MOSCOW, Idaho - Coming off its second postseason bid and second top-three Western Athletic Conference finish in three seasons, the University of Idaho men's basketball team and head coach Don Verlin announced the team's 2011-12 schedule on Tuesday.

"I'm extremely excited and extremely relieved to get our schedule done," Verlin said. "We have a very challenging preseason schedule, and I think this schedule is the best we've had since I've been here, as far as the quality of teams."

The schedule includes 14 home games in Moscow between the Cowan Spectrum and historic Memorial Gym, starting on Monday, Nov. 14, when Concordia University visits. Idaho will also host regional foes Montana State, Eastern Washington, Seattle University, Cal State Bakersfield and Washington State in non-conference play.

"The idea is to get us prepared as well as possible for when we get to the WAC, but it's also about getting good, quality teams to come to Moscow to reward our fans," Verlin said of the scheduling philosophy.

The Vandals open the season on the road at Long Beach State on Saturday, Nov. 12. They'll play non-conference road games at Montana, UC Davis, Oregon State, Wisconsin Green Bay, Wright State and Seattle.

The schedule also features two neutral-site games in Southern Idaho. The Vandals will play Lewis-Clark State on Nov. 23 at Boise's CenturyLink Arena, and then renew their intrastate rivalry with Boise State in a New Year's Eve matchup at the Idaho Center at Nampa, Idaho.

"I think we have good home games in Moscow and we've got a couple good neutral-site games in Boise," Verlin said. "It's a long ways for our team to travel, but it's a good thing for our Boise alumni."

The Vandals and Broncos have played consecutively in men's basketball every season since 1970-71. This year's game will be just the second in 90-game series history played at a neutral site. The only other neutral game happened on March 12, 1992, in the Big Sky Tournament at Missoula, Mont. Idaho won that game, 75-56, to advance to the Big Sky title game.

"I hope it's a yearly thing," Verlin said of the rivalry. "That was kind of the idea when we negotiated playing at the Idaho Center. I really hope that game gains momentum and I hope we sell it out and show the people in the state of Idaho that this is a rivalry that should happen every year.

"It's very important for the state of Idaho and basketball. I believe we should play all the in-state schools every year, for the kids and the people in the state, and for the state itself."

The team will also participate again in the Sears BracketBusters competition on Saturday, Feb. 18. The Vandals will host an opponent to be named at a later date. Idaho won its BracketBuster matchup at Montana State last season, 65-50. This year's BracketBuster game will also be Senior Night for Idaho.

After playing 29 of its 32 games in the Pacific and Mountain time zones last season, Verlin said it was important for the team to continue finding quality opponents in the region.

"It's good for our recruiting and our fans to play those games," Verlin said. "We have a lot of alumni in the Seattle and Portland areas, so I think it's important for all Vandals to get those games. As many games as we can play in the Pacific time zone, we will."

Idaho will play five of its first seven WAC games within the friendly confines of Cowan Spectrum, starting with Nevada on Thursday, Jan. 5. The team's first WAC road action will be the weekend of Jan. 12-14, when the Vandals visit Louisiana Tech and New Mexico State.

The Vandals wrap up WAC play with three consecutive conference road games at Utah State, Hawai'i and San Jose State before heading to Las Vegas for the WAC Tournament, Mar. 7-10, at the Orleans Arena.

"Any time you start with five of your first seven in your place, you've got to take care of home cooking," Verlin said. "The end part of our schedule - finishing at Utah State, Hawai'i and San Jose State, right before we go to the tournament - is a tough stretch and hopefully we'll take care of the early part and we're playing our best basketball by then."

The Vandals will appear twice on ESPN Regional in 2010-11, first when they visit LA Tech on Jan. 12, then again when they host Hawai'i on Saturday, Jan. 28, at Cowan Spectrum. The WAC Sports Network broadcast schedule will be released at a later date.

"There's a lot of parity in the WAC this year. I really believe there are a lot of very even teams," Verlin said. "I think it's going to be an exciting conference, and I think you're going to see a lot of close games, both at home and on the road."

The schedule includes four teams that advanced to the postseason in 2011, five teams that won at least 19 games and nine games against opponents from the Pacific Northwest. The Vandals play two teams from the Pac-12, two from the Horizon League, two from the Big West and three from the Big Sky. In preparation for what will be a WAC battle next year, the Vandals will again play a home-and-home series with Seattle U.

The oldest continuous rivalry West of the Mississippi resumes on Dec. 7, when Washington State visits the Cowan Spectrum for a 7:05 tip. The two teams have played every year since 1905 and WSU holds a 160-106 series edge.

On the flip side, Idaho will travel to Dayton, Ohio, on Dec. 20, and will play Wright State for the first time in program history. Wright State is Idaho's only first-time opponent on the schedule this season. The Vandals went 3-0 last season against first-time opponents.

Vandal fans will get the chance to see Idaho on the court for the first time on Friday, Oct. 28, when Idaho hosts Evergreen State in an exhibition game at 7:05 p.m. The team will also play Willamette University in an exhibition on Saturday, Nov. 5.

There are plenty of similarities between this year's Vandals and last year's squad that was the NCAA's least-experienced group to reach the postseason. Verlin says he hopes this team can take some cues from last year's squad that showed steady improvement leading to a CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament bid.

"I really like these guys and they've been working really hard, but the experience factor is not in our favor," Verlin said of his team. "Hopefully, as we gain maturity, we'll get better and better as the year goes on, just like we did last year."