| Mode: | Basketball |
| Year: | 1985–86 |
| Team: | Idaho Vandals |
| Conference: | Big Sky Conference |
| Short Conf: | Big Sky |
| Record: | 11–18 |
| Conf Record: | 4–10 |
| Hc Year: | 3rd |
| Asst Coach1: | Garry Mendenhall |
| Asst Coach2: | Pat Rafferty |
The 1985–86 Idaho Vandals men's basketball team represented the University of Idaho during the 1985–86 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Members of the Big Sky Conference, the Vandals were led by third-year head coach Bill Trumbo,[1] [2] and played their home games on campus at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow, Idaho.
Prior to the season, the coaches picked Idaho to finish fifth in the conference, and the media had them at sixth.[3] The Vandals returned all but one starter from the previous year,[1] but were overall in the regular season and in conference play, last in the standings for a third consecutive year. At the conference tournament in Reno, they met second-seed Montana in the quarterfinals and lost by eight points,[4] [5] their third consecutive loss in the Big Sky quarterfinals.
In three seasons, Trumbo's teams were overall (in conference) and he was relieved of his duties in succeeded by an assistant under hall of fame head coach Don Haskins at
|-!colspan=6 style=| Big Sky tournament