Sports in brief: New-look Cougs take on LCSC

Basketball: The public will have its first chance to see the Ken Bone-coached Cougars tonight at Beasley Coliseum, when Washington State University hosts Lewis-Clark State College at 7.

The Cougars, who were 17-16 last season under current Virginia coach Tony Bennett, play their only exhibition game of Bone’s first year against the NAIA Warriors. Admission is free. The first official game is Friday, when Mississippi Valley State comes to Friel Court.

Sophomores Klay Thompson (above), who averaged 12.5 points a game, and DeAngelo Casto, both members of the Pac-10 All-Freshman team last season, and senior Nic Koprivica are expected to play crucial roles for WSU this year.

Bone comes to WSU from Portland State, which he guided to the NCAA Tournament the past two seasons.

Vince Grippi

Oklahoma out, Stanford in

Football: Over the past decade, Oklahoma has rarely been out of AP Top 25 and Stanford has rarely been in.

On Sunday, the Sooners and Cardinal sort of swapped places.

Oklahoma dropped out of the college football poll for the first time since 2005, and No. 25 Stanford moved into the rankings for the first time since 2001.

The first six spots were held by major college football’s six unbeaten teams, with Florida, Texas and Alabama making up the top three for the second consecutive week. TCU is No. 4, followed by Cincinnati and Boise State.

The same six teams comprise the top six spots in the BCS standings, except Alabama is No. 2 and Texas No. 3.

College football polls on Scoreboard, B4

Yzerman heads Hockey Hall class

Hockey: Steve Yzerman says he was excited and nervous before his NHL debut for the Detroit Red Wings in 1983 at Winnipeg.

He says thinking about being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame tonight stirs similar emotions.

Yzerman’s anxiety about playing subsided when he had a goal and an assist in his first game and was pleasantly surprised with how well he kept up the pace. He finished his rookie season with 87 points and retired two-plus decades later with 1,755.

He’ll be joined at the enshrinement in Toronto by Brett Hull, Luc Robitaille, Brian Leetch and New Jersey Devils president Lou Lamoriello.

Associated Press