Boise’s video board will presumably be blue to make it invisible to opponents. (Idaho Statesman/MCT/Getty Images)

By Zac Ellis

Boise State is set to introduce some upgrades to its field and its stadium. Plans are underway to install a new video board at Bronco Stadium, and the field will feature a redesigned logo this season, the Idaho Statesman reports.

The proposed 60-by-33 foot video board will replace the existing structure installed in 2001. On Wednesday, the State Board of Education approved the school’s plans for the $2 million project, which will include room for ads and audio equipment, though a timeline has not yet been provided.

“We are constantly and aggressively looking for ways to enhance the fan experience at Bronco Stadium,” athletic director Mark Coyle said in a statement. “A new video board is a priority for us, and one of the first steps in moving in that direction is gaining approval from the State Board of Education. We appreciate the Board’s support as we move forward.”

A new midfield logo is also set for the Broncos’ trademark blue turf. It will not include the words “Boise State” in the design.

This gentleman’s arms will be quite worn out by the time he gets to Stillwater in 2018, we fear. (AP)

By Holly Anderson

It’s been a big offseason, relatively speaking, for Teams Unafraid Of Blue Turf, and as of Friday, Boise State’s future nonconference dance card has filled out even more: Adding to future exchanges with UConn, Florida State and Virginia, the Broncos have just announced a home-and-home series with Oklahoma State, with a 2018 date in Stillwater and a 2021 return trip to Boise.

The 2018 game will mark the first meeting between the Cowboys and Broncos, as well as providing ample Wild West-themed bulletin board material. Per Boise, the matchup will also mark the first time the Broncos have ever played a Big 12 opponent during the regular season. (The last time they played a Big 12 opponent in the postseason, Oklahoma State fans might gleefully recall, this happened.)

@hollyanderson They had to put them three years apart to give the 2018 game time to finish. #AllOfThePoints—
Patrick Vint (@HS_BHGP) April 26, 2013

Before you ask: Yes, this is probably why.

This joke is never not funny: There are nine Boise State football players in this picture. Can you spot them all? (AP)

By Holly Anderson

Boise State does not want to have to pay money for aborting its launch to the then-Big East. We are of two minds about this: Should the American justice system do whatever it can to save whomever it can from having to play in the Odd Lots League? Or do those who even act like playing for the freshly hatched American Athletic Conference is a good plan deserve to be left to their fates?

Or will Boise skate free no matter what, by having its players hide all school monies beneath jerseys scattered across the blue turf? The choice is yours:

Broncos fans, you know you want some of this.

Many, many scheduling moves announced today, including our favorite type of football, Road Trip To Louisiana Football:

• UConn vs. Boise State. Continuing their efforts to shake off the terrifying ghosts of western trips past, the Huskies have scheduled a home-and-home with the Broncos to be played in Connecticut in 2014 and on the blue turf in 2018.

• Cincinnati at Michigan. In addition to a just-announced basketball series, the football Bearcats will travel to Ann Arbor for a Sept. 9, 2017 game, marking the first meeting between the two programs.

• Louisiana vs. Boise State. The Ragin’ Cajuns will host the Broncos in 2014 and make a return trip to Boise for the 2016 season opener. (Attention, people of Boise: Go to this game.)

One thing we know we’ll be able to count on in 2020: Chris Petersen still being the head coach at Boise State. (AP)

We only just finished toasting Virginia for having the pluck to venture into a certain blue-turfed lair, and already we must congratulate another school: Florida State has just announced the scheduling of a two-game home-and-home series with Boise State. FSU will host the Broncos in Tallahassee on September 7, 2019; the Seminoles will travel to Boise for a September 12, 2020 rematch. What’s the bad news, besides having to wait that long? Hoping this game even gets to happen with all the connference square-dancing that’s bound to take place between now and then.

By 2019, we predict team-color fields will be the norm, and helmets will be outfitted with PredatorVision visors to enable players to better make out cleverly disguised defenders.

Barring a bowl matchup between now and then, the 2019 game will mark the first meeting between these two programs. For high-profile nonconference blue turf games happening sooner than 2020, check out Chadd Cripes’ list of future Broncos opponents. Boise State will visit Washington and BYU and host Southern Miss in 2013.

There are nine Boise State football players in this picture. Can you spot them all? (AP)

Boise State and the Mountain West are trying to make it work, you might have heard, and apparently part of this rekindled relationship involves letting Boise be Boise. The Idaho Statesman got ahold of a letter in which the MWC, which previously banned the Broncos from wearing blue uniforms on their blue home field because of some bizarro belief that elite college athletes cannot see in three dimensions, defends Boise against a proposed NCAA rule change that would take that prohibition nationwide. Why?

The Mountain West required Boise State to wear a contrasting color for conference home games the past two years as part of the Broncos’ membership agreement. However, the league agreed to allow the blue uniforms beginning in 2013 as part of the school’s renewed commitment to the league.

The letter itself states that “The proposed rule is not related to any student-athlete safety concerns,” a position that must be given some weight considering the Broncos’ trip to East Lansing last season. The team was repeatedly victimized by Mark Dantonio’s “Surly Hillocks” defensive alignment, which consists of Spartan defenders dressing in all-green uniforms and lying perfectly still on a verdant field to form tripping hazards.* The unit’s top-five finish speaks for itself.

*This is not actually a thing Michigan State does, but only because Dantonio finds the practice overly slothful.

This mascot once existed and this photograph here proves it. (Jeff Lack/Icon SMI)

In the latest alterations and additions to future college football schedules, 2013′s opening Thursday gets a border rivalry, Baylor plays a metaphor game and Virginia ventures where few power-conference programs dare:

• North Carolina vs. South Carolina, Thursday, August 29, 2013. The primetime prelude to the first college football Saturday is bolstered by the addition of a Tar Heels-Gamecocks matchup. You will watch it, because it is there.

• Baylor vs. Wofford, Saturday, August 31, 2013. Have you ever wanted to see how an actual bear would do attacking an actual terrier? Because that’s probably what this is going to look like.

• Boise State vs. Virginia, 2015 and 2017. Clutch those pearls: A BCS conference team heading into Boise! Wonders never cease. The home-and-home series is currently scheduled for September 26, 2015 in Charlottesville with a return trip to the blue turf on September 23, 2017. Say what you will about the Cavaliers; Virginia schedules with gusto. Following a 2012 slate that included dates with Penn State, TCU and Louisiana Tech, the Cavs’ 2013 schedule features home stands against Oregon and BYU. Also, the team once employed, very briefly, that strange snuggly horse mascot. We like Virginia, is our point.

The story of a bowl, as told through social media.

Unveiling a football field sized flag during “America The Beautiful” #MBLV twitter.com/LasVegasBowl/s…

— Las Vegas Bowl (@LasVegasBowl) December 22, 2012

We may be lucky to have a 28-21 game as a final here at the #MLVB with @uw_football and Boise State both sporting top 30 defenses.

— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) December 22, 2012

@brianmfloyd what happens in Vegas, gets you sent home because this is not a commercial

— jmnpb (@jmnpb) December 22, 2012

“Use the holiday fudge-covered helmets today, Johnny.” –Chris Petersen, this morning to his equipment manager.

— edsbs (@edsbs) December 22, 2012

“It’s a BEAUTIFUL Saturday in Las Vegas!” We know you mean that, Brent.

— Jason Kirk (@JasonKirkSBN) December 22, 2012

“Two players have eaten their fudge helmets, Coach Petersen.” (sighs) “Send them home.”

— edsbs (@edsbs) December 22, 2012

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Here are the Washington and Boise State mascots, suspended from the canopy at Fremont Street. This is not a metaphor for anything. (R. Marsh Starks/MAACO Bowl Las Vegas)

The 2012 Las Vegas Bowl is just hours away. We’re sure you have so many questions. We’re here to help. (For an X’s and O’s breakdown, click through to Matt Dollinger’s game preview.)

• What’s all this, then? The Maaco Bowl Las Vegas affords teams and fans a wintertime trip to Las Vegas and used to be sponsored by Sega, so it is all right with us, in case you were wondering.

• Where will this game be played? Sam Boyd Stadium, home to the UNLV Rebels and the UFL’s Las Vegas Locomotives.

• When is it on television? Coverage begins at 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN, with Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit and Tom Rinaldi providing commentary. Is there a pregame show that just consists of a camera crew following Herbie and Musby around casinos and seeing where the night takes them? Regrettably, there is not.

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James White was part of a Badgers ground game that tallied 539 yards and eight scores. (Getty Images)

Quick hits from the Championship Saturday action. For more on Week 14, check out our Friday Snaps, coverage of Louisville-Rutgers, Oklahoma-TCU and the epic clash between Alabama and Georgia, plus our complete Top 25 review.

• Wisconsin 70, No. 14 Nebraska 31. This game wasn’t even as close as the final score indicates, which is really saying something. The Huskers were down 42-10 at the half — Wisconsin scored its final touchdown of the second quarter on a trick play with 20 seconds left on the clock, because Bret Bielema enjoys reminding folks he’s Bret Bielema — and scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter after the Badgers had already crossed the 60-point mark.

“We kind of set our minds before the game that this is our game,” Monteé Ball said afterward. “The running backs were going to set the tempo.” Offhand, with 539 yards gained on the ground alone, we would venture to suggest they succeeded in their efforts.

Fun tidbit: Ball rushed for 201 yards on 21 attempts and three touchdowns, and was neither the leading scorer nor the leading rusher for the Badgers. Melvin Gordon rang up 217 yards on nine carries with one score, while James White added four touchdowns and 109 yards on 15 carries. Lost in all that: Taylor Martinez doing this Family Circus touchdown run. Don’t forget that Taylor Martinez did this, because it was awesome.

Wisconsin trailed Nebraska 3-4 in the series before tonight’s cannon show. Has a series ever been leveled with such gusto? And what will a defense of Stanford’s caliber make of these five-loss Badgers, who wouldn’t have even been in position to claim the Big Ten title and earn a Rose Bowl berth if not for other programs’ sanctions? “It’s OK to get there,” said Bielema of the Rose Bowl, “but you need to win it.” They’ll get their shot on New Year’s Day. [BOX | RECAP]

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