THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: In the NCAAs, don’t give them a reason to keep you out

The national outrage was over North Carolina. 

And, to an extent, West Virginia. And Indiana. 

In our neck of the woods, there seemed to be a little bit of grumbling — mostly from southern Idaho — about Boise State being left out of the 68-team field for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. 

The Broncos won 24 games. They won two games in the Mountain West Conference tournament, including one over the regular-season champion, to reach the conference title game. 

They had some “good” wins, including over Saint Mary’s in their annual get-together at the Mountain American Center in Idaho Falls. 

As the 64-team portion of the NCAAs begins today, how could Boise State have been left out of the Big Dance? 

PEOPLE USE whatever metrics they want to make their case for or against a team’s worthiness of making the NCAAs. 

NET ranking. 

Strength of schedule. 

Quad 1 wins. 

The “eye test.” 

Proportionate distance to real thick bacon. 

OK, I made that last one up. 

I have to laugh when I read or hear that Team A’s win over Team B has now become a Quad 1 win, because Team B suddenly got better as the season went on, or the teams ranked near them got worse. Seems to me it either is a Quad 1 win or it isn’t, to be determined at the time the two teams played. 

Anyway, back to Boise State. 

I agree with those who say they don’t spend a lot of time worrying about teams who are on the bubble. 

In Boise State’s case ... 

The Broncos have the right coach. Leon Rice, the former Gonzaga assistant, has won 314 games there in 15 years, and annually has Boise State in contention for an NCAA bid. 

Before this year, Boise State had been to three straight NCAA tournaments, five overall under Rice, and eight postseason appearances total. 

But, the Broncos always seem to be on the bubble every year. Three of those five NCAA bids were to the First Four – basically, the play-in round. And in a mid-major league, that’s a dangerous spot to be, because it’s easy to be overlooked. 

Yes, Boise State’s two conference tourney wins — over San Diego State, and over regular-season champ New Mexico — were impressive. Had the Broncos beat Colorado State in the title game, obviously they would have gotten the automatic bid. But they got blown out by the Rams. 

Also, Boise State was the preseason favorite to win the Mountain West, and ended up the No. 5 seed to the conference tournament. 

The fact I don’t remember much groundswell nationally from folks advocating for Boise State is telling. 

THE LOVABLE Zags haven’t had too many close calls with the selection committee during their run of 26 straight trips to the NCAAs. 

But you wonder what would have happened had the Zags — heaven forbid — lost to San Francisco in the West Coast Conference tournament semifinals. 

Especially if USF had gone on and upset Saint Mary’s to steal a bid to the NCAAs. 

It’s highly unlikely the Lovables would have been left out — their metrics were just too good. 

But the important thing was, we never had to find out. 

IN BASEBALL, the adage is, “Don’t give the umpire a reason to punch you out.” 

If you’re batting with two strikes and the next pitch is anywhere close to the plate, you had better be swinging. Don’t leave it up to an umpire’s call. 

Boise State is a really good program. It just needs to get a little bit better.

So the NCAA tournament selection committee doesn’t have a reason to keep it out. 

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 1205, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @CdAPressSports.