Fast Break

College football

Montana takes fourth seed

Montana received the No. 4 seed in the 2008 Division I Football Championship playoffs and will host the Texas State Bobcats on Saturday.

No. 1-ranked James Madison earned the top seed for the playoffs, followed by Appalachian State, Northern Iowa and Montana.

Complete matchups can be found on Scoreboard, C5.

College football

Carroll gets to stay home

Defending national champion and No. 1-ranked Carroll College will host No. 10 Northwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday in the quarterfinals of the 2008 NAIA football championship series.

Carroll is on a 27-game winning streak. The game against Northwestern Oklahoma State will be a rematch of the 2003 National Championship game won by Carroll, the second of five NAIA crowns for the Fighting Saints.

Matchups can be found on Scoreboard, C5.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Eagles play host to Vandals

Idaho and Eastern Washington University, a pair of regional rivals both coming off impressive Saturday night wins and working on short turnarounds, will square off tonight at 7:05 at EWU’s Reese Court.

Idaho (2-2) shot 56 percent from the field in turning back visiting North Dakota State 78-69 in Moscow on Saturday, while Eastern (2-1) used a 27-point outburst by Bennie Valentine to outlast visiting UT Arlington in Cheney.

Tonight’s game will feature a key backcourt matchup between Valentine, a 5-foot-6 junior who is averaging 19.7 points and three assists per game, and UI’s Mac Hopson, a 6-2 junior and Washington State transfer, who is averaging 15.5 points and 4.7 assists.

Idaho won last year’s game, which was played in Moscow, 58-49.

PREP FOOTBALL

Semifinal doubleheader coming to Albi

Joe Albi Stadium will be site of two state semifinal football games on Saturday.

Ferris (11-1) plays top-ranked Skyline (12-0) in a 1 p.m. 4A semi. Skyline was last year’s 3A state champion.

That game will be followed at 4 by the 1B semifinal between unbeatens Cusick (12-0) and LaCrosse-Washtucna (11-0). Last time Cusick was in the semis was in 1983 in 2B. The Tigercats are back for the first time since 2005, the last of a four-year state title run.

Colfax (11-0) and Asotin (11-1) play at Martin Stadium in Pullman in a 1 p.m. 2B semifinal, also on Saturday.