It is sad comedy, this dry rot eating at the Western Athletic Conference, the University of Idaho’s happy athletic home. Here’s one of the amusing parts: So many change orders of addition, subtraction and dissection have attended the perpetual remodeling of the WAC that Idaho athletic director Rob Spear some time ago began deflecting requests for his thoughts, at least until the crew takes a smoke break. Then he unfolds an old script about “moving forward,” and awaits the next round of defections. And so it was this week, when more hell broke loose. “Until all this is finalized,” Spear was quoted as saying, “I am not going to comment.” Really? What makes him think “all this” will ever be finalized? Maybe it’s his permanent vow of silence on realignment? Or admission that Idaho has no option but to move back to its old neighborhood?/John Blanchette, SR. More here.

Question: Is it finally time for Idaho to throw in the towel and return to the Big Sky Conference?

The toughest, gutsiest call made by Idaho football in recent memory came when head coach Robb Akey decided to go for two points with four seconds left against Bowling Green in the 2009 Humanitarian Bowl. Compared with the decisions the Vandal athletic department could be forced to make in the coming weeks, Akey’s decision — which, in case you’ve forgotten, worked and left the Vandals with a 43-42 victory — seems as routine as the game’s opening kickoff. The decision this corner is calling for the University of Idaho to make? Go back to the Big Sky Conference. In all sports/Patrick Sheltra, Twin Falls Times-News sports editor. More here.

Question: Should the Idaho Vandals continue to fight to be a “bit player” in the big college division or become a player in a revamped Big Sky?

Coming into the year, Idaho coach Don Verlin looked at this week — with games at home against Washington State and at Oregon State separated by three days — and knew it would be telling for the Vandals. Could they hang with two Pac-12 schools? It turns out they could, and they almost went 2-for-2 in upsets for the week. UI squelched every Oregon State rally attempt in the second half and rolled to a 74-60 rout of the Beavers in Corvallis — its most decisive win over a Pac-12 school since 1992. Idaho moved to 5-4, while OSU dropped to 6-2/Josh Wright, SR SportsLink. More here. (AP/Corvallis Gazette-Time photo: Oregon State's Jared Cunningham (1) faces defensive pressure from Idaho's Matt Borton (20) Friday night)

• Also: Freshman Connor Hill of Post Falls scores 8 off the bench (ESPN boxscore here)

Question: Do you follow Idaho Vandal basketball?

Throughout a half-hour joint interview late last week, Anthony Davis (right) and Mike Iupati (left) repeatedly finished each other's sentences. Barely two years after they met at a college football awards ceremony, they call themselves brothers. The 49ers picked both of them in the first round of the 2010 draft to clear paths for Frank Gore and protect Alex Smith. They couldn't have predicted how the two offensive linemen would look after one another. “When they got him at (No.) 17, that just made my draft day that much better,” said Davis, whom the 49ers claimed with the 11th pick out of Rutgers/Gwen Knapp, San Francisco Chronicle. More here.

Question: Who is your favorite NFL football player? Why?

• Weekend Poll: A supermajority wants to see the Idaho Vandals return to the lower-division Big Sky Conference and re-form national rivalries with Montana, Montana State, & Eastern Washington. 85 of 120 respondents (70.83%) wants Idaho to quit trying to keep up with Boise State in Division I football and return to the Big Sky. Only 29 of 120 (24.17%) wants the Vandals to stay in Division I football at all costs. 6 (5%) were undecided.
• Today's Poll: Which of the anti-Bloem administration challengers will win Coeur d'Alene City Council seats Tuesday?

• Thursday Poll: A plurality of Hucks Nation voted that it's appalled that 3 of 4 Idaho congressmen received perfect 100% ratings for their voting records from the socially conservative Family Research Council. 61 of 129 respondents (47.29%) were appalled. Meanwhile, 38 of 129 respondents (29.46%) were delighted with the rating, and 27 of 127 (29.95%) didn't care either way. 3 were undecided.
• Today's Poll: Should Idaho athletics continue to try to keep up with Boise State now that Bronco footballers appear headed for the Big East?

Say, any way that mass exodus from the Western Athletic Conference can be accelerated? Like maybe starting this week? Subtraction in the ranks may be the only way the Idaho Vandals achieve any addition in the win column this fall. OK, one game does not a college football season make, so rather than suggest it’s going to be a long year for the Vandals let’s just say Thursday was a long night. Or a short one – all intrigue having been sucked out of their season opener before the second quarter was half gone. Bad timing on letting all the sunshine in through the Kibbie Dome’s end walls. This one deserved to be played in the shadows/John Blanchette, SR. More here. (Complete game story, boxscore coverage here)

Question: Will the Vandals bounce back?

Idaho quarterback Brian Reader is pressured by the Bowling Green defense into throwing an interception during the first half of their game at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow tonight. Bowling Green jumped out to a 30-7 halftime lead over the Vandals in their season opener. Bowling Green avenged its 2009 Humanitarian Bowl defeat by stopping host Idaho 32-15. See boxscore here And: Bruce Mann's first-half photo gallery here.

It wasn’t supposed to go this way. Not in the first game in the spiffed-up Kibbie Dome. Not after Idaho football coach Robb Akey declared his team ready for another march to the postseason. The Vandals, appearing ill-prepared for the start of the season, were steamrolled by Bowling Green 32-15 on the opening night of the college football season. In front of an announced crowd of 12,173 – the actual number looked smaller – the Vandals roared to a touchdown and defensive stop on the first two possessions Thursday night … then collapsed/Josh Wright, SR. More here.

• Blanchette: Laying egg not part of grand plan for UI/SR

Thoughts on the game?

On the first day of fall camp last month, Idaho football coach Robb Akey approached Brian Reader – a senior who bided his time behind a four-year starter – and supplied a clear message. “I remember the first practice we had out here,” Akey recalled last week. “I said, ‘We gave you the keys (to the offense) back there in the spring and you started driving. I want you to drive the damn thing fast now – and drive it like an Escalade, a fast Escalade.’ ” Just how well Reader has adjusted to his new role as the Vandals’ top QB – and how the offense has adjusted to him – will start to manifest itself tonight at 6, when Idaho kicks off its season by hosting Bowling Green in rematch of the memorable 2009 Humanitarian Bowl/Josh Wright, SR. More here. (Moscow-Pullman Daily News file photo: Dean Hare)

• Idaho story lines
• Mayowa has found a home at defensive end

Question: Any predictions about tonight's game or the 2012 Vandal season?

The Idaho Vandals host Bowling Green at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Kibbie Dome to kick of their 2011 college football season. After nearly four weeks of fall practices, Coach Robb Akey reports that the Vandals are showing signs of marked improvement on the offensive and defensive fronts as well as stability in the backfields and among the receiving corps. You can read Akey's preseason State of the Idaho Vandals here. (Courtesy photo: Idaho Athletic Media Relations)

Question: Any predictions re: how the Vandals will do without Boise State on their schedule this year?

Former Idaho Vandal QB Nathan Enderle has signed a 4-year deal with the Chicago Bears! He was drafted by 'da Bears in the 5th of this year's NFL Draft. Chicago Tribune story here. (Photo courtesy of University of Idaho sports media relations)

The Mountain West Conference on Monday unveiled its new logo — part of an intense branding campaign that marks the league’s transition away from Utah, BYU and TCU and to Boise State, Fresno State, Nevada and Hawaii (football only). The new logo looks like a cube, with a block “M” and block “W.” Conference officials are calling the logo “The Rock” — and they say it’s a sign of unity and strength for the reshaped conference. The old logo featured a mountain scene. “We’re about as much west as we are mountain,” commissioner Craig Thompson said. “We’re going to emphasize both names”/Chadd Cripe, Statesman. More here.

Question: What do you think of the new Mountain West logo?

The Idaho football team was deep into its final practice before Saturday’s spring game when Robb Akey felt a tap on his shoulder. It was former Vandals star lineman Mike Iupati, now of the San Francisco 49ers, who decided to spring a surprise visit on his old coach and teammates. “I turn around and there’s a mountain standing there,” Akey said after Thursday’s workout. “I jumped up and gave him a hug and I started crying.” Akey put a sudden stop to practice and rounded up his players so that Iupati, who helped guide Idaho to a Humanitarian Bowl triumph in 2009, could give an impromptu address to the team. San Francisco’s first-round pick from a year ago didn’t disappoint/Josh Wright, SR. More here. (In this 2009 Idaho Press Tribune file photo by Greg Kreller, Mike Iupati embraces Coach Robb Akey in closing moments of UI's Humanitarian Bowl win over Bowling Green.)

Question: When did you last return to your alma mater to attend and event or guest lecture to inspire those following in your footsteps?

A former University of Idaho basketball player was the focus of a “60 Minutes” segment Sunday night — and not in a good way. Apparently, Steffan Johnson was given a full-ride scholarship to the University of Idaho basketball team three months after he was one of three individuals expelled for an alleged sexual assault from the University of Pacific in Stockton, Calif. Johnson, who played in 2009-10 for the Vandals, claimed before a judicial board at University of Pacific that he wasn't present at the sexual assault. Head Vandal coach Don Verlin and associate head coach from the University of Pacific, Ron Verlin, are twin brothers. Don Verlin told a local newspaper he recruited Johnson after talking to his brother. The “60 Minutes” promo reads: “In 'The Case of Beckett Brennan,' Katie Couric reports on a female college basketball player named Beckett Brennan who says she was raped by three athletes at the college. The University Judicial Review board did not help her as they should have, and she has had to come forward in order to get justice.” Video here. And: Amanda Hess/TBD story here. (AP file photo: Utah State forward Brady Jardine, left, reaches around to steal the ball from Idaho guard Steffan Johnson during their game Wednesday Feb. 3, 2010, in Logan Utah)

Question: Should UIdaho basketball coach Don Verlin have taken a chance on Steffan Johnson?

Idaho guard Jeff Ledbetter, left, scores over Utah State guard Pooh Williams during the first half of Wednesday’s game in Moscow.

MOSCOW, Idaho – They couldn’t be sure until the final 11 seconds. But once Brockeith Pane’s jumper sailed into the stands, ending a tumultuous shooting night for Utah State, Idaho fans unleashed a deafening roar.

Then came a court-storming that Cowan Spectrum hasn’t seen in years.

Playing on national television against the WAC’s powerhouse men’s basketball program, the Vandals sprang a 64-56 upset of the 21st-ranked Aggies in front of 1,512 on Wednesday night.

The loss snapped USU’s 17-game winning streak. The Aggies (22-3, 11-1) had won a conference-record 25 consecutive regular-season WAC games dating back to Jan. 4 of last year.  More here. Josh Wright, SR

Big win for the Vandals!

Cam Newton has the mobility. Ryan Mallett has the arm. Blaine Gabbert has the size. Jake Locker has the grit. Jerrod Johnson makes a Pop Warner quarterback think he could succeed as a college quarterback. What if I told you there's a quarterback who could wind up being better than all of them? From the great state of Idaho that brings you potatoes and, uh, potatoes, comes University of Idaho Vandal quarterback Nathan Enderle. Those who choose to just look at statistics may write him off, but upon further inspection, there is a lot to like/Alex Kozora, Bleacher Report. More here. (AP file report)

Question: Are you optimistic that Idaho Vandal QB Nathan Enderle will make an NFL roster in 2011?

Former University of Idaho star Mike Iupati cleans out his locker in Santa Clara, Calif., earlier today after spending his rookie season as a starter for the disappointing San Francisco 49ers. Pro Football Focus ranked Iupati as the 5th best offensive guard in the NFL in 2010 here. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

A 20-year-old Lapwai man alleges he was the victim of an unprovoked attack by University of Idaho football players. Lamont Phillips told the Lewiston Tribune the attack over the weekend landed him in the hospital for nearly a day with a concussion, a fractured orbital bone around his eye, seven stitches next to his eye and bruises on his head and body from being kicked and punched. The alleged attack occurred at a Moscow apartment party on North Polk Street where people were celebrating the end of the football season, Phillips said/Joel Mills, Lewiston Tribune. More here.

Question: Does this incident sour your appreciation of the improving Idaho Vandal football team?

Hawaii slotback Greg Salas, center, holds up the WAC championship trophy as Hawaii head coach Greg McMackin, right, looks on at the end of the NCAA college football game against UNLV at Aloha Stadium, Saturday in Honolulu. Hawaii defeated UNLV 59-21. The Hawaii victory won them a three way tie for the WAC title with Boise State and Nevada. Now, Hawaii is poised to announce that it’s joining Mountain West Conference in football only in 2012. More here. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia) And: you can read Vandal football coach Robb Akey’s thoughts about Idaho’s future here.

Question: Should the Idaho Vandals begin looking for an alternative conference to play in, now that the best football schools have left the Western Athletic Conference?

Assuming someone else’s identity up to 30 hours a week isn’t a normal curriculum for University of Idaho students, but it’s been a large part of Lucas Tate’s life since 2006. He retired from playing Joe Vandal, the UI’s burly yet friendly mascot, this spring after three and a half years behind the mask. On Saturday, he’ll graduate from the UI with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics with an emphasis in actuarial science. Tate, 22, moved to Moscow from Kennewick, Wash., after graduating from high school in 2006. He was cheering from the stands during a UI women’s basketball game that fall when representatives of the Cheer Squad approached to see if he would be interested in the mascot program. At about 6 feet, 2 inches tall, he was an ideal fit for the Joe Vandal suit/Holly Bowen, Moscow-Pullman Daily News. More here.

Question: Are you a Joe Vandal fan?