UI can look forward to erratic WAC schedule
A basketball season, at least on the college level, is like a junior high band.
Early in the season teams are all over the place, but when the conference games come around, usually in early January, they settle into a rhythm.
Except for Idaho.
The Vandals have moved into the Western Athletic Conference, an awkward-to-schedule nine-team group, especially with Hawaii in the mix.
Instead of Thursday-Saturday games in the conference, or even Friday-Sunday, the Vandals are all over the map from the time they tipoff against Portland at home Friday until the WAC Tournament in Reno starting March 7.
“We have some challenges; we’re on the road a lot,” UI coach Mike Divilbiss said. “It’s a nine-team league. It’s a pain for everybody, harder for some.”
UI’s league season starts innocently enough with Thursday-Saturday weekends on the road and at home.
Then it gets weird.
It’s a Saturday at San Jose State and not another game until the next Saturday at Boise State. Then it’s home for a Thursday game against Hawaii and back on the road for a Saturday game at Fresno State.
There is a Thursday game and another week off before a Thursday-Saturday road trip.
The game at Hawaii is on a Wednesday, followed by three home games to close the season, those coming on Saturday, Monday and Wednesday.
To prepare for such an off-beat rhythm, the Vandals have non-league games bunched together and a couple longer breaks in between.
All four area teams play Friday. Washington State is home for a 5 p.m. game against Pepperdine. Another West Coast Conference team, Saint Mary’s, is at Eastern Washington at 7 p.m. The only team on the road is Gonzaga, which is at San Jose State.
Local matchups
The first matchup between local teams is Sunday when Eastern visits Gonzaga at 2 p.m.
The Eagles are the only team to play the other three area teams, with a home game against Idaho on Dec. 30, and WSU on Jan. 3.
Gonzaga plays at Idaho on Nov. 30 at 6 p.m., as part of a Vandals-Eagles doubleheader. The men play at 8.
All four teams are in tournaments Thanksgiving weekend.
Tip-ins
WSU senior forward Keisha Moore has to sit out two games as part of her transfer from Idaho, although she played in 21 games for the Cougars after the semester break last year… . Jordan McCormick, a sophomore from El Cerrito, Calif., has been dismissed from WSU for failure to adhere to team policy… . Eastern plans to redshirt Tara Holgate, 6-foot-5 freshman from Snohomish County Christian… . Montana freshman point guard Mandy Morales, who originally signed with Arizona State, is expected to be out until sometime in December after arthroscopic surgery to remove a benign cyst from a knee.