THE GAME ? Western Michigan football kicks off its 103rd season at Nebraska, marking the first time in program history the Broncos open a season with an opponent from the Big 12. It is the fourth-straight season WMU will open its season on the road and fourth time in as many seasons Western Michigan opens the season with a team from a BCS Conference. Since 2005, WMU has opened with teams from the ACC (Virginia), Big Ten (Indiana), Big East (West Virginia) and now the Big 12 (Nebraska). The Broncos also opened the 1999 season against an SEC team (Florida), meaning WMU is Pac-10 team away from opening a season with schools from each BCS conference.

TELEVISION ? The 2008 season opener will air live on Fox Sports Network on a pay-per-view basis. Suggested retail price for residential purchase is $29.95. Big 12 Special Order Sports, Fox Sports Net's pay-per-view division, will produce and distribute the telecast. The game is being televised on pay-per-view because it was not selected for over-the-air broadcast or cable television coverage. Fans in Michigan with DirecTV can watch on channel 786. Order on-screen or call 1-800-DirecTV. Veteran college football announcers Ron Thulin (play-by-play) and Richard Baldinger (analyst) will call the action, with FSN's Stacy Paetz as sideline reporter.

RADIO ? This and all Western Michigan football games will be broadcast live on the Bronco Radio Network and its new flagship station, WZUU - 92.5 FM. Robin Hook (play-by-play), calling WMU football games in his 25th season, and Monty Porter (analysis) will have the call as they have together for the past 10 seasons.

WEB SITE ? WMU home football games (not televised by the ESPN family of networks) can be seen live via the official athletics web site (www.wmubroncos.com) by subscribing to Bronco Insider, which can be found on the home page of the site. You are able to listen to each Bronco football game on the Internet by signing up with Yahoo Sports through the link at the bottom of the home page. Live Stats are available for FREE for all Bronco home games by clicking the link atop the home football page. Live Stats for the game against Nebraska will also be available on our site as well.

SERIES IN BRIEF ? This will be the first time Western Michigan and Nebraska take the field against one another. The Broncos are 1-3-0 all-time against teams from the Big 12 with its lone win coming against Iowa State, 23-19, on Sept. 17, 1994 in Ames, Iowa.

THE COACHES ? Bill Cubit (Delaware, 1975) begins his third season as the head coach of Western Michigan. He is 20-16 overall (.556), 11-5 at Waldo Stadium (.688), at Western Michigan and led the Broncos to their first bowl game since 1988 in 2006. Bo Pelini (Ohio State, 1990) takes over the reigns at Nebraska after serving as LSU's defensive coordinator (2005-07). He was at Nebraska previously (2003) for one season. He served as the interim head coach against Michigan State in the Alamo Bowl, a 17-3 win.

UP NEXT ? Western Michigan will host Mid-American Conference West Division rival Northern Illinois in its home opener on Sept. 6. The Broncos will celebrate their 16th year of CommUniverCity Night leading up to the game against the Huskies.