Boise State students James Rawson and David Barcal transferred to the school this year expecting to watch the Broncos' nationally ranked football team.
Neither expected to become fans of a basketball team capable of going to the NCAA Tournament.
But there they were Wednesday night at the Student Union Building, wearing their Bronco gear and cheering for the basketball team in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
About 60 students and fans gathered to watch the Broncos play La Salle on one of five televisions, including a massive projection screen.
"When we went to the Colorado State game, the blackout game, we were expecting that atmosphere in football," Barcal said.
The excitement of that game, of an unexpected season, of the Broncos' entire surprising run to the tournament, has lured a new generation of basketball fans.
The students and fans wanted to cheer Wednesday night. They wanted it badly. It was a room ready, willing, eager to start celebrating.
La Salle - 1,943 miles away in Dayton, Ohio - didn't give them a chance.
"They wouldn't let us get excited," Barcal said of La Salle.
Said Rawson: "They couldn't miss."
The Explorers made 11-of-21 3-point attempts and 63 percent of their field-goal attempts for the game. In the second half, as Boise State tried to inch closer and the fans grew more restless inside the SUB, La Salle made 16-of-22 shots from the field.
"We kept catching up and then they'd hit like two 3s in a row," said Eric Murrell, who had a front seat for the carnage at the SUB. "Their quickness. They were weaving through our guys."
truTV, one of the obscure channels that fills in the 800-plus channels, promises unbelievable crashes and dumb criminals. It's slogan is "Not Reality. Actuality."
The reality for this program is this should just be the start of great things. The Broncos have 10 sophomores and freshmen, and just one senior. They arrived a year ahead of time. And that's certainly what the fans believe.
"We're going a lot farther. I know it," Rawson said.
Said Murrell, an alum and a football season-ticket holder, "I'm thinking about becoming a season-ticket holder for basketball. I was here the first day (coach Leon Rice) came and went to the luncheon. He's just as good as Pete (football coach Chris Petersen)."
The actuality is nothing is assured. Getting to the NCAA Tournament is hard. Winning games there is even harder. A young team doesn't always get better. The progress isn't always linear. A bad break, a bad bounce, a bad injury.
Seasons can be derailed by just about anything.
That's not to diminish the expectations - or hope - for next season.
It is a recognition that this year's team accomplished something special, and simply adding another year to most players' academic status doesn't guarantee greater success.
Until the final seconds, the five dozen or so in Boise kept waiting, expecting, hoping the five on the floor in Dayton would find a way.
And when the Broncos cut the lead to six points with less than two minutes remaining, improbably, there was a chance of a miracle finish in a place known for them.
It wasn't to be.
As La Salle ran out the clock, the fans filed out. Disappointed, but excited. Sad, but with the alluring promise of better days to come.
These Broncos rekindled their interest in basketball, revived their passions post-football season.
That was enough.
For now.
