Talk about a test run.

After weeks of practices, secret scrimmages and outright exhibitions, the college basketball regular season officially tips off on Monday. Fans will get a fun sampler platter of matchups on the hardwood to begin the 2025-26 campaign, from defending national champion and No. 3-ranked Florida taking on 13th-ranked Arizona in Las Vegas to AJ Dybantsa’s debut with No. 8 BYU against Villanova.

While Hawaii Pacific’s matchup against Mountain West powerhouse Boise State will sail under the radar for most fans on opening night, the Sharks aren’t taking the trip to the continent to face the Broncos for granted despite the contest officially going down as just an exhibition for the Division II program.

“This is an incredible opportunity for our program,” head coach Jesse Nakanishi said ahead of the opener against Boise State. “Playing one of the top teams in the country for our first action is going to immediately test our togetherness, toughness, fundamentals and execution.”

The first time his team will enjoy game action outside of intrasquad scrimmages, Nakanishi and the Sharks will start the season in the deep end.

The Broncos are coming off of a 26-11 campaign that ended with a loss in the Mountain West Tournament championship game. It was the fourth straight year that BSU recorded 20 or more wins, and the 26 victories were tied for the second-most in a single season in program history.

This year projects to potentially be even better for Boise State, who was selected to finish third in the preseason Mountain West poll and received votes in the first AP Top 25 poll of the 2025-26 season. Junior forward Andrew Meadow was the lone Bronco to make the preseason All-Mountain West team, returning after a sophomore campaign that saw him score in double figures in 26 of 37 games.

After finishing 15-14 and being left outside of the PacWest playoff picture last year, Nakanishi and staff reworked the roster in the offseason with eight new faces joining nine returners for HPU. After a couple seasons with a plethora of bigs to rotate in the frontcourt, the Sharks downsized with dynamic guard and wing talent to help play faster.

HPU spent the summer working to adjust to that faster pace while new players found chemistry with each other, using limited weekly time together to get stronger in the weight room and more comfortable on the court. Those extra workouts will need to be useful for the Sharks and provide a baseline of cohesion to help counteract a two-week difference in official practices that Division I programs have over lower division counterparts.

“They all want to be coached hard,” Nakanishi said of his team’s attitude during the short preseason. “They all want to be held to certain standards that we have here, and they’ve lived up to them so far.”

Boise State, who has a high standard of their own, will challenge Hawaii Pacific to use that strength work from the offseason while overmatching the Sharks with size. In all, nine Broncos stand at 6-foot-6 or taller while the Sharks boast a total of just three players matching that same criteria.

One of the frontcourt options is the team’s biggest player, 6-foot-10 true freshman center Zane Gaul. While he’ll get a chance to get his feet wet with college action, it’ll be more on veteran forward and captain Maj Dusanic to compete defensively and on the glass to set the tone for the rest of the Sharks.

Anticipating full health, Hawaii Pacific will have chances to test out multiple lineups for the first time without needing to worry about a loss on the resume – an invaluable opportunity for Nakanishi and staff with a brutal schedule awaiting in the non-conference and PacWest portions of the year.

It’ll be the first time seeing Idaho State transfer Quentin Meza play alongside all-PacWest preseason pick Joshua West while serving as the return from a season-long injury for wing Josh Niusulu. Weber State transfer Nemanja Sarenac will get a chance to be a movement shooter while playing three different spots as a 6-foot-5 wing.

Avi Halpert, who was also named a captain for the Sharks along with Dusanic and West, also returns for his junior season with more shooting around him. The 6-foot guard had the fourth-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the PacWest last season and should get a chance to put up bigger numbers this year.

Off the court, the Sharks will also get a test run at traveling to the continent as eight guys get adjusted to the six-plus hour flight they’ll take for nearly every road trip. HPU went 3-9 away from the Shark Tank last season, failing to pick up their first win on the continent until the end of January.

While an upset of the Broncos might be a pipe dream, Monday is the first chance for the Sharks to take a bite out of someone else in competition. After three weeks of official practices, HPU is looking to compete and build quality habits before anything else.

After all, Monday doesn’t count in the record book for the Sharks but it can build the foundation for the future.

HPU will tip off against Boise State on Monday, November 3 at 4 p.m. HT / 7 p.m. MT and can be seen on the Mountain West Network.