Play ball! After years without an official university team, baseball fanatics at Boise State are dreaming of a home run.
Boise State announced the university would be joining the Pac-12 in early September, resulting in speculation regarding the potential re-establishment of an NCAA baseball program.
On March 6, 2025, a petition was created encouraging the university to reinstate Division I baseball. The petition has gained over 1,000 signatures.
“A baseball program is what everyone wants in Boise and it feels like the community misses that,” said Wyatt Brimhall, the club team’s first baseman. “Because we’re joining such a prestigious conference like the PAC-12, I know that the funding for that is already going to go up tons. I think the possibility of baseball coming back is really high.”
Broncos Head Club Baseball Coach Jeremy Blanco notes a Division I baseball team would allow Boise State to bring in a new pool of athletes to the university and establish a deeper sense of community in Idaho.
“It would lend a little more credence to the university,” Blanco said. “The more sports that any university competes [in] – and especially competes well in – gives the student body something to be proud of and to feel part of. It would be one more really amazing feather in the cap of Boise State University.”
“Never say never” — the past and future of Bronco baseball
In 2019, Boise State competed in its first baseball season as a Division I team since the program’s first discontinuation in 1980.
Due to the pandemic, the season ended after only a few months, resulting in the team ending the year at a 9-5 record.
Boise State’s former President Marlene Tromp announced in July 2020 that due to financial issues caused by COVID-19, baseball, swimming and diving would have to be cut.
As reported by Baseball America, cutting Boise State’s baseball program ultimately allowed Boise State to save nearly $3 million.
Little information is currently available regarding the likelihood of the Division I program returning to Boise State; however, Athletic Director Jeremiah Dickey made several posts to the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, where he neither confirmed nor denied the possibility of reinstating the program down the road.
“Until we know where our industry is going, it’s not in our best interest to add a sport right now,” Dickey posted on Feb. 22, 2025. “I will never say never. I’m really sorry that happened to fans and student athletes/coaches who were representing us.”
Nevertheless, with the announcement of a new university president and Boise State joining the Pac-12 for the 2026-2027 school year, fans remain optimistic about the possibility.
Gaining recognition by establishing community
“With how much Boise State has grown and will continue to grow, there’s no reason we shouldn’t be focusing on adding [an official baseball program],” said Taylor Hughes, the current club team’s third baseman. “Yes, that takes time, and yes, that takes money, but that can totally happen, and should happen. It’s the benefit of getting new looks and starting a program from the ground up to where we can totally get good talent.”
Boise State’s Division I club baseball team has played an important role in advocating for an NCAA program by doing everything in its power to gain recognition.
“We’re not playing with a chip on our shoulder – that’s not our job – but what we can do is try to get recognition,” Hughes said, “Treating this as a marketing opportunity and putting ourselves out there on social media would allow us to gain support from the community and also the school and hopefully build up from there.”
One of the ways the team is hoping to gain recognition is via social media outreach. The team has created an Instagram and TikTok account and is in the process of creating a plan to broadcast and film their future games. Both platforms can be followed at @boisestateclubbaseball.
“The student body in the community would have to show an outpouring amount of support for our club program, and really push the idea via social media and any other platform they could,” said Blanco. “That would show the university that what I believe already exists, really is out there. There’s a lot of support for baseball in the Treasure Valley in general and [there] seems to be a really strong youth program.”
The reality of becoming an NCAA Program
Despite there being NCAA Division I baseball teams in almost every state, there is not a single one in Idaho.
Several baseball players with Division I talent have noted they feel compelled to move out of Idaho to play at a higher level in college.
“There are plenty of players that leave from this state to go play baseball and it’d be awesome to retain some of those [players],” said Blanco. “There’s quite a draw from students from all over the country that I think would be interested in coming to Boise State and playing ball. It wouldn’t be overnight, but it could be a very strong program.”
Not only is there Division I talent coming from high school players all around the state, but there’s an immense amount of talent within the existing Boise State club team.
“Just looking at the talent on our roster, there would probably be at least three to five players that the incoming coaches should take a real sharp look at,” he said. “There’s a lot of talent in the area, and I’d be curious to see who would show up and show out if given the opportunity.”
