Jason Franchuk - DAILY HERALD | Posted: Friday, November 28, 2008 11:00 pm
POCATELLO, Idaho -- Idaho State coach Joe O'Brien knows that, realistically, only one team from the Big Sky Conference will make it to the NCAA Tournament.
That's one reason why he seems to play March Madness every season in November and December, taking on everyone and anyone that will take his phone calls and offer a trip out.
Besides the good paychecks, and strong competition to get ready for league play, there is a flip-side benefit to his scheduling.
BYU will be in town for the first time since 1977 for a 7 p.m. tipoff at Holt Arena.
"We've wanted to do some things for our community that would generate interest," said O'Brien, who's in his third year and is off to a rough, if not totally discouraging, start.
The Bengals (1-3) have lost in double-overtime twice and also a single extra session since beating Eastern Oregon to start the year.
O'Brien is hopeful that, despite Thanksgiving weekend, a sizable crowd will fill 8,000-seat Holt Arena, which doubles as the school's Division I-AA football facility.
The coach wanted to move his team back there, after a long stint at 3,000-seat Reed Gym, for a variety of reasons.
"It helps in recruiting, and the fans have appreciated being back in Holt," O'Brien said. "There's a lot better parking, better concessions. It's a Division I atmosphere, whereas I think people might have compared Reed to a high school atmosphere."
The Bengals are no strangers to playing up a notch. They've gone to UCLA and Marquette, among other big names, in the past. This year's schedule also includes a home game with Utah, plus visits to Wisconsin, Hawaii, Nevada, Kansas State, Portland State and Arizona State.
Yikes.
O'Brien says "I feel secure" about his job, when most coaches would say it's easy to over-schedule yourself right out of one. He points out that because the school doesn't have D-I football, it must use basketball as a financial tool for the entire athletic department.
O'Brien believes the plan is working. Last year the Bengals finished fourth in the Big Sky and won a conference tournament game for the first time in four seasons.
"I guess there's a method to my madness," he quips.
BYU is obliged to help out.
"They agreed to come to Provo twice if we go there once," Cougar coach Dave Rose said as he prepared his 5-0 team for the bus ride. "Scheduling can be difficult and we look for opportunities like this every year."
Truth is, there are some Cougars not exactly thrilled about the trek to southern Idaho. A roughly three-hour bus ride each way apparently doesn't do much for the sense of adventure.
But O'Brien is grateful for their visit, and could point out that his team goes about 160 miles "70 percent of the time" to use the Salt Lake airport to hit the road.
"Our community will appreciate that they'd come up here and play," O'Brien said. "We have a large LDS population in southeast Idaho and it should be a good draw for us. I think kids in general like to play in front of a crowd."
BYU (5-0) AT IDAHO STATE (1-3)
Today, 7 p.m., Holt Arena
• Radio: KSL 1160 AM (102.7 FM)
• TV: BYU-TV
• Tip-ins: BYU leads the all-time series, 29-6. ... For the 22nd time in school history, BYU men's basketball is off to a 5-0 start. In the 21 previous seasons during which BYU started at least 5-0, the Cougars won 20-plus games 11 times and finished first or tied for first in conference play eight times. ... Amorrow Morgan has been an offensive force all season, leading the team in scoring at 22.3 points per game and scoring a season-high 31 points in a double-overtime loss to Boise State.