The Boise State men’s basketball team has reached the NCAA tournament two straight years, but it’s been a while since March Madness came to the City of Trees.
Boise last hosted first- and second-round games of the NCAA tournament in 2018. So when will the tournament take place again?
The NCAA has published their host sites through 2026, and Boise is not on that list. The closest location will be Salt Lake City in 2024 at the University of Utah’s Vivint Smart Home Arena. Spokane is also the venue for the first two rounds next year.
“Bids for the most recently announced venues were due in 2020, which predates much of our current athletics leadership team,” Boise State athletic director Jeramiah Dickey told the Idaho Statesman. “Regarding bids to host future tournaments, we are excited about the opportunities ahead and will be discussing next steps to find what is best for our community, institution and department when the time comes.”
Boise was once a regular host of NCAA tournament games. Nine times the city has hosted the first two rounds, seven of those between 1989 and 2009. But after that there was a long hiatus until 2018 and now it’s back to a lull.
It’s possible the NCAA won’t even consider Boise as a host until the Idaho HB 500, which bans women and girls who are transgender from participating in women’s sports, is settled in court.
Gov. Brad Little signed the law into law in 2020, but a federal judge prevented it from going into effect in August 2020. It is being appealed in the Hecox v. Little case which is pending in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The NCAA previously issued a statement supporting transgender athletes’ participation in sports, saying its championships would only be held in locations that were “safe, healthy and free from discrimination.” The NCAA’s transgender participation policy, revised in January 2022, now calls for a sport-by-sport approach.
“We remain steadfast in our support of transgender student-athletes and the promotion of fairness in collegiate sports,” said John DeGioia, Georgetown’s executive chairman and president, in a press release.
Boise State, led by coach Leon Rice, has enjoyed consecutive NCAA tournament appearances for the first time since 1993-94. The Broncos, who have played 51-18 for the past two seasons, lost their first-round games in both 2022 and this year’s March Madness.
Boise State also made the NCAA tournament under Rice in 2013 and 2015.
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