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| School Name: | Idaho State University |
| Location: | Pocatello, Idaho |
| Arena: | Holt Arena |
| Capacity: | 8,000 |
| Conference: | Big Sky |
| Head coach: | Joe O'Brien |
Idaho State University (ISU) is a public university operated by the U.S. state of Idaho. Its main campus is in Pocatello with outreach programs in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Falls, Boise and Twin Falls.
Enrollment for fall semester 2006 was 12,676 students, including 8,848 undergraduates.[1] ISU enrolls a large number of older, non-traditional students who live and work off-campus. ISU's enrollment shrunk from 13,977 for fall semester 2005, likely because of increased tuition costs.
The Idaho State University Bengals compete in the NCAA Division I Big Sky Conference. ISU won the NCAA Division I-AA national championship in football in 1981. It also won NCAA national championships in boxing as Idaho State College in 1953 and 1957. In more recent years ISU has been competitive in track and field winning the Big Sky Conference Indoor title in 2005 and 2006.
Men's Basketball[]
In 1977, the men's basketball team was in the national spotlight for its defeat of UCLA in the West regional semifinal and coming within one game of making the Final Four. This was during the era when the Bruins were still regarded as invincible, maintaining their legendary reputation and mystique from the 10 national championships won under Coach John Wooden, despite the fact that the "Wizard of Westwood" had been retired for 2 years and they were coached by Gene Bartow when they lost to the Bengals. However, the Bengals dream of making the Final Four ended with their losing to UNLV's Runnin' Rebels coached by Jerry Tarkanian, who would lose the national semifinal game to Dean Smith's North Carolina Tar Heels, who would subsequently go on to lose the title game to Al McGuire's Marquette Warriors (for Marquette's only national title).