It’s a common misconception that the success of an athletic department is dependent on the amount of wins earned by the football or men’s basketball team.
Between the years of 1985 and 1992, the Vandal football team won five Big Sky conference championships. Idaho Athletic Director Rob Spear said people think those are the years the athletic department was at its peak.
“People look at that time frame and think it was so successful,” Spear said. “But what it shows you is the significance of being good in football.”
Spear, however, measures success differently.
“As I’ve gone back and looked at our history, this is by far the most successful athletic year in the history of the University of Idaho,” Spear said.
In the seven-year span from 1985 to 1992, Idaho won a combined seven conference championship trophies — this year alone, Idaho won eight.
“I think it’s a great indication of the overall quality we have,” Spear said. “And that’s how you should look at the overall success of an athletic program — of how all your sports compete.”
Idaho was able to hoist a conference championship trophy eight times in seven different sports this year, which doubled its previous total of four in a year, set back in 1965.
The eight championships earned Idaho the WAC Commissioner’s Cup, which is awarded to the school that performs the best in each of the conference’s 19 men’s and women’s championships — Idaho competed in 15 of the 19 sports.
“It’s an incredible achievement,” Spear said. “It really shows the overall quality of our athletic program.”
The Commissioner’s Cup is awarded to the school that earns the most points by year’s end. Points are awarded in order of finish, equal to the number of teams that participate in each sport and are averaged between a team’s regular-season finish and its WAC Championship finish.
Idaho won seven postseason titles in women’s cross country, men’s indoor track and field, women’s basketball, women’s tennis, men’s tennis, men’s outdoor track and field and women’s outdoor track and field. The eighth title came from women’s basketball, which won the WAC regular season championship, too.
Idaho finished with 105.50 points, nearly 20 points ahead of the second place school, New Mexico State, which had 86.00 points.
Idaho’s 105.50 points is the highest ever achieved by any school in the 12-year history of the Commissioner’s Cup.
The record-setting year came after Idaho finished second two years in a row — and lost by a combined 9 points both years.
Spear said at the end of last year he had a meeting with all of the head coaches. He said he challenged them to win the Commissioner’s Cup in the school’s last year in the WAC.
“And we did,” Spear said. “Our coaches responded and more importantly, the student athletes did. It’s really fulfilling and rewarding. It’s a great indication of the quality and the work and effort of our coaches and student athletes … I think it gives us great momentum as we go into the Big Sky.”
While the Vandal football team struggles to fight its way back to relevancy, the rest of Idaho’s athletic department is flourishing — and winning the Commissioner’s Cup solidifies that.
“What it says, is there is a commitment on behalf of this athletic department, for all of our programs. We want them all to be good,” Spear said. “I think that has been validated by winning the Commissioner’s Cup.”
Korbin McDonald can be reached at [email protected]