BOISE -- While Boise State and Idaho duke it out on the field Saturday, a team of scientists will try to measure which team's fans are more rowdy.
Scientists will set up equipment to guage how loud and how much the stadium shakes. It's potentially scientific proof which fan loves their team more.
"Broncos of course have better fans," said Matea Smith.
"I am not biased at all, but Idaho has the better fans," said Brian Hall.
"I'm going to say Idaho," said John Aldape.
"Blue and orange pride," said Brittany Barcellos.
Two men, a Boise State student and professor, are behind the project. Andrew Nies came up with the idea to place equipment used to measure earthquakes around Bronco Stadium.
The idea came as he was looking for a practical way to study seismic activity. He would have preferred a volcano.
"But we don't have any volcanoes around here so," said Nies.
"So you're substituting a home football game for a volcano?" asked NewsChannel 7.
"Yes," replied Nies.
With the help of his professor, Dr. Matt Haney, they first tried this idea during the last home game.
"This signal here was caused by the crowd cheering for the Broncos right before they scored a touchdown," said Nies.
It worked. As scientists, their next step -- duplication.
"That wasn't a rivalry game, and we still saw a substantial amount of ground shaking just from the San Jose State game. So we're expecting to measure significantly more this weekend," said Haney.
"There's definitely going to be stomping and cheering and probably a lot screaming. Lots and lots of noise," said Smith.
"I think it's going to quake. There could be a 6.0. This thing is going to rock," said Hall.
For the sake of science, these seismologists want fans to be loud regardless of who's winning on the field.
"I don't think it would be rubbing it in to, you know, keep up your intensity. You can think of it as something you're doing for the sake of science," said Haney.
"Our fans are always loud, and especially when our team comes out to charge, then we'll be really pumped," said Barcellos.
About 20 people will work this weekend, gathering data from the equipment and matching it up with what's happening on the field. After that, there are talks about using this as a way to pump up the fans in the stands during future home games.
