With a minute and change gone in the second half of Idaho’s home contest against Eastern Washington tonight, Steffan Johnson grabbed a feed from Mac Hopson at the top of the key and buried his fourth three-pointer of the game to put the Vandals up by 25.

Twenty seconds and a Marvin Jefferson block later, it was an instant replay. Hopson dished off to Johnson in the wing and as his shot arced through the air, the 1,500 fans in Memorial Gym came to their feet even before it swished through the net. They knew it would be good — every one before had been.

On the strength of seven straight 3-point makes and a stifling defensive effort, the homestanding Vandals blew out Eastern Washington, 76-54, to go 4-1 on the young season — Idaho’s best start since 1988. EWU fell to 2-4.

“This was a heck of a win,” Idaho coach Don Verlin said. “We dominated them. We rebounded the ball well, got out in transition and held (the Eagles) to 36 percent shooting. That’s just good execution all around.”

The Vandals made eight of 12 3-point attempts, the third-best team performance from downtown in Idaho history, and Johnson’s 6-for-7 shooting outside was the third-best by a single player. Hopson and Marcus Lawrence also got in on the action from long range, shredding the Eagles’ man-to-man defense. Overall, Idaho shot 54.2 percent on the night — and 66.7 percent in the first half. Idaho leads the WAC in both shooting categories — hitting .489 from the field and .446 from downtown.

Both teams started slowly, and an early trey from the Eagles’ Kevin Winford meant Idaho led by just a single point three minutes into the game — 4-3. But the Vandals would score eight consecutive points and go on a 32-12 run in the next 10 minutes of the half, anchored by big inside buckets from Jefferson and Luiz Toledo. The Eagles would not threaten again, and Idaho would build a 31-point lead midway through the second half before calling off the dogs.

Johnson led all players with 18 points on 6-7 shooting from 3-point range, along with 2 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 steals and a block. He was joined in double figures by Toledo’s 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting and ten more from Jefferson, who was 4-for-8 from the field. Hopson, the other half of Idaho’s 1-2 backcourt punch, was 4-of-5 from the field for 9 points, grabbed 5 rebounds and dished up a team-high 4 assists.

“I was just feeling it tonight,” Johnson said. “When we’re shooting like that, it helps us in so many ways. They had to open up their defense, give space to our big guys inside and it’s a huge mental boost, too. When you hit like that, the bench gets into it, the crowd was really going — you start thinking you’re never going to miss.”

Eastern Washington came into the game shooting only 41 percent from the field, but the Vandals kept the Eagles in an even deeper freeze. The Eagles managed to hit just 20 of their 55 field-goal attempts, a 36.4 percent performance that should keep Idaho among the nation’s top teams in field-goal defense. Point guard Glen Dean was a solid 5-for-8, but the ten other Eagles combined to make just 15 buckets between them.

Of particular note: Eagles center Brandon Moore, who entered the night averaging a double-double with 13.4 points and 11.2 rebounds per game, was shut out by Idaho’s big men. He went 0-for-6 from the field and pulled down just 5 rebounds while turning the ball over three times.

“The coaches have been asking me to play solid defense, and if I play my role we’ll succeed,” Jefferson said. “It was all about being tough and putting on the pressure all night long.”

For Jefferson, it was a stellar outing all around — to his 10 points and shutdown defense, he added 3 rebounds, 3 blocks, 3 steals and recorded no turnovers. He now leads the WAC in blocked shots, averaging 2.6 per game.

“Marvin played as good a floor game as he’s played since he’s been here,” Verlin said. “He was a huge factor tonight in our dominance of the paint.”

While Idaho again struggled with turnovers — coughing up the ball 21 times — Verlin preferred to focus on the other big stat of the night. The Vandals outrebounded the Eagles by 17, pulling down 40 boards to EWU’s 23. Kyle Barone led the charge on the glass, pulling down 7, while Toledo, Hopson and Kashif Watson grabbed 5 apiece.

It was a milestone night, too, for true freshman forward Corey Stern, who scored his first points as a Division I player. In 11 minutes of action, he tallied 4 points, 3 rebounds, an assist and a block.

The Vandals can’t rest on their laurels, as they head into another tough three-game stretch — two of which will be on the road. Idaho will take on Cal State-Northridge on Thursday, in a return game from Idaho’s home win last year in the BracketBusters. The Matadors went on to the NCAA Tournament after winning the Big West Tournament and they’ll be gunning for revenge. On Dec. 6, the Vandals return home to face the undefeated Portland Pilots, who have upended Oregon, UCLA and nationally-ranked Minnesota. Finally, on Dec. 9, Idaho will make the short trip to Pullman, Wash. for the cross-border rivalry with Washington State.

“This has been a great start, but it’s on now,” Verlin said. “I told our guys, our next three games are going to be all we can handle. It’s going to be competitive, tough and we’ll have to play our best basketball every night.”

Official Basketball Box Score
Eastern Washington vs Idaho
11-28-09 7:05 p.m. at Memorial Gym - Moscow, Idaho

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VISITORS: Eastern Washington 2-4
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
01 DEAN, Glen.......... *  5-8    2-3    2-4    0  2  2   2  14  4  3  0  3  33
02 FORBES, Jeffrey..... *  2-9    1-2    0-0    1  1  2   4   5  1  0  0  0  28
10 GIBBS, Alden........ *  0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  0  0  0   8
42 DUNN, Mark.......... *  3-5    0-0    2-2    1  2  3   2   8  0  1  0  0  23
45 MOORE, Brandon...... *  0-6    0-0    0-0    2  3  5   2   0  0  3  0  0  18
05 VALENTINE, Benny....    2-4    2-4    0-0    1  0  1   1   6  0  2  0  0  10
14 GIBSON, Gary........    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  0  0   3   0  0  1  0  1   8
15 GRIFFIN, Laron......    2-6    0-0    0-2    1  2  3   3   4  0  3  1  2  12
23 WINFORD, Kevin......    3-7    1-3    2-2    0  0  0   1   9  1  1  0  0  20
24 DEMISSIE, Abebe.....    3-5    1-2    0-0    1  2  3   2   7  0  2  0  0  13
32 BRUNELL, Matthew....    0-4    0-1    1-2    1  1  2   1   1  1  1  0  0  27
   TEAM................                            1  1
   Totals..............   20-55   7-16   7-12   8 15 23  21  54  7 17  1  6 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half:  9-25 36.0%   2nd Half: 11-30 36.7%   Game: 36.4%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-5  40.0%   2nd Half:  5-11 45.5%   Game: 43.8%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  3-7  42.9%   2nd Half:  4-5  80.0%   Game: 58.3%    3

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: Idaho 4-1
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
01 Hopson,Mac.......... *  4-5    1-1    0-0    0  5  5   2   9  4  5  0  0  22
05 Johnson,Steffan..... *  6-7    6-7    0-2    1  1  2   0  18  2  4  1  2  27
21 Toledo,Luiz......... *  4-7    0-0    2-3    3  2  5   3  10  0  1  0  1  23
32 Watson,Kashif....... *  2-6    0-0    4-4    2  3  5   1   8  2  2  0  0  23
53 Jefferson,Marvin.... *  4-8    0-0    2-4    0  3  3   0  10  0  0  3  3  22
00 Stern,Corey.........    1-2    0-0    2-2    1  1  2   3   4  1  0  1  0  11
02 Ledbetter,Jeff......    1-2    0-1    2-3    0  3  3   4   4  2  1  1  1  16
03 Henderson,Shawn.....    0-2    0-0    2-2    0  3  3   0   2  0  4  0  1  17
13 De Souza,Luciano....    0-1    0-1    0-0    0  1  1   2   0  1  0  0  0   7
20 Lawrence,Marcus.....    3-4    1-2    0-0    1  0  1   2   7  0  3  0  0  15
33 Barone,Kyle.........    1-4    0-0    2-2    2  5  7   0   4  0  1  1  0  17
   TEAM................                         1  2  3
   Totals..............   26-48   8-12  16-22  11 29 40  17  76 12 21  7  8 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 16-24 66.7%   2nd Half: 10-24 41.7%   Game: 54.2%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  5-5  100 %   2nd Half:  3-7  42.9%   Game: 66.7%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  8-13 61.5%   2nd Half:  8-9  88.9%   Game: 72.7%    2

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: Duane Allen, Rick Batsell, Frank Harvey III
Technical fouls: Eastern Washington-None. Idaho-None.
Attendance: 1500
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Eastern Washington............   23   31  -   54
Idaho.........................   45   31  -   76

Points in the paint-EWU 10,UI 30. Points off turnovers-EWU 13,UI 18.
2nd chance points-EWU 3,UI 10. Fast break points-EWU 0,UI 5.
Bench points-EWU 27,UI 21. Score tied-0 times. Lead changed-0 times.
Last FG-EWU 2nd-00:31, UI 2nd-02:54.
Largest lead-EWU None, UI by 31 2nd-09:51.

After Boise State convincingly took down Nevada last night, three Western Athletic Conference games remain today and all have, if not bowl implications, some serious pride on the line.

Here’s the matchups, all times Pacific.

• Utah State (3-8, 2-5 WAC) at Idaho (7-4, 4-3 WAC), 2 p.m. (Altitude/ESPN360)

The Vandals are the feel-good story of the season and coach Robb Akey is a deserving candidate for National Coach of the Year. But when QB Nathan Enderle was sidelined by injury at the worst possible moment, Idaho dropped back-to-back games that weren’t ever close. With Enderle back in action, the Vandals are hoping to close out their miracle season on a high note — and grab the team’s first bowl berth of the century. Under first-year head coach Gary Anderson, the WAC’s blue Aggies have undertaken a turnaround campaign of their own. Any designs on postseason play evaporated long ago, but Utah State can still play spoiler on the Vandals’ Senior Day.

Idaho has won games, quite simply, by outscoring the other team. A “bend, don’t break” defense has struggled to contain opponents, particularly in the first half, and several of the Vandals’ victories have come only with last-minute comeback heroics. Yet, if there’s a team worse than Idaho on defense, it’s the Aggies. Utah State gives up an average of 450 yards per game — 210 on the ground, 240 through the air — and those numbers are just begging Enderle to put up what would be his fourth 300-yard passing game of the year and RB DeMaundray Woolridge his third 100-yard rushing performance. Aggie QB Diondre Borel and RB Robert Turbin are going to have to have the games of their lives — and Utah State’s defense will have to put up a season-defining performance — to beat Idaho in the Dome.

With football back in action, so is Better Know a Foe! Logan Herald-Journal beat writer Wade Denniston is this week’s victim, as we quizzed him about the rebuilding Utah State Aggies.

It’s been a tough first season for Gary Andersen and Utah State but there’s been flashes of promise — what’s the mindset in Aggieland?

You’re right, it has been a tough season for the Aggies as far as wins and losses. But, they’ve made so much progress and the product on the field is much better. Thanks to Andersen, there is new life in this program. Honestly, the Aggies are 7-10 plays away from possibly being bowl eligible this season. In seven of their eight losses, they were ahead at one time in the game. Three losses have been by four points or less. Compared to year’s past, the future seems bright for the Aggies, which is quite refreshing.

How big would a season-closing win on the road be?

It would be huge. Not only would it give the Aggies a lot of momentum heading into the offseason, but it would also snap a 12-game road losing streak for them.

Robert Turbin — does he not get the national cred he should because of the Aggies’ struggles?

Turbin probably doesn’t get the national cred due to the fact of Boise State. When people think of the WAC, BSU is more than likely the first thing that pops into their mind, and deservedly so. Turbin was recently awarded a helmet sticker by ESPN.com, so his name is definitely out there. And, he had a pretty good showing on national TV against BSU, which was a positive for him and Utah State.

Who are the key playmakers for Utah State on offense and defense?

Junior quarterback Diondre Borel and sophomore running back Robert Turbin make a nice one-two punch for the Aggies on the offensive side of the ball. Borel ranks first in the WAC and 19th in the nation in total offense, while Turbin is third in the WAC and 22nd in the nation in rushing.

Defensively, sophomore linebacker Bobby Wagner has proven to be the playmaker on that side of the ball for USU. He’s currently locked in a nice battle with the Vandals’ Shiloh Keo for leading tackler in the WAC.

Utah State’s defense has been a bugaboo all year long. With Enderle coming back, what does USU need to do to slow down the Vandals’ pass attack?

To put it simply, pressure the quarterback. The Aggies have struggled in this department all season and have managed just 14 sacks all year — compared to 30 they’ve allowed.

What should worry Utah State fans about the matchup Idaho presents?

I honestly think these two teams should match up well, but USU has struggled against the run all season long. For the most part, the Aggies have played the pass well, but teams can certainly run on them — they rank 111th in the country in rushing D.

What does each team have to do to win?

Defensively, USU has to stop the run and keep the Vandals’ offense off the field. Offensively, the Aggies just need to execute, make sure Turbin gets his touches and they should be fine. They’ve also got to protect Diondre and give him time to go through his reads so he’s not running around for his life — like he was at times against Boise State last week. And for the Vandals, I would say they just have to take care of the ball and get the run game going with their three-headed monster.

Thanks, Wade!

The Idaho Vandals are home tonight for their season opener in Moscow, facing down the red-hot Sacramento State Hornets at 7 p.m.

Join us for live, play-by-play commentary, analysis and chat starting at 6:30 p.m.

Sacramento State Hornets (3-2)

Big Sky — 2009 record: 2-27

A team that’s potentially on a dramatic turnaround track, the Hornets were one of the worst teams in Division I basketball last year.

This year, the Hornets already have more wins than they had all last season, including a massive upset of Oregon State on the road in Corvallis. Sacramento State hadn’t beaten a Pac-10 foe since the 1950s.

Sacramento State doesn’t do anything really well, but against Oregon State they managed to hold their own defensively and shoot lights-out from three-point range. They’ll have to pull off a stellar defensive effort against Idaho, because the Hornets haven’t put up more than 70 points against any Division I foe — while the Vandals are averaging 80. Their Achilles heel is shooting — as a team, Sacramento State averages just 42 percent from the floor. Like Idaho, they’re pretty deep and run the floor with a lot of guys — no single player averages more than 32 minutes, and most are in the mid-20s.

They’re still not a great team, but the Hornets have proven they’re dangerous on the road and the Vandals need to take them seriously to avoid a similar upset.

Starters:

• F #5 John Dickson — 11.2 ppg, 2.4 rpg, .524 FG%

A true freshman starter, Dickson has been a big part of the Hornets’ turnaround. He’s their best shooter by far, averaging 52 percent from the floor. Of course, when a 52-percent shooter is your very best, that’s not saying much. He’s seen fairly limited floor time for a starter, averaging about 25 minutes per game — perhaps his youth keeps him from having the legs to go the distance.

• G #21 Sultan Toles-Bey — 11.2 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.6 apg

Toles-Bey went off for 17 points to power the Hornets over Oregon, but we’re unsure whether that was a singular outburst from the junior, or a true sign of redemption. So far this year, he’s shot just 34 percent from the floor, and that quite simply won’t get it done against a team like Idaho.

• F #32 Michael Selling — 8.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 5.0 apg

The biggest big man in Sacramento State’s lineup, Selling is a rebound machine but has a tendency to get into deep foul trouble, which has limited his minutes to under 22 per game. When he’s on the bench, the Hornets’ backup forwards aren’t anything to write home about.

• G #14 Mike Marcial — 4.6 ppg, 4.0 apg, 6.7/1 A/TO ratio

This guy’s a pure point guard, and scoring-wise that means he’s a non-factor — even in the Hornets’ victory over Oregon State Marcial went 1-for-3 for 5 points in 33 minutes of lacktion. He did dish up 5 assists, though, and he just doesn’t turn the ball over at all. It’ll be interesting to see how Idaho guards him — one would think Mac Hopson would be better put on someone with more shooting capability.

• G #22 Antonio Flaggs — 7.6 ppg, 3.4 rpg, .333 FG%

Flaggs… well, we’re not sure why he’s a starter. He handles the ball decently, but his .333 shooting percentage is atrocious and he doesn’t shoot from the charity stripe much better. Idaho can let him take shots all night, because he’s only hit 12 of 36 in the season’s first five games.

Key reserve:

• G #23 Domineek Daniel — 9.0 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.2 apg

Other than a slightly worse ball-handling record, we’re really not sure why Daniel isn’t starting in the 3-guard spot for the Hornets. He’s a better shooter, makes his free throws, grabs more steals and doesn’t rack up fouls — all of which put him way ahead of Flaggs.

Rivalry Week

Throw The Stats Out The Window

This is the college football week where more money is lost by those who don’t know what they are doing and more money is made by those who do know.  Certain rivalry games are just that—real rivalries.  Others are nothing but an annual beating on a little sister.

There is another bigger factor to this week’s games.  It’s the bowl factor.  Several teams are still looking for one final win to become bowl eligible.  A 5-6 team hosting an 8-3 team must be looked at quite differently than a 2-9 team hosting a 4-7 team.  The desire to get to 6-6 far outweighs the desire to avoid a 10-loss season.

Let’s look at the bowl eligible teams by conference as well as the teams needing to win this week to gain bowl eligibility.

Clemson and Georgia Tech have already clinched their divisions and will meet for the ACC Championship.  Tech edges the Tigers in Atlanta in September, but Clemson gave the game away.

Duke needs to beat Wake Forest this week to earn their first bowl in 15 years.  David Cutcliffe is one of the most underrated coaches in the country, and he should receive some national recognition in the Coach of the Year balloting.

The ACC has nine automatic bowl bids, and only seven bowl eligible teams as of now.  The GMAC Bowl will need to find an at-large team to fill the vacant position, and if Duke loses this week, the Eagle Bank Bowl will look to the MAC to fill that vacant slot.

Regardless of what happens in the Backyard Brawl in Morgantown this weekend, the winner of next week’s Cincinnati-Pittsburgh game will be Big East Champions and automatic BCS Bowl representative.  Cincinnati could still conceivably earn an at-large BCS Bowl bid at 11-1, but that chance is slimmer than slim.

Connecticut can gain bowl eligibility with a win at home against Syracuse this weekend, and they would get another chance next week against South Florida if they faltered against the Orangemen.  If the Huskies get that win, then the Big East will have six bowl eligible teams for six guaranteed spots.  Notre Dame could still possibly steal the Sun Bowl/Gator Bowl spot that goes to a Big East team if the Irish beat Stanford, but it would be a disgrace for them to steal a post at 7-5.  We believe Stanford will take care of business and keep Notre Dame out of the bowl picture altogether this year.

The Big 10 season is basically over.  Illinois has a couple of non-conference games remaining, and the only important factor in that is they play Cincinnati this weekend.  Wisconsin goes to Hawaii in two weeks, and the Outback Bowl bid could be riding on them winning the game.

It is almost a foregone conclusion that a second Big 10 team, either Iowa or Penn State, will receive an at-large BCS Bowl bid.  So, there will be seven teams available for eight bowls.  The Pizza Bowl (formerly Motor City Bowl) will have to look elsewhere and may be forced to invite two MAC teams.

Nebraska and Texas will face off in the Big 12 Championship Game, and the Cornhuskers may have a shot at pulling off a huge upset.  We give the ‘Huskers about a 15% chance of frustrating the Longhorn offense and win ugly.  If so, then another team from the Lone Star State will benefit.

After beginning the season at 5-0, Kansas finds itself in a must-win situation against Missouri at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.  They must earn The Brass Drum to earn a bowl bid.

The most important game though will be the Oklahoma and Oklahoma State game in Norman.  If the Cowboys beat the Sooners, they will more than likely earn an at-large BCS Bowl Bid at the expense of Boise State.  The Sooners must win to guarantee themselves a winning season.  The PiRate Ratings have had a devil of a time with OU this year.  Even at 6-5, their power rating keeps them in the top 10.  It’s hit or miss with them, as they showed how strong they are when they took Texas to the final gun.

If Kansas wins over Missouri, there will be 10 bowl eligible teams for eight guaranteed bowl spots (nine if Oklahoma State beats Oklahoma).  Look for Iowa State to be the odd team out of the mix.

Welcome to the conference where everything changes weekly.  With SMU losing to Marshall, the door opened once again for Houston to ascend to the CUSA Championship Game.  A win over Rice is all that’s needed, but all of a sudden the Owls have found their way.  It could be an interesting game—at least for a half.

The East Division championship will be decided this weekend when Southern Miss visits East Carolina.

UAB can gain bowl eligibility with a win over  Central Florida, but it may be a moot point.  There are only five guaranteed bowl spots with a sixth if Army fails to earn the Eagle Bank Bowl bid.  Six CUSA teams are already bowl eligible, and the Blazers cannot compete with Marshall or SMU in fanbase.

All three independents are still in the bowl mix, but as of now, only Navy is guaranteed a spot.  Notre Dame must beat Stanford to get to 7-5 and earn priority over every other possible at-large team.  At 6-6, they more than likely will find themselves out of the picture as there will be enough seven-win teams to fill the at-large spots.

Army must beat Navy to earn the Eagle Bank Bowl bid.  Navy has won seven in a row in this series, so it should be one of the best in this series in many years.

Central Michigan has already clinched the West Division, and the Chippewas will play the winner of this week’s Ohio U-Temple game in the MAC Championship Game. 

Two teams will be playing for that important seventh win this week.  Bowling Green hosts Toledo, and Kent State hosts Buffalo.

The MAC gets three guaranteed bowl bids and will get a fourth if Duke fails to beat Wake Forest and earn an Eagle Bank Bowl bid.   That’s where the Bowling Green and Kent State games come into play.  Both could earn bowl bids with wins, and one could even play in the Pizza Bowl against another MAC team.

TCU will manhandle New Mexico this week and then hope that either Texas A&M or Nebraska can upset Texas, Florida State can upset Florida, or Auburn can upset Alabama.  The Horned Frogs need two of the big three teams ahead of them to lose.  The loser of the SEC Championship Game means that either Texas must lose this week or next or the winner of the SEC Championship Game must lose this week.  If one of these events happen, then TCU will be playing for the national championship in January.  It’s hard to believe that this program was once as weak as Syracuse, Vanderbilt, and Washington State are today.

The one team still trying to gain bowl eligibility is Wyoming.  The Cowboys must beat Colorado State in Ft. Collins this week, and these two teams truly put the “war” in “Border War.”  It’s not a given that Wyoming can top the 3-8 Rams.

For the first time ever, the winner of the “Civil War” game between Oregon and Oregon State will earn the Rose Bowl bid.  The Ducks and Beavers are one of the best rivalry games in college football, and I’d love to have a 50-yard line seat next week in Eugene.

The Pac-10 receives six automatic bowl bids, but there are seven bowl eligible teams.  It looks like UCLA will miss out this year unless they can upset USC.  Arizona must beat either Arizona State or USC to get to seven wins.  If both the Bruins and Wildcats win seven games, then expect to see the Pac-10 receiving an extra bid to a western bowl.

This is a monster conference!  With Alabama and Florida headed to Atlanta to play what will be the “Game Of The Decade” (assuming both win this week), it is a given that the loser will still play in a BCS Bowl.  It isn’t completely out of the realm that if the SEC Championship game goes to overtime or is decided in regulation by a point, and if Texas loses to either Texas A&M or Nebraska, that Alabama and Florida could meet in a rematch for all the marbles.

With 10 bowl eligible teams, the SEC will place all 10 in bowls.  There will be a lot of last minute shuffling because there isn’t much difference between team number three and team number 10.

This league is almost assured of earning a second bowl bid this year.  Troy will play in the New Orleans Bowl, but Middle Tennessee will get an at-large bid somewhere.  Both Louisiana-Lafayette and Louisiana-Monroe can get to seven wins, but it will take big upsets for both to do so.  ULL plays Troy, while ULM plays MTSU.

Here’s where things should get interesting.  Boise State is a win over Nevada away from being 12-0 and the proverbial odd team out.  If Oklahoma State beats Oklahoma, the Cowboys will steal the last BCS Bowl bid at the Broncos’ expense.  Then, watch for the United States Government to put their messy fingers into the college football pigpen. 

Before we get into this mess, Boise State has to beat Nevada.  The Wolf Pack is not a pushover, and it could easily take 50 or more points to win this game.

Of course, if the Sooners win over OSU, then it looks favorable for BSU getting into the field.  Then, they would be competing against a one or two-loss Big East team and maybe a two-loss Georgia Tech team.

If Boise State moves up, then the WAC is safe with four bowls for four bowl eligible teams.

Hawaii could still sneak into the mix, but they would have to beat Navy and Wisconsin.  We don’t see that happening.

Bowl Speculations

We went one-on-one with Mac Hopson, Steffan Johnson and Don Verlin last night in practice, as the Vandals open their home season tonight against a surprising Sacramento State squad.

Idaho picked up two victories on the three-game season-opening road trip — doubling the number of non-conference road wins the Vandals had in the entire 2008-09 season. Now back at home for the first time, the Vandals want to continue their strong home court defense — Idaho lost only three times in Moscow last year.

Hopson talked about Idaho’s bounce-back victory against NDSU and the backcourt success found early on. He said the Vandal guards are starting to click, working together seamlessly to defend, dish and score.

Johnson, who is showing star power very early in his Idaho career, dismissed talk of his individual stats and instead turned the spotlight on a quality team effort.

Verlin noted that Sacramento State is not the same team Idaho blew out last year — the Hornets are coming off a stunning upset of the Pac-10’s Oregon State up in Corvallis, a win he called “a marquee win for them and their program.”

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It’s a snow-covered morning here in Moscow. Yesterday was our recovery day from the Fargo trip, but we’ve got a lot in store for you today, including a preview of tonight’s Idaho/Sacramento State hoops game and video interviews with Vandal players.

Last night ended the Vandals’ volleyball season on a disappointing note, as Idaho was upset by Boise State in the opening round of the WAC Volleyball Tournament, 3-1.

This evening, Idaho opens its home hoops season against the Hornets at 7 p.m. in Memorial Gym. We’ll have Vandal Nation Live courtside coverage starting at 6:30.

Now for the links!

Basketball

• Slow starts keep killing the Vandal women, as Ilya Pinchuk reports from Idaho’s loss to Montana State.

• New Mexico State travels to Cal State-Fullerton tonight, and Jason Groves says the Aggies can’t underestimate a club which just upset UCLA.

• TrueBlueA ranks all the WAC teams early on. (h/t to Parsing the WAC)

• Utah State is finally at home, taking on the Idaho State Bengals and looking to get their season back on track after road losses to Utah and Northeastern. For the serious take, Shawn Harrison of the Logan Herald-Journal has a game preview. For the irreverent take, there’s The Refraction.

• Fresno State was downed by San Diego State last night, continuing an out-of-conference slump for WAC teams. The Fresno Bee’s Marek Warszawski says the Bulldogs gave the Aztecs too many second chances.

• The Idaho Statesman’s Nick Jezierny previews tonight’s Broncos/Eagles battle in Cheney, as Boise State looks to end its own losing streak at Eastern Washington.

• Storming the Floor has a look at the *ahem* “parity” in the West, as Pac-10 teams have been falling like dominoes to unheralded mid-major squads.

• The RGJ’s Chris Murray posts up his first WAC Power Rankings of the season, and puts Idaho in second.

Football

• Nathan Enderle should be back in action for the Vandals this weekend against Utah State, the Idaho Statesman’s Nick Jezierny reports.

• Big Mike Iupati was named one of three national finalists for the Outland Trophy, awarded annually to the nation’s best interior lineman. The Idaho guard and probable NFL draft pick is in heady territory — joining Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh and Oklahoma State’s Russell Okung.

• The Reno Gazette-Journal’s Dan Hinxman has a look at Friday’s WAC Championship-deciding game between Boise State and Nevada.

Guest columnist Kyle Goeke

Non BCS conferences are here to stay.  Over the past five years, it has become apparent that these conferences want two things: to be recognized with the big boys and (more importantly) to be paid like the big boys.  A berth in a BCS bowl game is worth $18 million to each conference that gets a bid (which gets split evenly to the schools).  That’s right…in 2007, the terrible 1-11 Idaho Vandals received about $2 million because their conference brethren Hawaii got a BCS bid.  So no wonder these non-BCS conferences want their piece of the pie.

Every decision these commissioners and college presidents make is about money.  Why do you think college football hasn’t switched to a playoff format?  Because they’ll make more money pushing a “win or go home” regular season.  Think about it: a 32 team playoff would include Temple, a 16 team playoff would have three-loss Virginia Tech, and an eight team playoff has two loss LSU.  Some people out there even want a four team (Plus One) playoff.  A four team playoff makes sense…only, who are you going to leave out?  Boise State? Cincinnati?  TCU?  Those three teams can all make the case for the fourth spot.  A four team playoff would create just as much chaos as the system that’s in place now.

Anyways…I hate to ramble.  I’m new to this blog thing.  Here is my suggestion: keep the system the way it is.  It has worked thus far (with the exception of the 2004 Auburn Tigers).  Also, these non BCS schools keep complaining that their team is the best, and yet they can’t play for a title.  I asked Missouri Coach Gary Pinkel about this dilemma a few weeks ago at Tiger Talk (Buffalo Wild Wings 40 cent boneless Monday’s!!!).  He has actually experienced this situation from both perspectives.  He was the head coach at Toledo in 2000 when they failed to make a bowl appearance after a 10-1 regular season (Chester Taylor destroyed the MAC that year).  Pinkel believes that it takes a lot of emotion and preparation to beat a top ranked conference foe.  It takes even more to beat that top ranked team and then come out the next week ready for the next tough team.  Could Boise St. beat Florida?  I think so.  Could Boise St. beat Florida and then come out the next week ready to take on Alabama?  No way.  Kentucky had a two game stretch like that earlier in the season.  Boise St. beat Oregon at home in the first game of the season.  That is literally all they have to show for this season (other than nail biters with Tulsa and Louisiana Tech).  TCU has had a tougher schedule.  It’s not their fault that Clemson lost to Maryland or that Virginia is god-awful.  But Texas State?  Get that game off your schedule if you want to be taken seriously.  They have beaten BYU and Utah badly…but they have not had a two game stretch of good teams yet.

To my suggestion: the winner of the WAC and the MWC should meet during Championship weekend.  The winner of this game should get an automatic bid to a BCS bowl so they can get in on the $$$ action.  Enough of Boise St./Hawaii fans and TCU/Utah fans angry that their team doesn’t get a chance.  Let the winner of that game have a chance at the BCS title game…if they are in the top two of course.  This way they can make the claim that they’ve actually played someone.  I’m sure I went way too long with this blog.  Thanks for reading.

The first ever ESPN game at Romney Stadium didn’t go so well for the Utah State Aggies.  Utah State, now 3-8 was matched up against the undefeated and 6th ranked Boise State Broncos.  Utah State held Boise early and even had the game tied at 14-14 in the second quarter, but quickly after the game was tied, the Broncos scored, recovered a fumble, and scored their second again in just 43 seconds, and the game from that point on, was out of hand.  Boise State ended up scoring four touchdowns in the second quarter and held a 35-14 lead at halftime.  Utah State was only able to score once in the second half and the final score was 52-21.  Boise State racked up 572 yards of total offense including two 100 yard rushers.  Doug Martin rushed for 121 yards and four touchdowns while Jeremy Avery rushed for 116 and two scores.

How good is Boise though?  While I watched the game from the sidelines, I had a perfect angle to see for myself.  For the first quarter and a half, I wasn’t all too impressed.  For the second half of the game, the true Broncos came out and Boise looked fast, and unbeatable. It never helps when Boise State takes care of the ball and commits no turnovers.  The only bad I saw was that Boise was fooled on two fake punts and was called for 9 penalties, but other than that, Boise looked like the 6th best team in the country and should get the chance to play in a BCS game again.

It was a good chance for Utah State to get their school and campus on national television, unfortunately they ran into the Broncos and lost big.  Boise State is as good as their ranking, and in the long run might actually help out Utah State by getting more money from a BCS game.  Up close, and on television, the Broncos are legit and I want to watch them in a BCS game again.

Ok CFB fans. You don’t hear this argument as much as we used to, but as I was looking at the Map of CFB programs it totally dawned on me as to why. Sure the west has some powerful teams and a lot of talent. But look at the density of programs east of Colorado.That means all of those programs are recruiting against the same geographic area.It makes me wonder how much better those teams would be if we equaled out the number of eastern programs to western. Would the west even have a chance? Or is California a big enough recruiting grounds to provide the rest of the west with talent?

FBS Football in the USA

CHICAGO — With a CRJ hop from Fargo under our belts (we had a nice conversation with seatmate Jose Mohler, NDSU’s starting quarterback), we had some time to mull over the Vandals’ stats after three games. Thanks to WAC media relations honcho Jason Erickson for getting the WAC Stat Pack out so quickly.

There’s a lot of reasons for the Vandals to be pleased with themselves right now, because Idaho is at or near the top of the WAC in an array of statistical categories.

• The Vandals have the No. 2 scoring offense, averaging 80 points per game and trailing only Nevada.
• Idaho has the No. 2 team field goal percentage, averaging .488 shooting, and the No. 3 team field goal defense, holding opponents to .406 shooting.
• Surprisingly, Idaho has the No. 3 free-throw shooting percentage, averaging .725 at the line.
• Only Nevada hits from downtown more, as the Vandals are No. 2 in 3-point shooting and efficiency. Idaho drills 42 percent of its shots from outside, for an average of 7.3 per game.
• The Vandals also rank No. 4 in blocked shots and steals.

Individually, there’s another slew of superlatives:

• Luiz Toledo ranks No. 2 in field goal percentage, making 79 percent of his shots.
• Mac Hopson ranks No. 3 in assists, with 4.3 per game, while Steffan Johnson is No. 4 with 4.0.
• Johnson is tied for No. 1 in free-throw percentage, nailing all 8 of his shots from the charity stripe.
• Johnson has the conference’s No. 1 assist-to-turnover ratio, dishing 12 assists for just 4 turnovers.
• Johnson is No. 3 in 3-point shooting, averaging 3.0 treys per game.
• Marvin Jefferson gets in on the stat action, as he’s No. 3 in blocks, averaging 2.3 per game.
• Jeff Ledbetter ranks No. 6 in 3-point percentage, making 50 percent of his shots from downtown.

Even where the Vandals don’t excel, they’re vastly improved from last year. While Idaho sat at or near the bottom of the WAC in rebounding throughout the 2008-09 season, the Vandals now have a respectable No. 3 rebounding defense, No. 4 rebounding offense and No. 5 rebounding margin. Those numbers could still use improvement, to be sure, but the jump made already is something to celebrate.

What makes that rebounding stat even more interesting is the fact that Idaho doesn’t have a single player among the WAC’s top-10 glass-cleaners. That’s a double-edged sword — it speaks to the Vandals’ inconsistency so far this season, but it also speaks to the depth of a team that doesn’t require perfect performances every night. Against Utah, it was Kyle Barone pulling down all the boards — last night in Fargo, it was Toledo and Jefferson doing the work. Individually they don’t average to the top 10, but together they’ve created a team that can hold its own on the glass.

Now for the bad news: Idaho has regressed, and regressed a lot, when it comes to taking care of the basketball. The Vandals were second-best in the WAC with a 1.16 assist-to-turnover ratio last season. This year, Idaho’s dropped to No. 5, coughing up the ball more than dishing it with an 0.82 assist-to-turnover ratio. The nadir was the disastrous outing at Texas Southern which featured twice as many turnovers as assists.

Whether it’s mental lapses, increased game pace or unfamiliar players still trying to get on the same page, turnovers have hurt Idaho in all three of its games — with losing consequences in one of them. Against NDSU, the Vandals made progress — but 18 assists to 16 turnovers is a stalemate, not a victory. We’ll be watching that stat closely, as it should be a good benchmark to see how well the Vandals come together in the season’s opening stanzas.

FARGO, N.D. — It’s the morning after a Vandal victory, and these are always sweet mornings.

This afternoon, the Vandal women are taking on Montana State at home — a game we unfortunately won’t make, as we’ll be on a jet to Denver about tip-off time. But if you’re in Moscow, make sure to be in Memorial Gym at 2 p.m. as Idaho looks for its first win of the season.

We’ll have some more thoughts and stat bites from last night’s NDSU game later this afternoon.

Basketball

• We’ve got a complete game story from the Vandals’ victory over North Dakota State.

• Kevin Schnepf of the Fargo Forum looks at the Bison’s ice-cold shooting which doomed them.

• Nevada took down Houston in a high-scoring shootout, and the Reno Gazette-Journal’s Chris Murray has the story.

• Utah State suffered another road loss, and once again, the Logan Herald-Journal’s Shawn Harrison reports, the Aggies blew a late lead against Northeastern.

• The Boise State Broncos aren’t having as much luck on the hardwood as on the Smurf Turf, as they got blown out by Wyoming last night. The Idaho Statesman reports BSU coughed up the ball 23 times against a tough Cowboy press.

• Sacramento State upended the Pac-10’s Oregon State last night in Corvallis, shocking the hoops world. The Hornets, who won just two games all last season, travel to Moscow for a game Tuesday night.

• Olu Ashaolu picked up another double-double, but it wasn’t enough for the Bulldogs, as Louisiana Tech was crushed by New Mexico. Everyone else had horrible nights in the blue and red, highlighted by Kyle Gibson and Jamel Guyton’s combined 22 points and Magnum Rolle’s 4-point, 1-board disaster.

• The Newmags finally got in the win column, albeit in an unimpressive fashion against a Division II foe, the Las Cruces Sun-News’ Jason Groves reports. Jonathan Gibson went off for a career-high 30 points to lead NMSU over Oklahoma Panhandle State.

Football

• San Jose State’s awful season got worse as the Spartans fell at home to Hawaii in overtime, despite making a solid defensive stand, the Mercury News’ Alex Pavlovic reports.

• The Nevada Wolf Pack pounded New Mexico State in the Aggies’ final home game of the year, in a game the Las Cruces Sun-News’ Teddy Feinberg called “No contest.”

• Fresno State took down Louisiana Tech, despite being without all-world rusher Ryan Mathews. The West Coast Bulldogs booted a field goal with time expiring to get the home win, and the Fresno Bee’s Daniel Lyght has the story.

The Idaho Vandals are back on the road this afternoon, facing down the 2009 Summit League champion North Dakota State Bison. We’ve got Vandal Nation Live courtside coverage starting at 1:30 p.m. with pregame, tip-off at 2. Join us as the Vandals look to head home on a winning note.

Join us for live, play-by-play commentary, analysis and chat starting at 1:30 p.m.

FARGO, N.D. — Good morning from the tundra of North Dakota, where it’s a balmy 50 degrees.

The Vandals take on North Dakota State in college hoops this afternoon at 2 p.m. Pacific. We’re on the road, and we’ll have Vandal Nation Live courtside coverage with pregame at 1:30. Click here to join or set an e-mail reminder.

Basketball

• We previewed the Bison in anticipation of this afternoon’s Idaho/NDSU battle.

• BYU smacked around Hawaii on the islands last night, as the Warriors were no match for the Mountain West’s Cougars, the Honolulu Advertiser’s Dayton Morinaga reports.

• Chris Murray of the Reno Gazette-Journal previews tonight’s Nevada/Houston hoops fight.

• The Logan Herald-Journal’s Shawn Harrison is on the road with Utah State, and previews their game against Northeastern today.

• Boise State travels to Laramie to take on the Wyoming Cowboys, and The Idaho Statesman’s Nick Jezierny talks to Ike Okoye.

• Spartan Hoops has the word from Seattle, where San Jose State hung tough but fell at Washington.

• The New Mexico State Aggies should finally get in the win column today with a game against D-II Oklahoma Panhandle State, the Las Cruces Sun-News’ Jason Groves says.

Football

• The Nevada Appeal’s Joe Santoro takes a look at Nevada’s improved defense, and as the Wolf Pack prepare to take on New Mexico State, the Aggies want to close out their home season with a win, Las Cruces Sun-News writer Teddy Feinberg says.

• Hawaii makes its final trip off the islands to take on San Jose State today. The Honolulu Advertiser’s Stephen Tsai previews a game Hawaii must win to keep its bowl hopes alive, while Ferd Lewis says the Spartans shouldn’t stop the Warriors’ bowl quest.

• Boise State unsurprisingly obliterated Utah State last night on national TV, as the Idaho Statesman’s Chadd Cripe reports.

• In the Battle of the Bulldogs, Louisiana Tech faces a Fresno State squad sans Ryan Mathews, the Monroe News-Star reports.

FARGO, N.D. — With this post, we’ll start a series breaking down all of Idaho’s non-conference hoops opponents. A reminder: Vandal Nation Live coverage of Idaho vs. North Dakota State begins at 1:30 p.m.

North Dakota State Bison (1-1)

Summit League — 2009 record: 30-7 (lost to Kansas in NCAA First Round)

The Bison are relative newcomers to Division I basketball, but they’ve already tasted success at the highest level of college hoops. Last season, with a redshirted class of seniors built for North Dakota State’s first chance at an NCAA Tournament berth, the Bison swept through the Summit League with 30 wins, the tournament title and the conference’s automatic bid. Not satisfied there, the Bison nearly upset Kansas in the Big Dance’s opening round, powered by star point guard Ben Woodside.

But with last year’s seniors gone, it’s a bit of a rebuilding project for North Dakota State this season. They dropped a disappointing opening game at Utah Valley, squandering a narrow halftime lead despite getting 27 points from point guard Josh Vaughan. Once you get past Vaughan and veteran forward Michael Tveidt, there’s not much proven firepower here. Those two combined for 46 of the Bison’s 72 points in Orem, with the bench chipping in just seven. Again, Idaho finds itself facing a team with not much depth, and coach Don Verlin is most likely planning to run the floor. NDSU coach Saul Phillips needs someone else on his young team to step up.

The Bison simply must keep the game pace slowed down to win this game — they don’t have the shooters to keep with Idaho shot-for-shot. If either Vaughan or Tveidt get in foul trouble early, things could get ugly early because everyone else on the North Dakota State roster so far looks like a role player. They’ll also need a much-improved defensive effort, after giving up 50% shooting and 44% 3-point shooting to the Wolverines.

But if the Bison burn clock and pick up some steals (a place where the Vandals showed they can be exploited) they should hang close, because the Bison won’t reciprocate — they just don’t turn the ball over. Plus, NDSU has the home-court advantage, something never to be underestimated.

Read on for a look at NDSU’s starters and key reserve.

Starters:

• F #23 Michael Tveidt — 21.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.0 apg

North Dakota State’s workhorse, this 6-7 paint machine shoots 48.5 percent from the field and is a pretty decent ball-handler. He’s the sole returning starter from last year’s Summit League title team. Unfortunately, he’s about as big as things get for the Bison, so for once, Idaho will have a size advantage in the post. Tveidt also needs to stop trying 3-pointers — he inexplicably shot 5 against Utah Valley, making just one.

• F #0 Dejuan Flowers — 7.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg, .333 FG%

Flowers is a work in progress, and that’s not a compliment when you’re a senior. He went 1-for-7 in 24 minutes against Division I Utah Valley. That kind of shooting won’t get it done, end of story.

• G #32 Josh Vaughan — 18.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 5.0 apg

An all-round guard, Vaughan shoots, boards and dishes — racking up 27 points against Utah Valley, a bright spot in an otherwise tough game. He’s quick, explosive and a sharpshooter, NDSU’s most fearsome threat on the court. His assist-to-turnover ratio isn’t great for a point guard, but the Vandals don’t have much room to talk there right now.

• F #25 Eric Carlson — 12.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg, .533 FG%

A fine shooter, Carlson’s defensive ability is somewhat suspect. He’s also one of the more turnover-prone Bison, though again that’s relative. Carlson is one of those guys who could be real big for the Bison, and he needs to up his game from “journeyman” to “game-changer” if NDSU is to have a good season this year. The talent’s there.

• G #3 Mike Felt — 10.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, .500 FG%

A true freshman, Felt has been thrust into a starting role for the youthful Bison, with promising results even in the limited minutes he’s played. Putting up 7 points on 2-5 shooting in your very first Division I college hoops game is pretty solid. But he’ll have to do better against Idaho’s starting guards.

Key reserve:

• F #34 Sam Sussenguth — 8.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.0 apg

The best big man North Dakota State has on the bench, Sussenguth brings his 6-8 size and senior experience to the paint. Unfortunately, he doesn’t appear to have game-changing abilities, based on his fairly unimpressive stats over the past three years with the Bison. His scoring stats are misleading, inflated as they were by a 13-point performance against Division II Minot State. In a similar 15-minute showing at Utah Valley, Sussenguth had just 3 points.

SPOKANE, Wash.— Just sneaking in under the bell, it’s this morning’s link roundup. We’re en route to Fargo, N.D. for tomorrow’s basketball game, so posting will be pretty light today. We’ll try to get a game preview up tonight when we stop in Denver.

Last night, Idaho’s spikers ran Boise State right out of Mem Gym with a straight-sets sweep of the Broncos — made even sweeter by it being Senior Night. The Vandals have the No. 3 seed in next week’s WAC Volleyball Tournament and will play… No. 6 seed Boise State. The Argonaut’s Lisa Short has a preview.

The women’s hoopsters weren’t as lucky, falling 54-51 in overtime at Eastern Washington, after coughing up a big late lead with a slew of turnovers.

Again, Vandals/Bison men’s hoops tips off at 2 p.m. Pacific time tomorrow, and we’ll have Vandal Nation Live courtside coverage, with pregame at 1:30. Click here to join, or set an e-mail reminder.

Basketball

• We previewed tomorrow’s hoops throwdown between Idaho and North Dakota State in The Argonaut. There’s companion video interviews, too.

• San Jose State takes on a tough Pac-10 foe in the guise of the Washington Huskies tonight, and Spartan Hoops has a great game preview/breakdown.

• Another pair of Idaho’s future opponents — Seattle U. and Fresno State — went toe-to-toe last night and this time it was the Redhawks pulling off the upset on Elgin Baylor Night. The Seattle U. Basket Blog has the story.

• Brian McInnis of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin previews Hawaii’s battle tonight with BYU.

Football

• The Logan Herald-Journal’s Wade Denniston previews tonight’s Utah State/Boise State game.

• Teddy Feinberg of the Las Cruces Sun-News posts his five keys for New Mexico State as they look to upend Nevada.

• One Bronco Nation Under God adds their pregame USU/BSU thoughts.

• Fresno State needs to get out of the WAC, pronto — so says Matt James of the Fresno Bee.

• Logan Hopkins of The Collegian breaks down Fresno State’s matchup with Louisiana Tech, which the West Coast Bulldogs will have to play without NCAA-leading rusher Ryan Mathews.

This article touches on subjects discussed at the recent adjunct dinner. In addition to intermittent positive reinforcement, the article presents “shaping,” which sounds a lot like scaffolding. Less than 2 pages and worth the read…

Application of Psychology Concepts to the Teaching of Writing Across Disciplines: Reinforcement and Shaping – DE Oracle @ UMUC

Posted using ShareThis

Hey look, it’s another edition of everyone’s favorite link roundup!

A reminder: Tonight’s your last chance to see Idaho volleyball at home, as the Vandal spikers will take on Boise State in an intra-state grudge match at 7 p.m. in Memorial Gym. Idaho is locked into the No. 3 seed in the WAC Volleyball Tournament. If you can’t make it, we’ll have scoring updates on Twitter joined in progress.

Also, on Saturday we’ll be on the road from Fargo, N.D. with Vandal Nation Live coverage of men’s hoops: Idaho at North Dakota State. Pregame at 1:30 p.m., tipoff at 2. Click here to set an e-mail reminder.

Basketball

• We went One on One with Mac Hopson, Steffan Johnson and Don Verlin, talking to them about this weekend’s Vandals/Bison battle, the last in a three-game road swing to open Idaho’s season.

• The Aggies couldn’t quite pull off the same feat Idaho did, falling by a heartbreaking point to Utah, reports the Logan Herald-Journal’s Shawn Harrison.

• As we thought might happen, Nevada’s legs failed down the stretch and the Wolf Pack gave up a 12-point lead in the second half to fall at arch-rival UNLV, as Chris Murray of the Reno Gazette-Journal reports.

• The Spokesman-Review’s Josh Wright talked to Verlin & Co. about their loss in Houston.

• Two of Idaho’s future opponents did battle the other night, and Portland got the best of Seattle U. The Seattle U. Basket Blog has the story.

• The Vandal women picked up four top recruits, including 6-3 post Kelsey Bybee, who’s helped the Coeur d’Alene Vikings to consecutive Idaho State 5A Championships. She turned down Big 10, Big 12, WCC and other WAC offers in favor of the trip down US 95 to Moscow.

Football

• The Bulldog Bounce grades out Fresno State’s blowout loss to Nevada.

• Whatever problems Idaho has, they aren’t in the offense, says Jake Alger of the Idaho Press-Tribune.

• The NMSU Round Up’s Korey Middleton says Aggie fans may be scarce in their home finale against Nevada.

We went one-on-one with Mac Hopson, Steffan Johnson and Don Verlin last night, as the Vandals look to put last Sunday’s disappointing defeat behind them and grab their second victory of the season over North Dakota State on Saturday.

All three acknowledged their mistakes, refused to make excuses and focused on what they said are necessary improvements as Idaho gets deeper into the season. With two home games coming up next week, the Vandals want to roll back into Moscow with a winning record.

Hopson admitted he’s been struggling with turnovers lately, and said he was disappointed in his own effort.

Johnson, who powered the Vandals to victory in Utah with 19 points, said the Texas Southern loss left him “with a bad taste in my mouth,” and watching the game film only impressed upon him how many mistakes the Vandals made.

Verlin put the blame squarely on his own shoulders, saying he failed to adequately prepare his team for the back-to-back road trip. He said Idaho should have a slight talent advantage over the Bison, but his team needs to take advantage of their strengths and, in particular, not cough up the ball.

Al Davis is known for saying, “just win baby!”  It is usually your ultimate goal in any type of sporting event to win.  This Friday night however, that is not the case for the Utah State University football team.  The Aggies are welcoming Boise State to Romney Stadium in a game that will be televised on ESPN 2.  You might be thinking how would it be good for the Aggies to lose, well the answer is money.

Money isn’t everything, it’s the only thing if you’re a college football program and USU is a program that could definitely use more.  As you are probably well aware the Broncos are fighting to get a BCS bid and along with that bid would come a big chunk of change for the conference.  That money would be divided among all the teams in the WAC, including USU.  This begs the question should USU lay down for the BSU?

If Boise St. wins on Friday night it won’t come as a shock to anybody, in fact if they don’t win by three touchdowns Boise St. might go down in the polls.  So therein lies the dilemma if you’re an Aggie, my feelings are give it everything you’ve got, but if Boise gets a two touchdown lead then what do you do?  Do you still give it your all or do you tank on purpose, however wrong it might be it would probably be the best thing for the program.  USU won’t tank on purpose, but then again they might not have to, or who knows maybe they’ll win and cost themselves a whole lot of money.

It’s another edition of our daily links roundup, again pretty slow because of a football bye week and because of academic stuff. However, tomorrow Vandal volleyball plays its final home game of the season, the grudge match against Boise State.

Basketball

• We took a look at the Vandals’ backcourters, breaking down a deep group of guards.

• Shawn Harrison of the Logan Herald-Journal previews tonight’s Utah State/Utah intra-state battle. The Aggies will be looking to make it two straight WAC victories over the Utes.

• The Spokane Spokesman-Review’s Dave Trimmer features Idaho ironwoman Charlotte Otero.

• BleedCrimson.net’s Sam Wasson has the word from Las Cruces, where the New Mexico State Aggies went down to defeat again, nearly giving up triple digits to the arch-rival New Mexico Lobos.

• The Refraction makes its WAC picks for tonight.

• Hoops IQ picks the Vandals second-best in the WAC, behind only the Blue Aggies.

Football

• The Reno Gazette-Journal’s Dan Hinxman says the Wolf Pack hope to erase the memory of last year’s upset at the hands of New Mexico State. He also features Nevada’s senior-laden offensive line.

• Louisiana Tech freshman safety Chad Boyd was suspended by the WAC for half a game for a helmet-to-helmet hit on an LSU receiver last weekend.

• The Idaho Statesman trashes the University of Idaho again, as Tim Woodward says Boise fans are perfectly behaved, while Moscow fans are uncouth jerks.

With this post, we begin a series breaking down the Vandals’ 2009-10 roster by position, starting with the guards.

The backbone of Idaho’s offense last year was its backcourt, led by First Team All-WAC point guard Mac Hopson. Things should be no different this year, as with a relatively undersized frontcourt, coach Don Verlin will be relying on big production from his guards to keep the Vandals’ opponents on their heels. Fortunately, this year he has the talent and the depth on the bench to pull it off.

• #1 Mac Hopson

A 6-2 senior from Portland, Ore., Hopson is the Vandals’ undisputed leader. Son of Idaho great Phil Hopson, who led the Silver and Gold on an unlikely charge to the 1982 Sweet 16, Mac transferred from Washington State in order to lead a rebuilding project at his father’s alma mater. Idaho couldn’t have asked for more. The younger Hopson was one of just four players nationally to break the 15/5/5 barrier, averaging 16.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game, and became the first Vandal ever named First Team All-WAC.

Back for his senior season with Idaho and surrounded by a stronger supporting cast, Mac’s numbers could explode. As the Vandals’ only instant threat last year, he was often double-teamed and mobbed by opposing defenses. This season, backed up by shooters like Steffan Johnson and Shawn Henderson, focusing on Hopson will be a very bad idea. More open looks and more guys to dish to? Yeah, that’s all a guy like Mac could ask for.

• #2 Jeff Ledbetter

A 6-3 junior from Brea, Calif., Ledbetter was brought in to give Idaho another potent threat from beyond the arc. Playing for Irvine Valley College, he shot 39 percent from downtown and averaged nearly 14 points per game. But Ledbetter is more than a pure shooter — he’s also proven to be an excellent ball-handler.

He exploded in the season-opener, contributing 16 points in just 14 minutes in Idaho’s road defeat of Utah. While he’s definitely going to play a specialist role in reserve this season, his minutes will be critical and all his shots will be big ones.

• #3 Shawn Henderson

Perhaps the revelation of the Vandals’ exhibition game, the 6-3 junior from Renton, Wash. exploded onto the court. Last year at North Idaho College, Henderson led the Cardinals to a Scenic West Athletic Conference title with 17.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.

In his first outing as a Vandal, Henderson hit his first five shots and ended 6-7 for the night with 12 points, four rebounds and two assists in only 15 minutes. He’s got a nifty double-clutch floater that’s almost impossible to defend, and he’s unafraid to drive strong. Idaho may have found one of its primary go-to guys off the bench.

• #5 Steffan Johnson

The key to Idaho’s 2009-10 season, and that’s no exaggeration. The 6-1 senior from Kent, Wash. lit up the Big West two years ago, dropping 14.5 points and dishing up 4.9 assists per game for the Pacific Tigers. The First Team All-Big West point guard headed north last season to join the Idaho rebuilding project. He spent his redshirt season learning Verlin’s system and building a close rapport with Hopson and his teammates.

As the Vandals’ starting shooting guard, Johnson not only gives Idaho a serious second scoring threat in the backcourt, he’ll take some of the defensive pressure off Hopson too. Leave him open and he’ll make you pay — Johnson shot a lights-out .410 from beyond the arc. Too, he has the ball-handling abilities to spell Hopson as point guard, giving the Vandals’ star some much-needed bench time. If Stef and Mac play up to their potential, there won’t be a better backcourt in the WAC this year.

• #10 Landon Tatum

A skilled pure point guard, the 5-11 junior from San Antonio will redshirt the year, given how deep the Vandals are at the point this season. Vandal fans should look forward to seeing Tatum on the court next season, however, because he was a star for South Plains College.

Playing for the Texans, Tatum started all 33 games, averaged 7.1 points and 5.8 assists per game, led the team in minutes and was named a national juco All-Star enroute to the Regional title game. As a freshman, Tatum won the NJCAA National Championship. With that kind of talent waiting in the wings, Idaho’s backcourt future looks bright.

• #20 Marcus Lawrence

Idaho’s backup point guard, Lawrence comes into this season with something to prove. The 5-11 junior from Las Vegas played two years at UNLV, posting a 3.5 assist-to-turnover ratio and finished third on the team with 53 assists despite limited minutes off the bench.

Lawrence redshirted last year, so he’ll have a year under Don Verlin’s system to prepare him for the task ahead. In 13 minutes of action at Utah, he scored 7 points and dished up two assists without turning over the rock once. Expect Lawrence to be the Vandals’ primary option off the bench to give Hopson a rest.

• #23 Justin Stewart

A 6-1 freshman from Spokane, Stewart walked on during open tryouts this year and impressed the coaching staff enough to land a roster spot. A 56 percent shooter, he helped Ferris High to an undefeated 29-0 Washington State 4A Championship season in 2008.

Stewart will likely redshirt this season to adjust to Division I ball and learn Verlin’s system, while playing a key role on the Vandals’ scout team. Playing as a walk-on is a somewhat thankless task that takes a huge commitment of time and energy. We congratulate Justin on making the team, and we look forward to seeing him out on the court down the road.

• #32 Kashif Watson

The Vandals’ returning glue, Watson, a 6-4 senior from Las Vegas, will play a key starting role for Idaho this season. He was quiet, generally unspectacular and absolutely reliable last year. Averaging 10.3 points and 3.5 rebounds, ‘Shif could be counted on every night to deliver points when the Vandals needed them. Not an outside shooter, Watson’s game is the quick drive and layup or the stop-and-pop midrange jumper, with which he can be deadly.

A transfer from Irvine Valley College, Watson was a teammate of Ledbetter, and helped lead the Lasers to a program-record 27 wins and a trip to the Southern California Regional Finals. This season, he should be getting more open looks and a few more minutes to rest his legs — he averaged 32 minutes per game last year, second only to Hopson in the Vandals’ “ironman” category.

We’re slightly belated today by a couple interviews and projects in the hopper this morning, so let’s get right to your links.

Basketball

• The Vandal women lost their season-opener at home last night, reports The Argonaut’s Ilya Pinchuk.

• Hawaii’s Roderick Flemings got named WAC Player of the Week, but his Rainbow Warriors fell apart in the closing stages of a nationally-televised ESPN College Hoops Tip-Off game last night, losing to Northern Colorado.

• I’ve got an Argonaut game story on the Vandals’ opening victory at Utah, but the lede got butchered in the editing process. The opening should read: Utah Utes coach Jim Boylen told the media Friday night’s game between his squad and Don Verlin’s Idaho Vandals was “Idaho’s Super Bowl.” If that’s so, then give the Vandals the Lombardi Trophy right now.

• Storming the Floor reports on the week that was in West Coast college hoops, mentioning Idaho’s “Super Bowl” upset of Utah.

• Spartan Hoops has the word from San Jose, where the Spartans got a season-opening win, albeit against an NAIA opponent.

• Sam Wasson of BleedCrimson.net talked to Newmag coach Marvin Menzies about his team’s ugly loss to St. Mary’s and their hopes of bouncing back tonight against New Mexico.

• The Refraction makes its WAC picks for tonight.

• The Reno Gazette-Journal’s Chris Murray previews the Wolf Pack/Rebels rivalry game.

Football

• Josh Wright reports on Idaho’s improved recruiting prospects.

• In the “unsurprising news story of the day,” Boise police made a number of arrests after the Vandals/Broncos game.

• Dave Southorn of the Idaho Press-Tribune looks at the Aggies/Broncos matchup.

Other sports

• The Argonaut’s Lisa Short previews the Vandals/Broncos volleyball grudge match, set for Thursday.

• LacrosseAllStars has a nifty look at the Vandals’ club lacrosse team.

For a span in the second period, it looked like the Vandals had solved all their shooting woes. Idaho led by 12 points with under seven minutes to go and had the game firmly in control — then reality took over.

“We lost that game in the first half with our offensive execution and, once again, our missed point-blank shots,” Idaho coach Jon Newlee said. “There were seven missed layups that we charted in the first half.”

The Vandal’s recovered from an ugly first half, where both teams combined for an astounding 42 missed shots and 19 turnovers, to get into shooting form for the majority of the second half.

The Vandal’s combined for just 15 points in the first half, but Eastern Washington didn’t fare much better, putting up only 17 points themselves.

“It was a miracle that we were only down by two at halftime,” Newlee said.

The game looked to be headed for another blowout when Eastern Washington came out blitzing in the second half to extend their lead to 24-19.

Instead, the Vandal’s tightened up defensively and turned the tables on Eastern Washington, going on a 17-2 run in the middle of the second period to put them up by 12 points with under seven minutes to go.

With the game firmly in hand, victory seemed certain, but Eastern Washington wasn’t done yet. With strong offensive pressure, the Eagles clawed their way back to force overtime in the dying moments of the game.

“It was just a meltdown,” Newlee said. “Nobody on our team took charge on the floor, nobody stepped up and led us when we had that bad stretch — that was disappointing.”

Idaho helped the Eagle’s cause with seven turnovers in the final seven minutes of the game. The flashy offense gave way to mediocre shots, which translated to the Vandal’s tallying only one shot during that timeframe.

Idaho’s Charlotte Otero had a chance to end it with two seconds remaining as she deftly maneuvered around the Eagle’s defense and went for a lay-up, but it swirled around the basket before bouncing harmlessly to the court.

Idaho’s ovetime fortunes proved to be no better, as the offense once again bogged down in missed shots, turnovers, and foul trouble.

Despite the lack of discipline, Idaho kept it close till the end. Trailing by three with three seconds on the clock, Bianca Cheever took possession, drove into the Eagle’s zone and fired off a desperate three-pointer with double-overtime on the line. It was not to be, however, as Cheever’s shot ricocheted of the backboard and time expired with both teams fighting for the rebound

Cheever led Idaho with her first double-double game and Newlee, who had said he wanted to play with depth, fielded eight players for this game.

He was rewarded with redshirt freshman Jessica Graham’s stellar play as she contributed 9 points, 11 rebounds, 2 blocks and a steal.

There will be no rest for the weary, as the Vandals have two days before facing off against an upstart Montana State team that downed California State University-Bakersfield in their season opener. The Bulldogs are 2-0 as they take on Brigham Young University today before facing Idaho on Sunday.