With Utah State and San Jose State's move to the Mountain West official — and other WAC schools off to Conference USA and the Sun Belt — Idaho athletic director Rob Spear spoke with reporters for 25 minutes this afternoon. He laid out four options for the Vandals, with an emphasis on retaining FBS status.

Read on for more.

It's been a wild past few days for conference realignment. All signs point to the WAC losing Utah State, San Jose State, Louisiana Tech and soon-to-be members Texas State and Texas-San Antonio. That would leave just Idaho and New Mexico State as football-playing members.

In response, UI released a statement this evening in which it said it was “disappointed in the recent changes that are driven not by tradition, academic quality, competitiveness, or the student experience, but by money.” 

Read on for the full statement.

Texas-San Antonio was set to join the WAC this summer. But the Roadrunners now appear headed to the Conference USA in 2013 — along with current WAC member Louisiana Tech. And the WAC's losses might not end there. CBSsports.com reported Saturday morning that Utah State and San Jose State are expected to move to the Mountain West Conference in 2013 as well.

Read on for more on what this means for Idaho and the WAC.

The Idaho men's basketball team is one of the hottest clubs in the WAC. But can the Vandals summon a breakthrough this afternoon in the conference tournament? If they do, it will be a landmark day for Idaho.

We have more on the Vandals' tourney hopes below.

The Washington State and Idaho women's basketball teams are set to begin conference tournament play after wrapping up their regular season schedules last week. Two players from WSU were also honored on Tuesday as the Pac-12 announced its all-conference teams.

More below. 

Idaho coach Don Verlin spoke with the media on Tuesday. I've got a summary of his thoughts below. The Vandals, 16-11, have won five straight and finish the regular season with three huge WAC games — all on the road.

Lots more after the jump.

Local NCAA Division I women's basketball teams had a successful Saturday - with the exception of Washington State, which lost at UCLA. 

We were at Gonzaga today, where the Bulldogs turned up the heat in the second half and beat a defensive San Diego team. John Blanchette wrote this column on the Zag women in the post-Courtney Vandersloot era, Jesse Tinsley told the game story through his photo lens, and here's the link to my game story.

The Eastern Washington women continued their quest for a Big Sky Conference title with a win at Sacramento State and the Idaho women picked up their second Western Athletic Conference win in a late game at San Jose State.

As I wrote this morning, there was no reason to think Idaho — teetering at 11-11 — could topple Nevada. But the circumanstances around this matchup made me wonder if it would at least be a close game, and it was more than that. The Vandals were clearly the better team in the second half, and they used a little luck in the final minute to secure a 72-68 victory in Reno and end the Wolf Pack's 16-game winning streak.

Read on for a recap and reaction from the Vandals' best win of the year.

Tonight at 7 the Vandals play on the road against the WAC’s powerhouse team, Nevada. The Wolf Pack has won 16 straight and is starting to get the attention of national writers like Seth Davis. Idaho has let back-to-back winnable games slip away and is playing perhaps its worst basketball since last January.

There’s no reason to believe UI can upset Nevada. But it’s not as unlikely as you might think. Find out why after the jump.

At home. After winning four of five. With the chance to hang alongside New Mexico State as one of the clear top two teams in the WAC behind Nevada. That's what the Vandals had in front of them last night heading into a matchup with Hawaii.

But they couldn't take advantage in a 76-70 loss to UH. John Blanchette had this game story, summing up the missed opportunity well. Now the Vandals are 11-10, 4-3 in the WAC — tied with Hawaii and Utah State and a game behind second-place NMSU.

During his time at Idaho, Deremy Geiger has proven to be a hot-or-cold outside shooter. And during most of this season, the Vandals have been the same as a team. Geiger was feeling it Thursday night, and so have the Vandals in the last few weeks.

Idaho pulled away from San Jose State for a 74-66 win last night in front a small crowd in Moscow. More details below.

Before tonight, Idaho had yet to lose by more than eight points this season. But the Vandals, it seems, hadn't played anyone of Nevada's caliber either. The Wolf Pack smoked UI 73-55 at Cowan Spectrum, with just 1,018 fans on hand with the students still on holiday break.

Read on for my game story.

The WAC portion of Idaho's schedule starts tonight, and it won't be easy. Not tonight against league favorite Nevada or Saturday versus Fresno State. And not over the next two weeks.

Read on for more about the Vandals' conference opener.

The Idaho State Board of Education today gave Boise State the OK to pursue membership in the Big East as a football-only member, a move that could have major implications for the Western Athletic Conference and the University of Idaho. If Boise State moves to the Big East, its other sports could move to the WAC, West Coast Conference or another conference that makes geographic sense. BSU president Bob Kustra said he's in discussions with one conference in particular to house the Broncos' Olympic sports.

Kustra also told the State Board that Conference USA could grab current WAC members New Mexico State and Louisiana Tech if the Big East adds Houston, SMU and Central Florida in its expansion, while the Mountain West could take Utah State. San Jose State has also been rumored to the MWC.

With all this conference movement still in flux, Idaho AD Rob Spear declined to comment when reached by The Spokesman-Review. “As you can imagine, we are exploring mutiple scenarios,” Spear said in an email.

The Idaho Vandals were pegged to finish fifth in the WAC preseason coaches and media men's basketball polls, released this morning. Last year UI went 18-14 and finished third in the conference, despite being voted eighth in the preseason. “I think it kind of proves what we’ve done over the last three years,” coach Don Verlin said. “We’re building a solid, stable program here, and I think that’s why we were picked as high as we were, despite returning only one full-time starter and losing as many guys as we did.”

Center Kyle Barone, a reserve for most of last year, was a preseason second-team selection by the coaches. The Vandals' lone returning starter is senior point guard Deremy Geiger. Guard Landon Tatum also returns, as does wing Stephen Madison, and posts Joe Kammerer and Djim Bandoumel (who was ruled ineligibile after eight games last year).

Among the Vandals' many newcomers is 6-foot-6, 255-pound Dazmond Starke, who originally signed with UTEP and played at Eastern Arizona College. UTEP released Starke from his letter of intent in April.

More here from the WAC.

UPDATED: 2:00 p.m.

If the Idaho Vandals challenge for the conference title like they expect to, it will be a surprise to both the WAC coaches and reporters that cover the conference. UI was picked sixth in the media and coaches' preason polls, released this morning. Hawaii is No. 1 in both polls, followed by Fresno State and Nevada. Lousiana Tech and Utah State are fourth and fifth.

Hawaii quarterback Bryant Moniz was named preseason offensive player of the year, and Utah State's Bobby Wagner garnered the same award on the defensive side.

See the full polls and more here. We've got a rundown of Robb Akey's comments on scheduling, the Vandals' potential on defense, and a few jabs at Boise State and BYU.

UPDATED

The WAC today announced the addition of the University of Texas-Arlington, a move that you can read all about after the link with our story.

UPDATED: 4:35 p.m.

Seattle University has accepted an invite to join the Western Athletic Conference, league commissioner Karl Benson announced this afternoon. Seattle U. is the second non-football playing school to join the WAC after the University of Denver came aboard with Texas State and Texas-San Antonio. The Redhawks will become members on July 1, 2012.

Utah Valley University was not offered an invitation, Benson said. This leaves the WAC will seven football playing schools and nine altogether starting in 2012. Benson said he would like to add more football members and could announce another round of expansion at this time next year, if not sooner.

Click below for our story.

I figured those of you who read this women's basketball blog were up on the news of yesterday, Gonzaga's shocking upset to win the WCC Tournament and senior guard Courtney Vandersloot someone winning a national award … OK, maybe we weren't completely sure Vandersloot would win the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Awad but there was no way the Bulldogs weren't winning. Anyway, those stories were handled by the A team in Las Vegas, including Christopher Anderson's slide show, but I was waiting to give you my last women's basketball notebook, but alas it's not posted yet and I have somethings to take care of before a hockey game tonight. Check back tonight before 7 for the notebook, in the meantime there is some news for you, so read on.

University of Idaho athletic director Rob Spear spoke with reporters this morning, touching on football scheduling, WAC expansion, the Kibbie Dome renovation and trying to bolster attendance at basketball games.

Click below for all the details.