WCC announces 2019-20 men’s basketball conference matchups

SAN BRUNO, Calif. — Gonzaga will play Pacific (at home) and Portland (on the road) just once this season, as the West Coast Conference has announced the 16 conference matchups for each of its 10 men’s basketball teams for the 2019-20 season.

This is the second season the WCC will play a 16-game schedule after changes adopted by the WCC Presidents’ Council prior to the start of the 2018-19 season.

The matchups detailed below designate the 16-game home and away opponents for the upcoming season based on a conference formula including 2017-18 team RPI and the 2018-19 team NET rankings, last year’s West Coast Conference tournament seedings, and a spring survey of the league’s 10 head coaches.

The 2020 West Coast Conference basketball championships will take place March 5-10 at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.

The scheduling matchups for West Coast Conference men’s basketball do not impact the women’s basketball schedule, which will continue the traditional 18-game, double round-robin league slate in 2019-20.

The regular-season WCC men’s basketball matchups for the 2019-20 season are listed below. Conference play will begin on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2020. Specific dates and times for each game will be announced later this summer after the conference’s league schedule is finalized.

BYU

Home/Road: Gonzaga, LMU, Pepperdine, Portland, Saint Mary’s, San Diego, San Francisco

Home: Santa Clara

Road: Pacific

Gonzaga

Home/Road: BYU, LMU, Pepperdine, Saint Mary’s, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Clara

Home: Pacific

Road: Portland

Loyola Marymount

Home/Road: BYU, Gonzaga, Pacific, Pepperdine, Portland, Saint Mary’s, San Francisco

Home: San Diego

Road: Santa Clara

Pacific

Home/Road: LMU, Pepperdine, Portland, Saint Mary’s, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Clara

Home: BYU

Road: Gonzaga

Pepperdine

Home/Road: BYU, Gonzaga, LMU, Pacific, Portland, San Diego, Santa Clara

Home: Saint Mary’s

Road: San Francisco

Portland

Home/Road: BYU, LMU, Pacific, Pepperdine, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Clara

Home: Gonzaga

Road: Saint Mary’s

Saint Mary’s

Home/Road: BYU, Gonzaga, LMU, Pacific, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Clara

Home: Portland

Road: Pepperdine

San Diego

Home/Road: BYU, Gonzaga, Pacific, Pepperdine, Portland, Saint Mary’s, Santa Clara

Home: San Francisco

Road: LMU

San Francisco

Home/Road: BYU, Gonzaga, LMU, Pacific, Portland, Saint Mary’s, Santa Clara

Home: Pepperdine

Road: San Diego

Santa Clara

Home/Road: Gonzaga, Pacific, Pepperdine, Portland, Saint Mary’s, San Diego, San Francisco

Home: LMU

Road: BYU

Kickoff time, TV network announced for Vandals’ season opener

The first game time of Idaho’s 2019 football season was announced Thursday.

The Vandals will open the season Saturday, Aug. 31, at 3:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. PT at Penn State in University Park, Pa. The game will be nationally televised on Big Ten Network.

This will be the first all-time meeting between Idaho and Penn State. It marks the Vandals’ second all-time meeting against a Big Ten opponent and third with a current Big Ten member. Idaho traveled to Michigan State in 2006 and Nebraska in 2010 (then a member of the Big 12).

The remainder of Idaho’s game times will be announced in the coming months. Kickoff times for the Big Sky Conference games and home contests will be finalized once the league’s television schedule is finalized. Last season, that announcement came Aug. 15.

EWU, Huskies to kick

at noon Aug. 31 in Seattle

The Eastern Washington University football team will make its seventh appearance on the Pac-12 Networks in school history when the Eagles play at the University of Washington at noon on Aug. 31 in Seattle, it was announced Thursday.

Pac-12 Conference announces

2019 early TV selections

Four Washington State football games, two at Martin Stadium and two road contests, have been picked as part of the Pac-12 Conference’s early television selections, the conference announced Thursday.

The Pac-12 television selections cover the first three weeks of the season, along with selected games later in the year.

The Cougars will open their 2019 season Saturday, Aug. 31 against New Mexico State in Martin Stadium. Game time is set for 7 p.m. and will be televised by the Pac-12 Network. The following week WSU will host Northern Colorado at 2 p.m., the game also televised by the Pac-12 Network.

The Cougars conclude their 2019 nonconference schedule at Houston, Friday, Sept. 13, as part of the AdvoCare Texas Kickoff at NRG Stadium in Houston. The game will kick at 6:15 p.m. PT and be broadcast on ESPN.

The lone remaining TV selection was for the Apple Cup against Washington, which is set for Friday, Nov. 29 at 1 p.m. in Seattle. The game will be televised by FOX or FS1.

All remaining television game selections and start times, starting with week four (Sat., Sept. 21) and running through the final week of the regular season (Sat., Nov. 30) will be made 12 or six days in advance.

The remaining home games not selected for TV during the early selections include UCLA (Sept. 21), while Colorado comes to Pullman for an Oct. 19 matchup, which will also be Homecoming Weekend on the WSU campus. The annual Dad’s Weekend matchup will feature WSU against Stanford Nov. 16 followed by the home finale one week later when WSU hosts Oregon State Nov. 23.

The remaining road contests include Utah (Sept. 28), Arizona State (Oct. 12), Oregon (Oct. 26) and California (Nov. 9).

Kickoff time announced for Boise State home game against Portland State

BOISE ­— Boise State’s nonconference football game against Portland State will kick off at 8:15 p.m. MST, Saturday, Sept. 14 in Albertsons Stadium. The contest will be televised on ESPN2.

The Broncos will also host Marshall (Friday, Sept. 6) and Air Force (Friday, Sept. 20) on ESPN2. In all, seven of Boise State’s 12 regular season games will air on ESPN’s networks in 2019.