Boise State Announces Major Non-Conference Basketball Game

While Boise State's football team preps for the fall, the basketball program is making headlines for preparations of their own. All Bronco sports will be moving into the Pac-12 this coming year (effective July 1st) and everyone is excited for a new chapter and chance to 'level up'.

Exciting news for Boise State in regards to their scheduling broke this afternoon. Boise State will have a shot at what could be a Quad 1 matchup against the University of Nebraska.

In a release from the Boise State athletic department, head basketball coach Leon Rice said the following of the high profile matchup:

The respect and admiration I have for coach Hoiberg and the Nebraska program is endless, and we are incredibly excited to play the Cornhuskers in Sioux Falls in November. We find great value in scheduling quality nonconference opponents year-over-year, and we look forward to playing a team that's fresh off an NCAA Sweet 16 appearance. We greatly appreciate the hospitality of Sanford Pentagon and we can't wait to compete in a first-class venue in front of Bronco Nation.

It will be exciting to see Boise State matchup against a major university like Nebraska--especially after the Huskers had a seriously great season last year, putting them on the map in terms of basketball relevance, once again.

The only down side? Bronco fans will have to travel...FAR, if they want to see it in person.

Sioux Falls? We're sure it's a lovely place...but why!?

Pac-12 opponent, Gonzaga University, will 'mop the floor' with Boise State's non-conference schedule, in comparison. The Zags may well have one of the nation's most difficult non-conference schedules as they enter their first year in the Pac-12, facing the likes of Purdue, Michigan State, Duke, Creighton, and Kentucky.

Boise State's Most Underappreciated Star

Boise State seems to mean "football" for most, right? On a national stage, after all, it's the blue turf and the success that the Broncos have had on it that made the university a household name. What happens on the hardwood, however, is far from appreciated at the level that it should be. Leon Rice came to Boise State as a blessing from one of the most powerful basketball programs in the nation: Gonzaga University. Now, the winningest basketball coach in the history of the school seems to take immediate heat if the Broncos aren't in the Final Four. Spoiled by wins on the football field, fans seem to expect the same of the basketball program but when the investment in basketball is so much less than football--can you really have these types of expectations!?

Gallery Credit: Credit: Mateo, 103.5 KISS FM