Boise Ready to Host Hoops This March

There’s love in the air all right: Love for college basketball. That’s because after playing it safe the last few years, the Big Sky Conference finally gets to show Boise and visitors just what it’s like to host a national college basketball tournament right in downtown.

As the Commissioner, Tom Wistrcill knows a thing or two about pent-up excitement. After COVID-19 concerns derailed the last two years of the tournament’s five-year engagement with Boise, it’s Game On as of March 7th, 2022.  

We talked with Commissioner Wistrcill about the event. 

Boise CVB: What does it feel like to finally put on the tournament for real this year? 

Commissioner Wistrcill: I know everyone’s excited to put on a good tournament, from the coaches and players to the downtown businesses that will get to join in the excitement. We fully understood the caution that was present last year, and we understand their decisions; we worked closely with the health experts at the City of Boise and the State of Idaho and we understood fully the issues. So now that we’re past that, we’re looking forward to a real game-time sort of enthusiasm.   

Boise CVB: It certainly seems like the fans are excited.  

Commissioner Wistrcill: Oh, absolutely. But you don’t even have to be a college basketball fan to really enjoy the energy that this tournament is going to bring to Boise. There’s so many great things to do there, people who are coming to Boise for the first time are really going to enjoy themselves. So yeah, there is some pent-up excitement.  

Boise CVB: It seems like one aspect of the excitement has to be this idea that the Big Sky tournament could really deliver an unexpected contender to the NCAA championship.  

Commissioner Wistrcill: Oh, absolutely. These Big Sky teams start their season with the dream of going to the NCAA championships. The Cinderella story could come from the Big Sky tournament right in Boise.  

Boise CVB: That’s just one more reason why folks should consider checking out a game, especially since there’s so many games playing throughout the week.  

Commissioner Wistrcill: You bet. It’s all right there in downtown Boise. Folks can go to our web site and all the ticket information is there. There’s going to be games throughout the daytime and evening hours.  

Boise CVB: You’re going to make it hard for people to pay attention to their day job, with all this great basketball happening right downtown.  

Commissioner Wistrcill: If anyone needs a note from me to excuse them from work, I will make myself available.