Boise State basketball just added Pac-12 foe to its schedule. It’s a home game — sort of

For the second straight season, the Boise State and Washington State men’s basketball teams will play a “neutral-site” nonconference game.

After playing at Spokane Arena last season, the matchup moves to Idaho in 2022. The Broncos will host the Cougars of the Pac-12 on Saturday, Nov. 12, at Idaho Central Arena in downtown Boise.

Boise State won last year’s meeting 58-52.

“We are thankful for our relationship with Idaho Central Arena and their ability to put together a great neutral-site opportunity for us and our community,” Boise State Athletic Director Jeramiah Dickey said in a news release. “Not only do we get a game with a marquee opponent that can really help our postseason resume, but through an innovative partnership with the arena, the revenue will support our recently-announced Academic Achievement Fund.

“We are taking an aggressive approach to finding new ways to provide our student-athletes with an elite experience, and I am grateful for the collaboration between our staff with men’s basketball, revenue generation, compliance and business development for working toward a creative solution.”

Tickets for the game will go on sale no later than the first week of October, and each institution’s ticket office will communicate ticket information in the coming weeks.

The Broncos are coming off a 2021-22 season in which they set school records for total wins (27), conference wins (15) and consecutive wins (14), and won both the Mountain West regular-season and tournament championships to earn their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2015.

Their complete nonconference schedule includes South Dakota State (Nov. 9), the Myrtle Beach Classic vs. Charlotte (Nov. 17-20), Utah Valley (Nov. 26), CSUN (Nov. 29), the Battleground 2k22 vs. Texas A&M (Dec. 3), Eastern Oregon (Dec. 6), at Saint Louis (Dec. 10), New Orleans (Dec. 13), Oakland (Dec. 18) and at Santa Clara (Dec. 22).

In last year’s WSU game, Boise State made 9-of-10 from the free-throw line in the final 1:11 — and 18-of-21 overall — to hold off Washington State and earn what was at the time a Quadrant 1 victory. This year’s game could become another postseason resume-boosting opportunity for the winner.

Neutral-site games against opponents ranked 1-50 in the NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool), which helps the selection committee decide which teams to consider for NCAA Tournament bids, qualify as Quadrant 1 wins. The Broncos finished last season ranked No. 34 in the NET, while the Cougars checked in at No. 54.