Spartans host Broncos in 2012
Michigan State Athletics Director Mark Hollis announced Friday, Oct. 29 that the Spartans have signed contracts for a three-game series with Boise State. The Spartans will kick off the series with Boise State on Friday, Aug. 31, 2012, in East Lansing, Mich. The 2012 season and home opener will be televised nationally by ESPN.
EAST LANSING -- Michigan State’s 2012 seven-game home schedule features Boise State, Notre Dame, Eastern Michigan, Ohio State, Iowa, Nebraska and Northwestern.
The second contract is for a home-and-home series, beginning Sept. 17, 2022, in the 33,500-seat Bronco Stadium in Boise, Idaho. The Broncos will make the return trip to Spartan Stadium on Sept. 16, 2023.
“We’re extremely excited about this special opportunity to kick off the 2012 season with a nationally televised game against Boise State, the nation’s winningest football program since 1997 (140-31, .819),” Hollis said. “As we try an innovative concept with a Friday night Labor Day weekend game, we couldn’t pull something like this off without campus-wide cooperation.
“Since Michigan (K-12) schools don’t begin fall classes until after Labor Day, high school teams will play their football games on Thursday that week, making this is a great way for our fans to kickoff the holiday weekend. By scheduling the Boise State game on a Friday night, it’s also our hope that the tourism industry will receive a positive bump since most fans will now have the opportunity to make plans to enjoy the entire Labor Day weekend.”
Michigan State has compiled a 6-2 record (.750) against current members of the Western Athletic Conference (1-0 vs. Fresno State, 4-1 vs. Hawaii, 1-0 vs. Idaho and 0-1 vs. Louisiana Tech).
In the last 18 months, Michigan State has announced home-and-home series with West Virginia (2014-15), Alabama (2016-17) and Miami-Fla. (2020-21) as well as the extension of its series with Notre Dame through the 2031 season, with two-year breaks in 2014-15, 2020-21 and 2026-27.
“With teams like Boise State, West Virginia, Alabama, Miami and Notre Dame on our future schedules, our fans can look forward to a lot of special game days in Spartan Stadium, as we continue to bring the top programs in college football to our state,” Hollis said.
