The highest ranking Boise State has ever had in the CFP

The Boise State Broncos are good — that much we know. Led by Heisman hopeful running back Ashton Jeanty, the Broncos have a 7-1 record and feel pretty darn good about their chances at a College Football Playoff berth right now after being ranked No. 12 in the first CFP poll. Even better? That one loss was a nail-biter to No. 1 ranked Oregon. That's about as "good" of a loss as a team can have.

Again, these Broncos are good. Maybe even really good, like "one of the best teams in college football" good. But how does this Boise State squad stack up to Boise State teams of the past? Is this the best team to play on the blue turf since the College Football Playoff era began?

What is Boise State's highest ranking ever in the CFP poll?

You're looking at it. When Boise State was ranked 12th in the CFP poll on Tuesday, it became the best ranking Boise State has had since the College Football Playoff began in 2014 — by a pretty comfortable margin too.

Before this week, Boise State had never been ranked higher than 19th in the CFP poll, a position it held twice, in 2019 and 2016. That 2019 team was the last to be ranked at all in the CFP poll until this year. This iteration of the Broncos ended that five-year drought emphatically.

Boise State also cracked the rankings in 2014, 2017, and 2018. This team is no stranger to the CFP rankings, but this year feels drastically different than other successful Boise State seasons in the CFP era. While all of those rankings came in years when the program knew it had no real path to the College Football Playoff, an expanded field and the best Boise State team we've seen in a while have caused a path to emerge.

Boise State is one of the most successful college football programs in the country. Year after year this team grinds away up in Idaho, evidenced by an unbelievable streak of not posting a losing season since 1997. That's 27 years above .500, with most of those seasons being way above .500.

Even with that continued success, this year's Boise State team has a chance to do something no Broncos team has ever done; compete for a National Championship on the FBS level.