had his squad at No. 23 during the final regular season poll of 2021-22 and No. 25 for one week in December 2015.
The Broncos, who have made three straight NCAA Tournament appearances but are still winless in the tourney in school history, return their top scorer from last year, senior forward Tyson Degenhart (16.7 points), and 6-foot-8 senior forward O'Mar Stanley.
Senior guard Alvaro Cardenas, a transfer from San Jose State, averaged 13.1 points per game on 45.7% shooting from the field for the Spartans last season and provides another perimeter threat for the Broncos.
Boise State will face Clemson, which also received nine points in the poll, at ExtraMile Arena in the fourth game of the season, on Nov. 17. The game is the second in a home-and-home series, with Clemson winning last year's iteration 85-68 in South Carolina.
Before that highly anticipated matchup, which will air on CBS Sports Network, Boise State will kick off its season on Nov. 6 against Oakland at ExtraMile Arena.
The other team on the Broncos' schedule that received votes in the preseason poll was Saint Mary's, which got five. Boise State will play the Gaels in Idaho Falls for the second straight year, on Saturday, Dec. 14.
Here is the complete AP Top 25 and others receiving votes for the preseason poll.
Also receiving votes: Illinois 92, St. John's 91, Xavier 73, Texas Tech 58, Wake Forest 37, Kansas State 30, Michigan State 29, Ohio State 29, Michigan 19, BYU 14, Oregon 12, McNeese 11, Miami 11, Boise State 9, Saint Louis 9, Clemson 9, Providence 9, Mississippi State 6, VCU 6, Wisconsin 5, Saint Mary's 5, Louisville 4, UAB 4, Little Rock 3, Grand Canyon 3, Arizona State 2, San Diego State 2, Princeton 2, High Point 1, Maryland 1.