Football scheduling is a dicey puzzle. Here’s how Boise State tries to solve it
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Dickey balances finances, fan interest and contracts to construct Boise State schedules.
- He targets one Power Four, two Group of Five and one FCS game each nonconference slate.
- He schedules pay games westward to earn payouts and limit travel costs for the program.
Imagine being handed a never-ending, half-finished jigsaw puzzle. Many of the pieces are in place and won’t move, and the empty spaces are specifically shaped and difficult to find.
Then imagine there are a couple of hundred other people with very similar puzzles, also looking for particular pieces to fit their own jigsaw. And the only way you can find your missing pieces is by working with those other people on their puzzles, in an attempt to build out the ever-expanding and changing landscape before you.
Sometimes, the person with the piece that fits your puzzle wants you to pay a seven-figure dollar amount for it. Other times, you want somebody to pay you to make things fit.
And all the while, there are thousands of people watching you put together that puzzle, commenting and judging your every move and decision.
That’s the life of Boise State Athletic Director Jeramiah Dickey as he cobbles together Boise State’s future football schedules.
“There’s this balance between what the fans want, what we need from a department and a financial standpoint,” Dickey told the Idaho Statesman in an interview in October. “And how can I, as the leader, understanding I’m going to take bullets, come in and make it make sense.”
Boise State most recently added Idaho State to its schedule, with Dickey negotiating a deal to have the Bengals play at Albertsons Stadium in 2030. It will be the first time the Broncos will face an in-state school since beating Idaho State 52-0 on The Blue in 2015.
Following the announcement of the 2030 game, Dickey said that he has a “formula for football scheduling,” with an emphasis on bringing in-state matchups back into the fold.
But what does that formula look like for Dickey, who’s been athletic director at Boise State since January 2021, as he tries to keep the puzzle from falling apart?
What is Boise State’s ‘formula’ for scheduling?
Under the scheduling with the Mountain West, Boise State was playing eight conference games and four nonconference games each season. The new Pac-12, which Boise State will join next year, has not announced how many conference games it will schedule; however, there are only eight football members, meaning a seven-game league slate with five nonconference games is highly likely.
Pushing that aside for a minute, Dickey has had a fairly straightforward formula while in the Mountain West: play one Power Four opponent, two Group of Five opponents, and an FCS team.
The hard part for Dickey, as always, has been finding the right pieces for everyone involved.
“I’m trying to get home and homes in Power Four, but those are easier said than done ... now with Power Four adding more conference games, and they’re dropping teams,” Dickey said.
Boise State has Power Four games scheduled for future seasons against Oregon, Houston, Cincinnati and Washington. The matchups with the first three teams were organized by former Boise State Athletic Director Curt Apsey; Dickey scheduled a trip to Washington in 2029.
Dickey also typically aims to schedule home-and-home series with Group of Five teams — such as those with App State (2025 and ‘27), Memphis (2023 and ‘26) and Western Michigan (2026 and ‘29).
For the game against a Football Championship Subdivision program, Dickey typically tries to keep things regional. In recent years, the Broncos have played Eastern Washington and Portland State, but also have welcomed teams from farther afield, such as North Dakota and UT Martin.
The move from the Mountain West will open up the possibility of playing former league foes who are not making the jump to the Pac-12, meaning future nonconference games might feature very familiar opponents.
“It’s easier to get to San Jose State or Nevada or UNLV. So I want to try to stay as close as possible,” Dickey said. “That impacts our families in terms of our student-athletes, that impacts our fan base in terms of them supporting — Bronco Nation supports really well on the road — and it impacts our costs.”
What are the chances of a big-time team coming to The Blue?
The last time a Power Four opponent technically came to Albertsons Stadium was the Big 12’s Central Florida, which beat Boise State 18-16 in 2023 — but Apsey signed the agreement for that home-and-home series in 2019, when UCF was still part of the American Athletic Conference.
Before that, perennial Power Four program Oklahoma State of the Big 12 visited, winning 21-20 on The Blue in 2021.
Two Power Four teams are scheduled to play at Albertsons Stadium in the future — the Big 12’s Cincinnati (2029) and Houston (2030) — but again, those games were scheduled as home-and-home series when both teams were still in the American.
Dickey said he’s always trying to get Power Four teams to come to Boise. It’s becoming increasingly difficult as conferences add more games, with the SEC and ACC joining the Big Ten in implementing a nine-game conference slate. Plus, given the Broncos’ reputation of beating the big boys — even though they haven’t been good at it lately — a lot of teams probably won’t even entertain such a trip.
“They’re dropping people. They don’t have to come to us anymore,” Dickey said. “... They’re being dictated, in some cases, by their conference. ... It’s not personal between me and the ADs; it’s what actually fits their schedule. And they’re looking at a formula for success.”
That means Boise State nearly always has to agree to go on the road if it wants to face a Power Four opponent. As athletic director, Dickey has agreed to games at Washington in 2023 (56-19 loss), the 28-7 loss at Notre Dame in October and another trip to Washington in 2029.
However, that also means Boise State is often being compensated for traveling to those games.
How much money does Boise State get for traveling?
Between 2021 and ‘29, Boise State is contracted to earn just over $8 million for playing nonconference games, according to information provided to the Statesman from Boise State Athletics.
Most of that money comes from traveling, including a pair $1.2 million paydays for playing Oregon last year and Notre Dame this year, $1.4 million for playing Oregon next season and $1.6 million for the trip to Husky Stadium in ‘29.
The Broncos also received $400,000 for hosting Oklahoma State in 2021, $300,000 for traveling to Oregon State in 2022 and $300,000 as part of the home-and-home series with Cincinnati (2028-29).
“Those dollars are invested back into our program,” Dickey said. “That’s how we’re able to participate with rev share and invest into our facilities, invest into our coaches and our salaries.”
However, traveling also costs money, obviously. It’s a big reason Dickey would prefer to get games west of an imaginary line from Texas to North Dakota. Since becoming AD, the only games he has scheduled east of that line are home-and-home series with App State (Boone, North Carolina) and Western Michigan (Kalamazoo).
Boise State opened this season at USF in Tampa, Florida, and last season at Georgia Southern in Statesboro, games that predated his tenure in being scheduled.
“I don’t like going far east. It impacts travel, it impacts preparation, it impacts budget and how much it costs us,” Dickey said. “We go far east, we stay two nights, a lot of times we get a bigger plane because of equipment and things, and so the costs are more.”
Why does Boise State keep opening on the road?
Following Boise State’s season-opening loss to South Florida in August, many fans began to question why the team opens away from home so frequently.
And they have a point.
Omitting the COVID-shortened 2020 season, which didn’t feature nonconference games, the last time Boise State opened the season at home was 2017, when it beat Troy 24-13. In the seven season openers on the road since then, Boise State has won just three: Troy in 2018, Florida State in 2019 and Georgia Southern in 2024.
Boise State will open on the road next season at Oregon.
Dickey said his preference would be to open at home, but that’s affected by how that jigsaw puzzle must be pieced together. He’s already working with games scheduled by former athletic directors, while also trying to find teams that have an opening and would be willing to open their schedule on the road.
Dickey also has to try to balance getting at least six home games per year while honoring the home-and-home series that have been arranged. He told the Statesman that ultimately, he’d love to have seven home games each year, which could become easier if the Broncos indeed need to find five nonconference opponents when the revitalized Pac-12 starts.
Dickey provided an example of how puzzle pieces just don’t often fit. Boise State could have opened the 2025 season at home against South Florida, but that would have meant playing the return game on the road in a later season, and within the seasons that would have worked for USF, the Broncos already had too many road games on the schedule.
“I want to start at home every year, but I can’t make someone’s schedule fit mine,” Dickey said.
“It’s important to bring brands to The Blue, and I play the hand that’s been dealt. All this has been scheduled, and I may have a home opening here and away game opening here, two homes here, and then I have to fit (it all in), so it’s just constantly putting things together.”
