UI football slate challenging

Football: A tough nonconference schedule and the addition of league newcomers spices up the University of Idaho 2012 football schedule, which was released Monday.

The Vandals open the season at home against Eastern Washington Aug. 30, at 6 p.m. at the Kibbie Dome.

The other nonconference home game is against Wyoming (Sept. 22).

Other nonconference games include road games at Bowling Green (Sept. 8), national powerhouse LSU (Sept. 15), North Carolina (Sept. 29) and BYU (Nov. 10).

The Vandals kick off Western Athletic Conference action at home against New Mexico State on Oct. 6. They travel for league contests at newcomer Texas State (Oct. 13), Louisiana Tech (Oct. 20) and Utah State (No. 24).

Home conference games will be against San Jose State (Nov. 3) and Texas San Antonio (Nov. 17).

The Vandals have a bye on Oct. 27.

Home games are at 2 p.m. but times may change because of TV.

The Vandals begin spring drills March 22.

Chiefs will face Giants in playoffs

Hockey: It’s official – the Spokane Chiefs will take on the Vancouver Giants in the opening round of the Western Hockey League playoffs.

Vancouver’s win over Victoria on Sunday night locked the Giants into either a fourth- or-fifth place finish in the Western Conference standings. The Chiefs locked themselves into the same position with an overtime loss at Prince George on Saturday.

The team that earns the No. 4 seed will have home-ice advantage in the best-of-7 series, which will begin March 23.

Spokane and Vancouver are currently tied for fourth with 78 points. Vancouver currently holds the first tiebreaker – wins – with two more than Spokane. 

The Chiefs have seven games remaining, five at home and two on the road, while the Giants have six left, four at home and two on the road. 

The meeting will be the third time the two franchises have met in the playoffs with each team winning one series.