Idaho football, basketball notes
The two biggest rivalry games for the Idaho basketball team will be on regional TV networks, and the Vandals' second-to-last football game of the season -- Saturday at No. 2 Florida State -- will be on ESPNU. Idaho is a 57-point underdog to the Seminoles, who are in line to play for the national championship if they win out.
We have a mix of Vandals basketball and football news to pass along -- check it out after the jump.
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The Idaho football team (1-9) is coming off a bye week, during which coach Paul Petrino said the team treated its extra workouts like a mini spring camp. Did the extra week help in preparing for FSU, a juggernaut that has won by identical 59-3 scores the last two weeks? It couldn't hurt. But Petrino quipped that it was "another week to sit there and be nervous maybe."
The Vandals played at No. 3 LSU last week, and lost 62-14. They played at No. 9 Texas A&M in 2011. They played No. 4 Boise State and No. 6 Nebraska in 2010. They even played at No. 1 USC to start the 2007 season -- Robb Akey's first game as coach and Nathan Enderle's first game at quarterback. But the Vandals were only 46-point underdogs against the Trojans. And none of the aforementioned teams have obliterated opponents like FSU has.
Still, Petrino called it a great opportunity to play such a highly ranked team. "A lot guys can go whole lifetime and never play the No. 1 or No. 2 team in the country," he said. He challenged his players to focus on winning individual battles at their positions.
UI is likely to start Taylor Davis at quarterback for the fourth straight game. Josh McCain is available to play, and he'll likely get some snaps. But as of Monday, "it doesn't look like" Chad Chalich will be able to suit up, Petrino said.
Switching gears to basketball, we have a few noteworthy items:
- The Idaho-Boise State basketball game on Nov. 27 will be televised by Root Sports, and the Vandals' other rivalry game -- Dec. 7 at home vs. Washington State -- will also be regionally televised on SWX. In addition, UI-Montana at Cowan Spectrum on Dec. 28 will be broadcast on Altitude, and another home game with Utah Valley on Jan. 16 will be on SWX.
- This week the Vandals play three games in Portland in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. It's actually three straight nights of action -- Thursday vs. Portland, Friday vs. North Texas and Saturday vs. Columbia, an Ivy League team that gave Michigan State fits last week.