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After watching the Boise State men’s basketball game Thursday night against the Vandals, Bronco Nation finally realized something that should have been obvious a long time ago.
The Boise State basketball program needs a huge overhaul.
Last Thursday in Moscow, Boise State put its 14-game winning streak on the line against the Vandals in a game everyone in the state called “A Renewed Rivalry.”
Apparently everyone in the state got that message except the Boise State basketball team.
Poor defense and a lack of intensity were just a few of the things that gave the Broncos their sixth loss of the season in what might have let the Vandals in the back door to success once again.
This game seemed like any other game to Boise State fans, but to Vandal fans, it was a chance at redemption.
It was a chance for them to get revenge against the Bronco Nation that left them in the dust, and to finally forget all the pain and suffering the Broncos have caused them.
This game was special to the Vandals, so special that after the 63-59 victory, they rushed the court.
The Vandal athletic program put a lot of time, effort and advertising into getting one of their few televised games at full capacity in the Kibbie Dome-turned-basketball-arena.
How did the Vandal fans and students respond after averaging one of the lowest attendances in the nation for the last several years?
They came in droves hoping this was their chance to end a decade of Boise State athletic domination.
They were able to record a sellout of 4,731 screaming Vandal fans, in a town with a population of 23,223.
Even with the Boise State’s men’s basketball squad as defending Western Athletic Conference champions, people still won’t turn out to the games for reasons unknown to those who attend.
During the last 16 home games, Boise State averaged only 5,578 fans per game.
The WAC average home game attendance is 5,710.
Utah State in Logan currently stands as the WAC leader in attendance with about 10,000 fans per game.
Logan has a metropolitan area of 109,666, while the Boise metropolitan area is more than five times the size at 587,689. I thought Bronco fans were more dedicated than that, considering they can fill up Bronco Stadium with more than 30,000 screaming fans every game day.
The Boise State athletic program must find a way to get people into those seats at Taco Bell Arena and rid itself of the label “athletic program that only cares about football.”
Athletics must find a way to help the basketball program get more people to come to the games.
Maybe if they do that, the team could gain the inspiration they lacked last week against the Vandals and get some quality wins.
TRENT LOOTENS
Arbiter Journalist
