On the eve of the greatest day in Boise State history, at a pep rally in Tempe, Ariz., football coach Chris Petersen dropped a term in his speech that has become a fan base's identity.

The name might sound familiar to Virginia Tech fans.

Hokie Nation meet Bronco Nation.

Here's the story behind how Boise State's fans came to be known by that name.

On Dec. 31, 2006, roughly 20,000 blue-and-orange-clad fans flooded the Phoenix area to watch the Broncos' epic 43-42 overtime upset of Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl.

"We've been waiting for you," Petersen told the fans on Dec. 31, 2006. "We've been telling [bowl organizers] we're waiting for the other half to get here. Just wait till the Bronco Nation gets here, and you see what they got."

He gets a feel for the breadth of the fan base every summer when people from all over the country march into the athletics offices asking to take pictures of the blue turf. Petersen, a California native who has some Oakland Raiders fans on his staff, drew the nickname from the more famous "Raider Nation."

"It's so appropriate to kind of who we are," he said recently. "There's people throughout the nation who have never gone to school here, or even lived here, who have a connection to us. So we really feel like Bronco Nation isn't just here in Idaho. It really is throughout the country."

That should be obvious when the No. 3 Broncos open this season Sept. 6 against the No. 10 Hokies at FedEx Field in Landover, Md. Boise State sold 7,000 tickets to the game and it's likely the Broncos will have at least 10,000 fans in the stadium -- by far the most for a regular-season game not played in Boise or Reno.

And not all of those people will be from Idaho. Travis Hawkes, owner of The Blue & Orange Store, has shipped several orders a day to Virginia and Maryland in recent weeks.

"We're doing record numbers in the East, that's for sure," he said.

Hawkes gets an inside look at the spread of Bronco Nation. He built his website in 2005 to give fans across Idaho a way to buy merchandise. Instead, he ships more gear to California than Idaho every month. He receives gear from nearly every vendor in college sports -- big and small.

A few years ago, he had to beg for Boise State items. His website posted record sales last December, during the buildup to the 2010 Fiesta Bowl.

And the Nation has become more diverse. For three straight years, Hawkes has witnessed double-digit increases in the sale of women's apparel.

"We were worried a couple years ago it would start to get saturated -- and it's still growing," Hawkes said. "... I wouldn't be surprised if 2010 is a record year for Boise State as a brand."

Neither would the players, particularly those from out of state.

It wasn't that long ago that Boise State signees had to explain to their friends where Boise was and why they had chosen such an obscure program.

Now the Broncos are known in every corner of the country. "We go home and you actually see the Boise State apparel in the sporting goods store," said senior tight end Tommy Gallarda, who is from Brea, Calif. "I've been to different states visiting friends over the breaks and I saw Bronco gear in the Las Vegas airport, Southern California, up to Seattle, Washington.

"It's grown and it's awesome to see."

To see -- and to hear.

If there's one defining trait about Bronco Nation, other than those garish colors, it's the group's game-day fervor.

Whether it's 100 fans or 1,000 or 20,000, it's impossible to miss the Nation on the road. "They're loud," Petersen said. "They're loud. It's our job to play well so they can have something to be loud about."