BYU to face Boise State annually from 2025-2034

SOURCE — BYU director of athletics Tom Holmoe today announced agreements for future football games with Boise State of the Mountain West and Southern Utah University of the Big Sky Conference.

The Cougars and Broncos have agreed to play a series of 10 games from 2025 through 2034. The first game of the new series is scheduled for October 25, 2025, in Boise, Idaho, with the series alternating every year between LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo and Albertsons Stadium in Boise. The second game of the series is scheduled for November 7, 2026, with the remaining eight games slated to be played in September.

I absolutely love this move by BYU. Sure, it was probably expected by most that BYU and Boise State would continue to face off seeing as both schools are trying to push the ‘rivalry’ label on their respective fan bases.

Nevermind that BYU has only beaten Boise State twice in the teams nine meetings, that’s better than BYU’s winning percentage against the Utes in those two teams’ last nine meetings.

In my mind, this is pretty much a conference game for BYU, who plays football as an Independent. Being Independent gives a program the freedom to schedule whoever they would like, which has been great for BYU fans who like to see the Cougars take on programs like Tennessee, Wisconsin and Mississippi State, and not so great for Cougar fans who like having something to play for after BYU inevitably loses a game, and even worse for fans who don’t like to watch BYU play at 11 pm on a Thursday night on ESPN-U. But as an Independent, it’s your responsibility to fill out your schedule, and much like Notre Dame schedules Stanford, USC and Michigan annually, BYU has developed its own conference of sorts, scheduling regional rivals like Utah State, Utah and Boise State each season.

Sure, this game doesn’t mean much in terms of conference play or bowl eligibility for the most part. This game means more to the two schools off the field in terms of recruiting. Two of BYU’s last three starting quarterbacks hailed from the great state of Idaho, and BYU’s current starting QB was heavily sought after by the Broncos. So it would make sense that Boise State and BYU would develop a rivalry of sorts. After all, Boise is pretty much the Idaho version of Salt Lake City just with a lot less going on.