Members of the Big Sky Conference, the Bengals were led by second-year head coach Jim Boutin and played their home games on campus at the ISU Minidome in Pocatello, Idaho.

The Bengals were 12–15 overall in the regular season and 5–9 in conference play, tied for fifth place.

At the conference tournament in Flagstaff, Arizona, they were seeded seventh and upset second-seeded Boise State by a point in the quarterfinal round.

[5][6] In the 64-team NCAA tournament, ISU was seeded sixteenth in the West regional and met top-ranked UNLV (33–1) in Salt Lake City.

[9] This was Idaho State's eleventh NCAA tournament appearance, but its first in ten years, and its most recent.