Aug. 15, 2007

2007-08 Men's Basketball Schedule

Pocatello, ID --- Idaho State's 2007-08 men's basketball schedule is set, loaded with big names for the second straight year, such as UCLA, Washington, Brigham Young, Iowa and Utah. However, head coach Joe O'Brien has one of those big names, Washington State, coming to Holt Arena, along with Boise State and a full slate of Big Sky Conference games, and he promises that is just a taste of things to come as far as home scheduling goes.

The 30-game schedule features 13 home games (including an exhibition home game against Rocky Mountain), 16 road games, plus the Oregon State Classic. The schedule also features a new twist, as three of Idaho State's conference home games have been selected for the new Altitude Sports Game of Week package, moving those games to 2:05 pm starts on Sunday afternoons.

The non-conference schedule again sees plenty of nationally-ranked and NCAA tournament squads, as well as traditional basketball powers. The season will officially get underway with three road games, starting November 9 at traditional power Iowa. ISU then takes on a pair of 20-win NCA teams on the road in Brigham Young and Long Beach State before opening their home schedule against Montana State-Northern just before Thanksgiving break. The Bengals also have road games at Idaho, at UCLA (who went 30-6 last season), at Utah, and at Washington. ISU will also play in the Oregon State Classic, playing both the Beavers and the Portland Pilots, meaning Idaho State will take on nearly half of the Pac-10 Conference.

The game most are talking about is Washington State's visit to Pocatello, which will be a Christmas treat on December 23. They will almost assuredly be the first ranked opponent to play in Pocatello against the Bengals since #2 UNLV defeated the Bengals 114-112 in overtime on February 10, 1979. Last year, WSU finished 26-8 and defeated ISU 66-60 in Pullman. The Bengals have two other home games, taking on Boise State on December 5 and Northwest Nazarene in a game tentatively set for December 29.

Head coach Joe O'Brien, who enters his second year at the helm of Idaho State, brought the Bengals back to the Big Sky Tournament for the first time in four seasons, and he also brought ISU to national prominence with tough road overtime losses at nationally-ranked Brigham Young and Marquette. O'Brien can never be accused of backing away from challenges, as his non-conference schedule has an average RPI rating of 120, including three in the top 26 and the #2 team in UCLA. The non-conference schedule also features five 20-win teams, including four that won 24 or more, and one 19-win program.

While fans probably want to secure their season tickets this year so they have a good seat for some of the big contests in 2007-08, O'Brien's scheduling savvy will mean quite possibly the greatest home schedule ever in 2008-09. That season will see not only ISU's regular conference slate, but also traveling to play in Holt Arena will be rival Idaho, Long Beach State (winners of the Big West), Brigham Young (their first appearance in Pocatello since 1977), and Utah (first appearance in Pocatello since 1978). Idaho State is also working with Boise State to start playing twice a year, which would add Boise State to that schedule as well.

"We only have 12 home regular season games this year, but Rome wasn't built in a day," said O'Brien. "One of the great things about this schedule is Brigham Young returns to us, Long Beach State returns to us, and Utah returns to us, so yeah, it's a hard road schedule, but it really sets us up for a fun home schedule the following year."

After all of that, the Bengals will open conference play on the road at Northern Colorado on January 3. The 16-game conference slate has a couple of quirks. Idaho State will play arch rival Weber State twice within the span of three days. The Bengals travel to Odgen on January 31, and then they return to Holt to host the Wildcats two nights later on February 2. Three games, Portland State on January 13, Northern Arizona on January 27, and Montana on January 24 are all on Sunday afternoons at 2:05 pm, and all will broadcast over 14 states on Altitude Sports. The Bengals also have a rare Friday night game against Sacramento State on January 25. ISU ends the conference season on the road at Sacramento State and Northern Arizona before the Big Sky Conference Tournament starts on March 8, with the championship broadcast on ESPN2 on Wednesday, March 12.