College basketball rankings: Boise State's Max Rice stuns San Diego State, Broncos beat Aztecs in OT
Rice hit a shot from near halfcourt to save Boise State, who join the Top 25 And 1 rankings
By
Gary Parrish
•
2 min read
Danny Sprinkle will soon win Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year, as he should. The 47 year-old took the Utah State job last April, brought back exactly zero players who scored a point for the Aggies last season, was picked ninth in the preseason MWC poll but just secured at least a share of the MWC regular-season title thanks to the 25-5 record he's taking into the weekend.
That's amazing work.
UConn's Dan Hurley, Houston's Kelvin Sampson, Purdue's Matt Painter and/or USF's Amir Abdur-Rahim might have something to say about it, in the end. But what Sprinkle has done since accepting the Utah State job is also worthy of National Coach of the Year consideration, and it's among the reasons the Washington native is considered the favorite to be Washington's next coach.
He's been great.
But do you know who else has been great? Boise State's Leon Rice, who is about to do something nobody's ever done -- take the Broncos to the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year. Additionally, if Utah State falls to New Mexico on Saturday, Boise State will share the MWC title with Utah State and the winner of Saturday's Nevada-UNLV game. That would give the Broncos at least a share of the Mountain West championship for the second time in a three-year span. Prior to this stretch, Boise State's last conference title came in 2008, three years before Rice took over, four years before the program moved from the WAC to the MWC.
And did I mention he's doing this with his son?
That has to make the experience even more special -- especially Friday night, when Max Rice, the coach's son, sank a super-long 3-pointer in OT that helped the Broncos pick up a sixth Quadrant 1 victory with a 79-77 win at San Diego State. Max Rice finished with 10 points on seven shots and made SDSU's final game of the season at Viejas Arena a loss that dampened the mood on Senior Night.
"Nevada ruined my Senior Night [earlier in the week]," Max Rice said. "So I felt like it was my turn to ruin someone else's."
Boise State is No. 24 in Saturday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings, where Purdue remains No. 1 for the 18th consecutive day. The Boilermakers will close the regular season Sunday against Wisconsin. Boise State's next game will come in the MWC Tournament.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
Biggest Movers
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Boise State
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Zach Edey finished with 28 points and eight rebounds in Tuesday's 77-71 win at Illinois. The Boilermakers' next game is Sunday against Wisconsin. | -- | 8-0 |
| 2 |  | Alex Karaban finished with 23 points and five rebounds in Wednesday's 74-67 win at Marquette. The Huskies' next game is Saturday at Providence. | -- | 8-1 |
| 3 |  | L.J. Cryer finished with 25 points and three rebounds in Wednesday's 67-59 win at UCF. The Cougars' next game is Saturday against Kansas | -- | 7-1 |
| 4 |  | Dalton Knecht finished with 26 points and three rebounds in Wednesday's 66-59 win at South Carolina. The Vols' next game is Saturday against Kentucky. | -- | 7-2 |
| 5 |  | Tamin Lipsey finished with 19 points and five steals in Wednesday's 68-63 win over BYU. The Cyclones' next game is Saturday at Kansas State. | -- | 8-0 |
| 6 |  | RJ Davis finished with 22 points and six assists in Tuesday's 84-51 win over Notre Dame. The Tar Heels' next game is Saturday at Duke. | -- | 7-1 |
| 7 |  | Caleb Love finished with 17 points and three rebounds in Thursday's 88-65 win at UCLA. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday at USC. | -- | 7-0 |
| 8 |  | Jalen Bridges finished with 32 points and nine rebounds in Monday's 93-85 win over Texas. The Bears' next game is Saturday at Texas Tech. | -- | 6-1 |
| 9 |  | Baylor Scheierman finished with 26 points and 16 rebounds in Saturday's 89-75 win over Marquette. The Bluejays' next game is Saturday at Villanova. | -- | 5-3 |
| 10 |  | Jeremy Roach finished with 21 points and four rebounds in Monday's 79-64 win at NC State. The Blue Devils' next game is Saturday against North Carolina. | -- | 9-0 |
| 11 |  | Marquette allowed UConn to make 13 of 26 3-point attempts in Wednesday's 74-67 loss to the Huskies. The Golden Eagles' next game is Saturday at Xavier. | -- | 5-4 |
| 12 |  | Hunter Dickinson finished with 15 points and 20 rebounds in Tuesday's 90-68 win over Kansas State. The Jayhawks' next game is Saturday at Houston. | -- | 6-3 |
| 13 |  | Johni Broome finished with 17 points and eight rebounds in Tuesday's 101-74 win at Missouri. The Tigers' next game is Saturday against Georgia. | -- | 7-2 |
| 14 |  | Great Osobor finished with 16 points and eight rebounds in Wednesday's 90-70 win at San Jose State. The Aggies' next game is Saturday against New Mexico. | -- | 7-1 |
| 15 |  | Trevin Knell finished with 20 points and two rebounds in Saturday's 87-75 win over TCU. The Cougars' next game is Wednesday at Iowa State. | -- | 7-1 |
| 16 |  | Terrence Shannon Jr. was 3 of 13 from the field in Tuesday's 77-71 loss to Purdue. The Illini's next game is Sunday at Iowa. | -- | 6-2 |
| 17 |  | Antonio Reeves finished with 20 points and six rebounds in Wednesday's 93-77 win over Vanderbilt. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday at Tennessee. | -- | 5-4 |
| 18 |  | DaRon Holmes II finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds in Saturday's 91-86 win over VCU. The Flyers are the No. 3 seed in the Atlantic 10 Tournament. | -- | 7-2 |
| 19 |  | Hunter McIntosh finished with 26 points and two assists in Tuesday's 76-66 win at Boise State. The Wolfpack's next game is Saturday against UNLV. | -- | 6-3 |
| 20 |  | Meechie Johnson was 0 of 7 from the field in Wednesday's 66-59 loss to Tennessee. The Gamecocks' next game is Saturday at Mississippi State. | -- | 5-3 |
| 21 |  | Alabama missed 18 of its 23 3-point attempts in Tuesday's 105-87 loss at Florida. The Crimson Tide's next game is Saturday against Arkansas. | -- | 6-2 |
| 22 |  | Graham Ike finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds in Saturday's 70-57 win at Saint Mary's. The Zags are the No. 2 seed in the West Coast Conference Tournament. | 1 | 8-1 |
| 23 |  | Jaylen Wells was 3 of 13 from the field in Thursday's 74-68 loss to Washington. The Cougars are the No. 2 seed in the Pac-12 Tournament. | 1 | 3-6 |
| 24 |  | Roddie Anderson III finished with 16 points and six rebounds in Friday's 79-77 win at San Diego State. The Broncos are the No. 3 seed in the Mountain West Conference Tournament. | NR | 5-3 |
| 25 |  | Will Richard finished with 23 points and five rebounds in Tuesday's 105-87 win over Alabama. The Gators' next game is Saturday at Vanderbilt. | -- | 5-3 |
| 26 |  | Pop Isaacs finished with 19 points and five assists in Tuesday's 75-58 win at Oklahoma State. The Red Raiders' next game is Saturday against Baylor. | -- | 6-2 |
