While Fred Hoiberg was busy taking the Nebraska basketball program to new heights, his predecessor was finishing up a career-worst regular season. However, while Tim Miles isn't blessed with a ton of talent at San Jose State, the Spartans' head man showed he still knows how to coach on Wednesday night.
San Jose State entered the Mountain West conference tournament with an ugly 8-23 record. That had the Spartans finishing as the No. 11 seed and taking on No. 6-seeded Boise State (who went 20-11 in the regular season) on Wednesday night in the opening round. They managed to pull off the massive upset, beating the Broncos 84-74.
Miles, who was replaced at Nebraska by Hoiberg after a 19-17 record in his final season and NIT second-round exit in 2019, will now look to pull off another upset in the MWC quarterfinals against No. 3 New Mexico on Thursday night.
San Jose State from three in their final two games: 7-of-31.
— Rush the Court (@rushthecourt) March 12, 2026
San Jose State tonight in the MWC Tournament: 7-of-16.
The Spartans are up 60-52 on Boise State with 12:30 to go.
The magic of Tim Miles and conference tournaments is back! pic.twitter.com/O4bO5aj1Bi
Tim Miles shows Nebraska basketball fans he still knows how to coach with a stunning upset
Even if Miles' team can't pull off the upset, it still means that his Spartans squad was only the second 11-seed in the conference to ever win a Mountain West tournament game.
"We’re going to need everybody to do well. Five guys in double figures tonight. You know, that’s got to be our MO," Miles said after the big win. "If we just have two guys rolling and everybody else is kind of, like, standing there watching and not being a productive player, we're in trouble."
Coincidentally, this is the second team in the Mountain West that Tim Miles has coached. His first stop in the conference was with Colorado State. He compiled a 39-25 record with the Rams in his final two years there, and after getting CSU to the NCAA Tournament in 2012, Nebraska hired him. He managed to get the Huskers to one Big Dance, two years later, but missed the postseason entirely three straight years after that before two straight NIT berths to finish out his time in Lincoln.