Calling it a "rare opportunity," Boise State said the option of playing in the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl was too good to bypass even with the prospect of playing at home in front of a sellout crowd.

The Broncos, Western Athletic conference runner-up at 10-2, will play East Carolina of Conference USA in the Dec. 23 game at Aloha Stadium.

Although the decision not to play in the hometown Humanitarian Bowl displeased some in Boise, BSU athletic director Gene Bleymaier said, "I think, on balance, it was a good decision. We've explained, when asked, that this is an opportunity for our program. In most years if Hawai'i is bowl eligible they'll be playing in the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl and that option won't be available to us. But because of Hawai'i's great year, it is an option and I think it is a good time for us to take advantage of it."

The Broncos, who won last year's Fiesta Bowl, got the Hawai'i Bowl opening when the University of Hawai'i earned a Bowl Championship Series berth.

This will be the Broncos' eighth bowl appearance and four of them have come on the signature home blue turf.

When the Broncos play at UH in odd-numbered years per the WAC schedule, "it is just a quick turnaround, they really don't have time to do anything but football activities," Bleymaier said. But the Hawai'i Bowl will give the Broncos seven days here.

Bleymaier said he expects "somewhere between 500 to 1,000" BSU fans to attend the game.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com.