The Boise State men’s basketball team will have five new starters next season as the program transitions from the Mountain West to the Pac-12 .  Here are three reasons for optimism coming off a disappointing 2025-26 season .  1. New Pac-12 should be electric  The old Mountain West morphed into a quality basketball conference, sending four or more teams to the NCAA Tournament between 2022 and 2025.  The new Pac-12 should be even stronger headlined by Gonzaga and San Diego State , which have both reached the national championship game since 2021.  Fellow Mountain West alumnus Utah State has appeared in six of the last seven NCAA Tournaments, including four straight trips. The Aggies retained 2026 MWC Player of the Year Mason Falslev and hired longtime Northern Iowa coach Ben Jacobson to replace Jerrod Calhoun, who is now at Cincinnati.  Oregon State reached the Elite Eight in 2021 and hired Michigan assistant Justin Joyner to run the program.…