Boise State is giving its 2026-27 men’s basketball season an early jolt with a non-conference slate that now includes three exhibitions in Boise, headlined by a visit from Washington.
The Broncos will open that exhibition stretch against Idaho on Saturday, Oct. 10 at Idaho Central Arena, then face the Huskies there again on Saturday, Oct. 17. Boise State will close the group with NAIA Bismarck State on Thursday, Oct. 29 at ExtraMile Arena.
The Idaho game brings back a familiar matchup. The teams met in an exhibition at Idaho Central Arena last season, when Boise State won 89-83 after taking a 47-32 lead into halftime.
Idaho’s 2025-26 season turned into a long one in the best way possible. The Vandals finished 21-15 overall and 9-9 in Big Sky play before rolling through the conference tournament to win the title. That earned them a No. 15 seed in the NCAA Tournament, where they were beaten by second-seeded Houston, 78-47.
Washington is a different kind of test, and one Boise State has already had a feel for through private scrimmages in recent seasons. Under head coach Danny Sprinkle, the Huskies are 29-35 overall and 11-29 in Big Ten play over two years, including a 16-17 mark last season. They lost star center Hannes Steinbach, who went No. 14 overall to the Charlotte Hornets in the 2026 NBA Draft, but they do bring back lead guards Zoom Diallo and Wesley Yates III.
Bismarck State arrives with a very different résumé, coming off a 1-27 season at the NAIA level.
Those exhibitions are part of a 15-game non-conference schedule Boise State unveiled late last month. The full list now includes matchups with West Coast Baptist, Nebraska, Sam Houston State, Idaho State, Drake, North Texas, North Dakota State, Wichita State, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Utah Valley, Santa Clara and New Mexico, along with the three exhibition dates in Boise.
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