Many people who know me know my affinity for the University of Idaho athletics.

I am aware of when it started, but I can’t explain why. Back in middle school, my circle of friends and I (verify this with Valley View Golf Course manager Mike Stuckman) used to predict games from every major college conference for both football and basketball.

Long before the internet, Street and Smith’s magazine and the Cleveland Plain Dealer provided us with the schedules (and scores). It was a lot of clerical work, but we inexplicably loved it.

For some unknown reason, I fell in love with the Big Sky Conference and specifically the Idaho Vandals.

Before you begin to believe I’ve gone completely off the rails, I am still an Ohio State fan. But I don’t hide the fact that Idaho is No. 2. Who else do you know locally who has 208 for a cell phone area code?

So imagine my surprise when the Vandals got the Big Sky automatic NCAA tournament bid, battling their way out of the conference tournament as a No. 7 seed, winning four games in five days. It is their first NCAA tournament appearance since 1990.

The good news is that Idaho (21-14) was not relegated to the play-in game as many had predicted, coming out of a little regarded conference. Instead, they got a No. 15 seed. The unfortunate news is that the Vandals play No. 2 seed Houston (28-6) in the South Regional at Oklahoma City.

So my elation — and that of fellow Vandal fans — will be short-lived. But just making the tournament for the first time in 36 years could be a recruiting tool for third-year head coach Alex Pribble.

The icing on the cake came when the Idaho Lady Vandals (29-5) made the women’s tournament. The ladies got even more respect than their male counterparts, garnering a No. 13 seed after winning the conference tournament as the No. 1 seed. The reward is to play at No. 4 Oklahoma (24-7) in the Sacramento Regional.

The Idaho men play the late game on Thursday, and the women play in the same time slot on Friday. The men face exceedingly long odds, since only 11 No. 15 seeds have upset 2 seeds in the 40 years of the current format.

However, it’s almost as rare for any double-digit seed to upset a single-digit seed on the women’s side. So, in all likelihood, both teams will be finished by Saturday.

My take? To paraphrase Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “Tis better to have played and lost, than never to have played at all.”

I will stay up and view both Idaho games (if I can stay awake), blowouts notwithstanding. If history is any indicator, this could be my basketball equivalent of Halley’s comet. I may never get to see it again.

Go Vandals!