There have been years in the past decade when Boise State's football team was considered one of the best in the country - but even at that, the Broncos' chances of playing for a national championship were slim.

This year, instead of two teams tabbed to play for the national title, four teams are picked for a College Football Playoff, presumably increasing Boise State's chances.

This year, two early losses by Boise State shelved any of that talk for this year. But a strong finish propelled the Broncos to a spot in the Fiesta Bowl against Arizona on New Year's Eve.

But, say next year, Boise State runs the table during the regular season. Can the Broncos be one of those four playoff teams someday?

"I think you can," first-year Boise State head coach Bryan Harsin said the other day, while in town Thursday on recruiting and other business. "I think it (the playoff) will go to eight (teams), but when it goes to eight, I don't know. Can you get there (under the current four-team playoff system)? Absolutely. And the reason I believe that is, you go back just a few years and no one says we're going to be in a BCS game either."

This will be Boise State's third trip to the Fiesta Bowl since the 2006 season, and the first two trips were for BCS games.

"I don't know when (Boise State can make it to a four-team playoff), and I don't know how, but I think you can," Harsin added. "And to me, that's the fun possibilities of all the teams having a chance to be in that game. Right now (with an 11-2 record), no. But an undefeated schedule, win your conference, do it in a way that's impressive, and things work in your favor, which it has to for everybody - look at Baylor, TCU and Ohio State. It's all got to fall together, and if it falls together for us, then we have a chance to do that."

In a brief conversation at The Coeur d’Alene Resort, Harsin touched on the college football playoff and a few other topics — including former Coeur d’Alene High and current Bronco tight end Chase Blakley, and former Lake City and BSU standout Byron Hout, now a Bronco assistant coach.

• Unlike Bronco fans, who might measure a trip to a BCS game in recent years as a successful season, and a trip to, say, the Las Vegas Bowl as somewhat of a letdown, Harsin said there’s one simple way to measure a successful season.

“I think winning your conference is how you measure it,” said Harsin, whose Broncos won the Mountain West Conference championship game last weekend. “You want to win the conference; if we don’t win the conference, we’re not in the position we’re in. To me, as strong as our conference was this year, especially in our division where there were nine-win teams, and potentially ranked, and Colorado State was, and us, you need to take care of your conference first. Then, the way the college football playoff is set up now, there’s opportunities for us to be in it again.”

• Harsin, a graduate of Capital High in Boise, played for Boise State from 1995-99, and was an assistant at BSU from 2001-10, including being offensive coordinator from 2006-10. After stops at Texas (co-offensive coordinator from 2011-12) and Arkansas State (head coach in 2013), he returned to Boise State as head coach this season.

In the 1990s, there was no indoor facility, no massive press box at Bronco Stadium, and a seating capacity in the 20,000s. Now, capacity is 37,000, and seating can be increased in the future. Boise State, like Idaho, moved up to Division I in 1996.

“It’s obviously made huge strides from when I was a player to where we are now,” Harsin said. “But if you go back, since Boise State’s had football, I think there’s only been five losing seasons. So the program’s been successful for a lot of years. So at some point, they’re going to put themselves in a position where, things are going to get better, things are going to get bigger, things are going to continue to grow, and that’s really what’s happened. We’ve had good coaches, we’ve had good players, we’ve had good leaders, the presidents and the athletic directors that have been there have helped grow the program. That’s why we’re in the position we’re in now.

“And the support for the program’s only getting better, because we’re still a fairly young university,” he added. “So people that have come through Boise State, the ones that are seeing success and the ones who want to give back to the program, you’re starting to see that, and that’s how you develop your university.”

• Blakley, a Coeur d’Alene High product, is redshirting at tight end at Boise State this season.

“We actually had good depth at his position, but early on, we don’t think any of our guys are going to redshirt,” Harsin said. “If they’re the best players, they’ll play. But we had depth at that position, we had guys that had experience. And as it got to the first game, we felt like we had enough depth and enough experience that we could play with the guys that were already eligible to play.”

Which sounds like that was just fine by Harsin.

“I think nowadays, I think a lot of players coming in, they get microwaved, and they have to play,” he said. “And you like to marinate these guys a little bit more, and let ’em learn the ropes a little bit, so when they step on the field for the first time, they’re going to have success, and that builds confidence.”

• Hout was recruited out of Lake City High by Harsin to Boise State in 2008, and he became a standout linebacker for the Broncos.

Hout is in his first season as a defensive graduate assistant at Boise State, assisting with linebackers. He held the same position at Washington State in 2012.

“Well, you saw the work ethic (as a player),” Harsin said. “It’s not seeing if he can (coach), it’s if he wants to. I think you have to have a desire for that and obviously he does. And I’ve been very pleased. He’s going to be a tremendous coach. He’s going to make somebody very happy when they hire him, he’s going to be the worker that you want, and he’s got the knowledge to back it up and teach it. And I think, being in the culture and all that, he’s going to bring something special to the table for any staff.”

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.