I think that means the former Penn State football coach really has died.

I sure don’t want to rely on CBS Sports or a website called Onward State for corroboration.

Confirmation of a person’s death becomes pretty clear if there’s a lifeless body lying in a casket and family members giving elegant speeches about his impact on their lives.

That wasn’t so easy to figure out last Saturday night when sloppy reporters used the social media outlet Twitter to tell the world that Paterno had died that night.

The folks from Onward State – a Penn State student website – were inaccurate but that didn’t stop the so-called professionals from CBS Sports to pounce on the report and proclaim Paterno dead. Neither report revealed where the information came from and CBS Sports looked pathetic later when it reworked the erroneous report and blamed Onward State for the mistake.

It told us all a lot about the lack of reporting standards and ethics at CBS Sports. People made fun of the network the rest of the night with fake reports combined with the phrase #CBSSPORTSSAYS … that’s beyond embarrassing when the common folks can deliver such humiliation to what is supposed to be a reputable news source.

The confusion last Saturday night finally ceased once Jay Paterno took time away from the hospital bedside vigil to tweet “CBS report is wrong,” and tell everyone that his father was still alive.

Pretty ridiculous that a family member has to deal with something like that when every remaining second of life is so precious at that time.

What Saturday night’s events displayed is that journalism ethics died before Joe Paterno did.

A reporter shouldn’t report anything without attribution and the standard used to be having the information independently verified by multiple sources.

You surely can’t be 90 percent sure that someone like Joe Paterno has passed away. Even 100 percent sure needs to be double-checked in the case of a legendary figure like the winningest college football coach of all time.

With all the scrutiny Paterno has been under due to the child molestation allegations levied at former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, you better be 150 percent sure the man has died before you write a story or put out a 140-character tweet claiming so.

The Paterno thing wasn’t the only black mark on journalism that week. Reporters who cover the Indianapolis Colts claimed Jim Caldwell would remain as the team’s head coach. Once again, there was no attribution to how the information was obtained and no on-the-record club sources.

Guess what happened the following day?

Caldwell was fired.

If your grocery store is out of eggs, that’s because they were needed in Indianapolis – egg all over the face of sloppy reporters not verifying information to the fullest extent.

I personally have a hard time with the sloppy reporting going on. Making it worse is that I have seen real-live reporters blame the immediacy of Twitter for the problem.

Um, who exactly typed in the information? Uh, who is supposed to verify ANYTHING and EVERYTHING they report?

Sounds more to me like the level of journalism has dropped to an all-time low. That has nothing to do with Twitter and has everything do to with a reporter not living up to the standards of the profession.

I don’t understand why any reporter would have different standards for what they post on Twitter than what would run in the morning paper. You would think the standards would be stricter now because your normal every-day person can easily call you out for being wrong.

A decade or so ago, fans had little recourse – the San Diego Union-Tribune erroneously reported that Mike Riley had been hired as San Diego State football coach and it was left up for athletic director Rick Bay to put out a press release saying there was no validity to the report.

Mess up something like that in today’s social-media world and get prepared for a long day of insults and a long night without sleep.

The scrutiny is much higher now.

Too bad the journalistic standards have become much lower.

One of the Harbaughs has to lose and fall short of the Super Bowl.

Don’t care if it is John Harbaugh’s Baltimore Ravens that come up empty or Jim Harbaugh’s San Francisco 49ers. One of them has got to go.

I reached that conclusion because I still recall what a nice person Jack Harbaugh was when he would visit San Diego Chargers training camp while son Jim was one of the team’s quarterbacks.

Jack Harbaugh would catch the first couple weeks of practices prior to the start of his own duties as Western Kentucky’s head coach. He would say hello every morning and genuinely seemed to appreciate that one of his sons was an NFL quarterback.

So I can tell you he’s even prouder to have two sons following in his footsteps and making a mark as coaches at the game’s highest level. Therefore, he doesn’t deserve to have to go through the agony of his sons facing one another on Super Bowl Sunday.

Think about it: If the Ravens and 49ers were to meet in the Super Bowl, one of Jack’s sons would achieve the ultimate of the coaching profession while the other son would be experiencing the biggest low a coach deals with.

How can a parent enjoy a Super Bowl under that scenario?

Here are Sunday’s predictions:

AFC Championship Game – RAVENS AT PATRIOTS

Seems like a while since the New England Patriots have been in the Super Bowl, doesn’t it? It has been even longer since the Patriots won one.

Hard to believe Tom Brady has gone six years since beating the Philadelphia Eagles and you have to figure coach Bill Belichick doesn’t want to come up short again either.

The Baltimore Ravens have the pass rush to make things interesting but I keep coming back to one thing: I can’t see Joe Flacco outdoing Brady with a Super Bowl berth on the line.

The Ray Lewis-led Ravens have more than enough defense to win this game but is it the offense – not your fault, Ray Rice – that influences this pick.

Prediction: New England 24, Baltimore 13.

NFC Championship Game – GIANTS AT 49ERS

I think I’m the only person west of the Mississippi to predict the New York Giants would beat both the Atlanta Falcons and Green Bay Packers.

New York seems to have that same confident feel it had four seasons ago when it stunningly reached the Super Bowl and then even more surprisingly upset the powerful Patriots.

It is tempting to stick with a successful trend and just pick the Giants, particularly with Eli Manning playing so well.

But the San Francisco 49ers also seem to have a special group and you may recall that I was one of the few people picking the 49ers to win the NFC West prior to the season.

I felt Mike Singletary was overmatched as a coach and that the Jim Harbaugh factor would make a huge difference and it has. Then factor in the fabulous ending while beating the New Orleans Saints – Alex Smith prevailing over Drew Brees in a shootout, no less – and you have to wonder if there’s anything that can keep San Francisco from winning on its home turf.

There isn’t – and don’t be surprised when the game is won on a last-second field goal by David Akers.

Prediction: San Francisco 30, New York 27.

LAST WEEK’S RECORD: 4-0

RECORD THIS POSTSEASON: 6-2

Canadian skier Sarah Burke died on Thursday nine days after a horrific crash during a practice run. She was all of 29 years old and considered a pioneer in her sport.

It struck me as such a shame that most of us are just learning about her extraordinary qualities because of her accident – here is the AP video report of her death http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rj7jGDgJ2wA.

Obviously, fans of the Winter X Games – she was a four-time champion – were already very familiar with Burke. She was one of those successful athletes that excelled outside of the mainstream and even won an ESPY in 2007 as the top female action sports athlete.

Her sport wasn’t part of the Winter Olympics so she didn’t have name recognition with most of us. But that was supposed to change in 2014.

You see, Burke had led the movement to get her specialty sport – superpipe skiing – added to the 2014 Games in Russia. She would have been considered the favorite to win a gold medal.

You know how Winter Olympics heroes seem to come out of nowhere and grab everybody’s attention? Sounds like Burke would have been one of those with that type of ability in 2014.

So instead, we are learning about Burke’s class and style after she is gone. The injuries she suffered in the crash sounded brutal and there is an accompanying diagram that explains them in this well-done story by the National Post – http://sports.nationalpost.com/2012/01/19/canadian-skier-sarah-burke-dead-one-week-after-crash/

She was genuinely liked by her competitors and had signed up to be an organ donator so somebody, somewhere will get a second chance at life due to her misfortune.

I noticed Burke had broken a vertebra in her back in 2009 and played the injury off a year later as being part of the deal when you sign on to participate in an extreme sport. She said she would do the same thing again.

And of course she would have. That’s what top-flight athletes do. The competitive juices don’t disappear due to a serious injury.

Burke died while doing what she loved. She knew the risk involved with her sport and undoubtedly was hoping to retire on her own terms somewhere down the line.

The ironic thing – and a heartbreakingly sad truth – is that more people will be touched by Burke’s tragic passing than if she had won a gold medal in 2014 and then lived 40 more years.

I think that’s why I kept having those tears welling in my eyes. It’s hard to think we all missed an opportunity to know more about a terrific young woman while she was alive. (click here for picture http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2012/01/600_sarah_burke_ap_120111.jpeg)

View from my third-floor window displays that the white stuff known as snow finally arrived in Boise.

But something seems to be amiss. Is that Tim Tebow preparing to compete in a playoff game?

Who invited Tebow anyway? Remember, he wasn’t even supposed to be able to play in this league, let alone win a playoff game as a starting quarterback.

Tebow tries to keep Denver’s magical season going on Saturday and that makes for a tough prediction. If Tebow really has a direct line to the heavens, who would dare pick against him and the Broncos?

I went 2-2 last week and guess what one of the two misses were? Hint: I went 2-0 in the NFC games and 0-2 on the AFC contests.

I’m shooting for a 3-1 record this weekend but I could easily go 1-3. I see a bit different NFC title matchup than most folks do.

Here are this weekend’s predictions:

SAINTS AT 49ERS

Too many people are comparing quarterbacks and declaring New Orleans as the winner because Drew Brees is a better signal caller than San Francisco’s Alex Smith.

That’s a bit short-sighted.

The true dissection comes down to whether the Saints can put on a high-octane show against the tough San Francisco defense. The 49ers were plus-28 in the takeaway margin and committed just 10 turnovers and will opt for a ball-control style behind top runner Frank Gore.

Two other things to consider: New Orleans has never won a road playoff game and San Francisco is well-rested after having a bye last weekend.

Prediction: San Francisco 27, New Orleans 24

BRONCOS AT PATRIOTS

Would you believe Tim Tebow has won more playoff games in the past seven days than New England star Tom Brady has won over the past four years?

True fact after Denver stunned the Pittsburgh Steelers last Sunday on Tebow’s dramatic 80-yard touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas on the first play of overtime. The Patriots haven’t won a postseason game since knocking off the San Diego Chargers in the AFC Championship game following the 2007 season.

The Patriots are the No. 1 seed in the AFC but you may recall that was also the case last season when Brady and New England lost to Mark Sanchez and the New York Jets.

What jumps out most about this matchup is the way Brady carved up the Broncos in Denver on Dec. 18 in the Patriots’ 41-23 victory. Based on that 60-minute dose of evidence, it will take a true miracle for the Tebow magic to continue.

Prediction: New England 31, Denver 20

TEXANS AT RAVENS

Baltimore sees a golden opportunity to reach the Super Bowl with Pittsburgh’s ouster to go with memories of the 33-14 beatdown the Ravens gave the Patriots in the playoffs two years ago.

Houston has overcome the loss of quarterback Matt Schaub and everybody has been expecting the Texans to crumble with rookie T.J. Yates filling in. But Yates surely outplayed Cincinnati’s higher-regarded Andy Dalton in last week’s wild-card round as Houston defeated the Bengals.

It’s hard to see Yates having much success against Baltimore’s sturdy defense so it will be up to star back Arian Foster to have a big game. The Ravens have learned – at least one would hope – that putting the game in Joe Flacco’s hands is a risky proposition. So the Texans should expect to see a heavy dose of running back Ray Rice.

The real difference lies in the defenses. The Ravens have Ray Lewis and Terrell Suggs and the Texans don’t.

Prediction: Baltimore 20, Houston 10

GIANTS AT PACKERS

Green Bay has been so dominant since going on its Super Bowl run last year that it is hard to fathom the Packers not returning to the Super Bowl to defend their crown.

Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers and New York’s Eli Manning both rolled up the stats when the two teams met in December so you have to figure another shootout is a possibility depending on the elements.

But what concerns me most is how the Packers will respond after a tough week in which the son of offensive coordinator Joe Philbin drowned in an icy river. Grieving and going to a funeral certainly changes the focus a bit and there’s no telling until the heat of battle begins how the Packers will respond.

Even if there hadn’t been a tragedy, I could see the Giants giving the Packers a good game and we all know what happened when New York played at Green Bay in the NFC title game following the 2007 season, don’t we?

Prediction: New York 34, Green Bay 30

The No. 12 team in the nation visits the No. 22 team in the nation, and the lower-ranked program seldom loses on its homecourt.

Both teams have won seven straight games and the lower-ranked team has won eight of the last nine meetings between the two teams.

Hope you’re not guessing this much-anticipated contest involves two Pac-12 teams. And no, Gonzaga isn’t part of the equation either.

Former power UNLV is back in a big-time fashion and the No. 12 Rebels (16-2) are clicking on all cylinders as they invade No. 22 San Diego State (14-2) in a Mountain West Conference showdown inside the raucous on-court arena that has become one of the toughest venues in the country.

I can recall covering games in the splendid arena during the early part of coach Steve Fisher’s stint when you could count how many students were in attendance and later questioned whether the announced attendance of 4,000 was padded.

It’s a different scene at San Diego State now and the Aztecs have a better record than people expected this season after losing four starters off a 34-3 team. Forward Kawhi Leonard – the second best player in school history after Michael Cage – moved on to the NBA after his sophomore season but the wins have continued to come.

Perhaps more impressive is how well the Rebels have played under first-year coach Dave Rice. The Rebels were loaded with talent to begin with but sophomore forward Mike Moser – a transfer from UCLA – exploded on to the scene and UNLV will certainly be playing during the second week of the NCAA tournament. Yeah, that means Sweet Sixteen or Elite Eight good and possibly playing for a Final Four spot.

The biggest question I have is why in the heck was Lon Kruger in such a hurry to beat it out of town and go live in Oklahoma with the cupboard full and a 30-win season awaiting? Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?

By the way, UNLV’s leading scorer is forward Chace Stanback. Guess where he started his college career before heading to Las Vegas: Yep – UCLA.

How good would UCLA be if coach Ben Howland wasn’t intent on being the Benito Mussolini of Basketball and knew how to relate to all the star players he successfully recruits?

Moser and Stanback are at UNLV and there’s also Drew Gordon serving as a double-double machine at New Mexico and guard Matt Carlino is BYU’s second-leading scorer. Not-so-gentle Ben booted star Nelson Reeves off this season’s squad and now the Bruins are just one of many ragged, underachieving teams in the Pac-12.

The abysmal shape of the Pac-12 is the Mountain West’s gain. The conference is seldom in the national spotlight due to being overshadowed by the Pac-12 and also because of having a weak television contract.

Instead of being on CBS like last season’s huge showdown between the Aztecs and Jimmer Fredette-led BYU, Saturday’s game is on something called NBC College Sports. I have no clue where on my cable system you find that channel.

A channel you have to search for is hardly the place on the dial for the top West Coast matchup of the season to be found. But I have equally bad news – February’s return engagement in Las Vegas is also slated for the same broadcast entity.

Not having a relationship with ESPN has killed the Mountain West’s basketball programs in recent years and is also a huge reason so why so many schools have been happy to skip out of the league for greener pastures.

But no matter how few people are able to watch the game nationally, that doesn’t take away from this fact: Aztecs vs. Rebels on Saturday is the top game on the West Coast thus far this season.

That is something that has never once been uttered before. You can thank the Pac-12 for helping ensure it.

But the game itself between LSU (13-0) and Alabama (11-1) isn’t going to determine that.

If LSU defeats Alabama a second time in the so-called national championship game, then we get reinforcement of what we already know: The Tigers are the best team in the nation.

But if the Crimson Tide wins, we just played an entire college football season to decide absolutely nothing.

Great system those BCS clowns have put together, huh?

LSU defeated Alabama 9-6 in overtime on Alabama’s home field during the regular season so a Crimson Tide victory would mean the teams went 1-1 against each other this season.

The system of buffoonery would award Alabama the national crown if the Crimson Tide win despite the fact that LSU has a superior body-of-work. The Tigers have eight wins over ranked teams, including victories over Alabama, the Rose Bowl champ (Oregon), the Cotton Bowl champ (Arkansas) and the Orange Bowl champ (West Virginia).

In other words, there’s really no reason to play tonight’s game. If the goal is to award a national champion, that has already been determined. If the regular season really means something, then LSU already is the champion.

Of course, that ridiculous notion that every college football game has meaning has long been exposed as a fallacy no matter how often BCS power brokers utter the phrase. If you’re in a non-BCS conference, only one game in the season has meaning – the game you lost.

Ask Boise State and any other recent one-loss team from the Mountain West, Western Athletic or Conference USA how that works.

So perhaps the ideal thing to do tonight is root for Nick Saban and Alabama to win the game and create more disarray and utter unhappiness with the BCS system.

You can already see the bottom wobbling per the system with the advent of social media. The BCS used to come up with spin control all the time to justify the lack of a legitimate playoff system and they aren’t so thrilled that the common-day fan now has a significant voice and can call them out for being the greedy hypocrites they’ve always been.

The pressure has become so intense that there certainly will be upcoming changes when the television contract runs out after the 2013 season. Perhaps there will even be a four-team playoff three years from now. (The BCS honchos will call it a “plus-one” since they avoid the word “playoff” at all costs.)

So if we need more chaos to get to the plus-one system, then there’s only one chant needed tonight – “Roll Tide.”

But if we are looking to identify the best college football team this season, we already have done so.

It is Les Miles-coached LSU, and it isn’t even close.

So it reasons that I should be weighing in with my playoff picks.

Anybody can say afterwards they knew a team would win. I will be able to prove my claims.

Or I will look like a complete idiot if I go winless.

Pretty sure that won’t happen with this weekend’s four games. You can count on that.

Then again, consider this: Back in September, I was fairly confident the Philadelphia Eagles, New York Jets and San Diego Chargers would be part of the playoff field.

How lame is it that all three of those teams are sitting home while Tim Tebow is playing in the postseason? The only thing sadder would be missing the playoffs in back-to-back seasons and deciding that Norv Turner is still the best man to guide your football team.

Oh wait, we can’t discuss Dean Spanos being clueless here. This is the place to talk about the teams that do win football games.

Here are the picks for this weekend’s four NFL playoff games:

BENGALS (9-7) AT TEXANS (10-6)

Cincinnati hasn’t won a playoff game in 21 years and went 0-7 this season against teams in the playoffs. The Bengals start a rookie quarterback in Andy Dalton and went just 3-5 in the second half of the campaign. One of the losses was at home to the Texans.

Houston lost its final three games after defeating the Bengals and hasn’t scored more than 22 points in any of its last six games. The Texans also feature a rookie quarterback in T.J. Yates after Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart both suffered season-ending injuries.

This game could go either way and the Texans’ fans will be rabid for the city’s first home playoff games since the Oilers called the city home. But my gut tells me there will be a lot of unhappy folks in Houston on Saturday.

PREDICTION: Cincinnati 24, Houston 20

LIONS (10-6) AT SAINTS (13-3)

Detroit was winless just three short years ago so being in the postseason for the first time since 1999 ranks as a huge accomplishment for the franchise. The future is bright with a superb pitch-and-catch duo in quarterback Matthew Stafford and receiver Calvin Johnson. Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh is a beast when he’s not busy stomping on prone offensive linemen.

New Orleans is vying for a return to the Super Bowl, which it won two seasons ago. The Saints have won eight straight games and haven’t lost at home this season. Quarterback Drew Brees had a historic season with a record 5,476 passing yards and multipurpose Darren Sproles has raised the offense’s production to a new level. New Orleans also has a lot to prove after last season’s embarrassing early exit against a Seattle Seahawks’ squad that went 7-9 in the regular season.

Teams like the Lions often find that initial visit to the postseason to be a bit rough. I see no chance of Detroit pulling off the upset on Saturday – not in the Louisiana Superdome and not against a team as powerful as the Saints.

PREDICTION: New Orleans 45, Detroit 26

FALCONS (10-6) AT GIANTS (9-7)

Atlanta is certainly due to win a postseason game since it has gone seven years without winning one. The Falcons were the top-seeded team in the NFC last season before being steamrolled by the Green Bay Packers. Quarterback Matt Ryan and running back Michael Turner both have bad poor games in two previous playoff contests for Atlanta. Figuring out whether the Falcons are ready to break through on Sunday isn’t easy.

New York looked like a goner when it lost four straight games but had incredible luck that its final four games included two contests with the always-underachieving Dallas Cowboys and one against the NFL’s most disappointing team in the New York Jets. The late 3-1 stretch got the Giants the NFC East crown and quarterback Eli Manning is more dangerous now that young receiver Victor Cruz has emerged.

The Falcons definitely have more talent than the Giants but are hard to develop faith in, especially leaving their warm Georgia Dome for the cold elements of New Jersey. Seems to me that all the Giants need to do is keep the game close and Manning (a record 15 fourth-quarter touchdowns this season) will find a way to keep the Falcons winless in the postseason under coach Mike Smith.

PREDICTION: Giants 27, Falcons 21

STEELERS (12-4) AT BRONCOS (8-8)

Pittsburgh has the top-ranked defense in the NFL by allowing just 14.2 points and 271.8 yards per game. Worse for Denver is that the Steelers have allowed just three touchdowns in their last six games. That makes for a nice comfort zone with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger gimpy and Rashard Mendenhall out after a season-ending knee injury. Pittsburgh is playoff-tested and has played in two of the past three Super Bowls under top-notch coach Mike Tomlin.

Denver enters with a three-game losing streak and scored just three points in last week’s key contest against Kansas City. The Tim Tebow magic apparently was a short-term potion and hasn’t been located since Dec. 11. The Broncos will stick to the formula of trying to be in the game in the fourth quarter and hope for the best.

Gimmicks only work so long in the NFL and the holes in Tebow’s game are being exposed. If Tebow does have a direct line to somebody in the heavens, this is the week to use it. Otherwise, “Tebowing” is a phenomenon that can be set aside for the rest of the playoffs.

PREDICTION: Pittsburgh 24, Denver 6

Another was that Turner held his Monday game follow-up press conference as if everything was business as usual.

By nightfall, it was clear that Tuesday would bring some news Chargers fans wanted no part of – Turner back as head coach and Smith remaining the team’s general manager.

And now it’s official that the two men responsible for the Chargers missing the playoffs in back-to-back years while playing in the weak AFC West are back.

Perhaps the plan is to see if they can stretch the streak to three and create even more hatred toward them in San Diego.

So much for getting the populace behind the bid for a new downtown football stadium when you continue to keep the most despised coach in Chargers history in place to mess up more game-management situations.

Of course, community outrage and fewer fans showing up for games sure will make it easier for Spanos to move the team to Los Angeles. Guarantee you that Turner would have been shown the exit if the Chargers were already located there.

They like competent powerful coaches in Los Angeles. Not insecure ones who don’t inspire.

I’ve already been asked a few times today what Spanos could possibly be thinking by letting Norv Turner stand on the Chargers’ sidelines again next year.

So what we will do here is let Spanos describe his decision to you.

“Bottom line, I believe these two men give us the best chance to get back to the playoffs,” Spanos said via the team Web site. “A.J. Smith is the best man to improve our roster, and Norv Turner is the best man to lead that roster on the field.

“Together, we have stability and experience that’s hard to find in the NFL. They’ve both been in this league a long time. I don’t think there is anything they haven’t seen or experienced. They’ve led us through some difficult situations.

“As we’ve seen throughout Norv’s tenure and particularly this past season, the players believe in him, respect him and play hard for him. When we went through that tough stretch, no one quit. The team kept playing hard, and that’s a tribute to Norv’s leadership and the respect the players have for him.

“Now we will take a hard look at everything, from player evaluation to coaching to the rash of injuries we’ve suffered in recent years. Injuries have killed us. And no one is ever perfect in this business. Player evaluation isn’t an exact science. We need to improve across the board and I’m going to make sure we do.

“We all have our quirks and faults, but I want A.J. and Norv on my side. They are the right men to help us win a championship.”

What it comes down to is that Dean Spanos wants both A.J. Smith and Norv Turner on his side. Doesn’t matter to him that few of his paying customers do.

But when he says they are the right men to help the Chargers win a championship, he’s dead wrong. They have worked in tandem together for five straight years and couldn’t do it when San Diego had the most-talented roster in the league.

Turner and Smith have ZERO chance of winning a Super Bowl crown next season with the many holes the club now has throughout the roster.

The Chargers haven’t even won a playoff game in Turner’s past three seasons and went 8-8 this season. Their star-studded offensive line is in shambles with the future of former Pro Bowlers Kris Dielman and Marcus McNeill in jeopardy to serious injuries and center Nick Hardwick also might have his played his last game.

The defense is now an ordinary unit with few playmakers and nobody that scares the opposing offenses. Cornerback Quentin Jammer has lost a step and former first-round pick Antoine Cason has been a disaster. The defensive line and linebackers are also average at best.

So Norv Turner is suddenly going to lead a team to a world championship next season when he couldn’t even win a playoff game following a 13-win campaign in 2009?

Only thing Norval will lead the league in is uttering “the biggest thing” in press conferences more than any coach in pro football history.

Poor Philip Rivers looks destined to have a career like Dan Fouts — one with no ring.

If you are a die-hard San Diego Chargers fan, you learned today where you rank.

Dean Spanos made it clear he doesn’t care about your feelings. And that winning certainly isn’t the most important thing.

So what do you suppose Dean will do when Los Angeles finally has its new football stadium ready?

He didn’t stand up for his fan base today and he won’t do so then, either.

Guess which contest created more of a frenzy?

OK, so that’s not a very tough question.

Now guess which rivalry is guaranteed to be played again next year?

They do some silly things in the state of Idaho but haggling over whether or not the two largest universities in the state play a college basketball contest and at what site shouldn’t be one of them.

It should be a no-brainer. We’re not talking basketball powerhouses here.

Boise State has never won a NCAA tournament game. Idaho has won all of one.

In other words, neither school has any bragging rights over the other. Period.

The two teams squared off on the last day of 2011 at a neutral site located 22 miles west of the Boise State campus and the contest at the Idaho Center in Nampa provided one of the better doses of basketball atmosphere the Treasure Valley has seen in recent years.

Half the fans in attendance were cheering for Boise State, the other half were hollering for Idaho.

The contest also turned out to be a pretty good game as Boise State received 26 points from freshman Anthony Drmic and held on for a 76-73 victory when a last-second 3-pointer by Idaho’s Kyle Barone sailed long (here is the stellar Associated Press game story – http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/article/Drmic-scores-26-Boise-State-edges-Idaho-76-73-2434806.php).

But currently there’s debate over a possible meeting next season as Boise State has no interest in traveling up to the Vandals’ neck of the woods in Northern Idaho.

University president Bob Kustra created a ruckus when he exuberantly claimed the football program wouldn’t play in Moscow after leaving the Western Athletic Conference and somehow that decision has carried over into all the other sports.

The sad thing is that Boise State home games are sparsely attended as second-year coach Leon Rice attempts to build up the program. One of the few times the locals perk up is when Idaho is the opponent.

The two teams played home-and-home as members of the same conference in the WAC, and in this era of tight budgets, you’d think playing a home-and-home series with an in-state rival would be a no-brainer.

New Mexico and New Mexico State figure out how to do it every year and I’ve always assumed people in Boise are a tad smarter than those folks who make wolfing sounds at Lobos games or choose to live in Las Cruces, N.M.

Idaho coach Don Verlin made it clear after Saturday’s contest that it isn’t his school doing the haggling. Verlin sounded like he’d play the contest in a Boise park at midnight on a frigid night in January if that’s what it takes.

“I think it’s a game that should be played every year whether we’re in the same league or not,” Verlin said. “It’s a rivalry game and it should be played. If they want to play the game or not next year, that’s up for them. If they want to play, they name the date and we will be here.”

Rice didn’t come out as strong as Verlin and said that playing Idaho again next season is something to be discussed after this season.

I got the sense Rice would like to play Idaho when he began talking about making the rivalry better. But you could also tell he was being careful not to be forceful about it and risk upsetting someone higher up the food chain.

Might be that university president of his school that referred to Idaho fans as “drunk and inebriated” two summers ago.

Boise State is bringing in a new athletic director in Mark Coyle who starts on the job later this week. Perhaps he can help get all the nonsense straightened out.

After all, Coyle is leaving Kentucky – a place where basketball is king and where every possession is part of the frenzy when Louisville is the opponent.