Football: Without a Home

The Sun Belt Conference released a statement Tuesday morning declining contract extensions to the University of Idaho and New Mexico State as a football-only members.

“We are disappointed by the Sun Belt’s decision,” said Idaho President Chuck Staben in a university statement. “But we are optimistic about the options before us and we are continuing to diligently consider our future affiliation as an opportunity to find the stability and full participation we have not experienced in the Sun Belt.”

Sun Belt President Denise Trauth announced the conference decision Tuesday morning during a media teleconference.

“This was a strategic decision that was reached following a thorough and complete review of our options,” Trauth said in the conference statement. “The Sun Belt’s Presidents and Chancellors strongly believe it is in the best interest of the conference to have a core membership of 10 football teams that are geographically located within the ‘footprint’ of the conference and that these 10 members also compete in conference sports.”

The University of Idaho initially joined the Sun Belt as a football-only member from 2001-2004, before leaving to join the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) from 2005-2012. The WAC dropped football after 2012, forcing Idaho to play as an independent during the 2013 season.

The Vandals rejoined the conference in 2014 as part of a four-year contract extension.

Idaho went 4-12 in conference play during the 2014 and 2015 seasons. The Vandals finished with a 4-8 record last year, beating conference opponents Troy, Texas State and Louisiana-Monroe.

The Sun Belt Conference was expected to vote on the topic of a contract extension during a meeting with league presidents March 10, but Staben said the decision came 10 days early.

Sun Belt Commissioner Karl Benson said there was no official vote from conference presidents on the issue. Sun Belt officials instead decided to exchange information following presentations from Idaho and New Mexico State.

“There were no votes taken, it was a matter of being able to share information and compare notes,” Benson said. “And that’s not uncommon.”

The Sun Belt commissioner said geographical location played a key role in the decision, but bowl game appearances would have outweighed other considerations.

“I think that it would have absolutely been a factor, had there been greater on-field success by either university,” Benson said. “ But it didn’t happen and the decision we had to make was not based on what might happen in the future.”

The Sun Belt Conference also declined a football-only contract extension to New Mexico State.

“We’re disappointed with this outcome, but we respect the decision of the Sun Belt Conference,” said New Mexico State President Garrey Carruthers in a statement released by the university. “We appreciate being able to play football in the Sun Belt Conference for the past two years and look forward to continuing in the league for the next two years.”

Carruthers said New Mexico State is considering other conference affiliations.

“It appears the landscape of conference affiliation could see significant movement, especially as current television contracts are renegotiated,” Carruthers said.

Staben said the university would evaluate whether to accept a football invitation to the Big Sky Conference or play an independent schedule during the fall 2018 season.

“Those are the two primary options, although there is still flux among various the NCAA conferences,” Staben said. “We don’t know if there will be any other conference available to us. We can go independent, and we do have an offer from the Big Sky.”

Staben said the University of Idaho would make a decision on conference affiliation in the immediate future.

“The invitation from the Big Sky is until May 4 , so we anticipate sometime before then we will decide whether to accept that invitation,” Staben said. “We could always ask the Big Sky to extend that offer. At this point though, that is the offer that is on the table.”

Staben said the program would remain in the Sun Belt Conference until after the 2017 season, when the conference contract ends.

University of Idaho Athletic Director Rob Spear said he has not ruled out the opportunity of the Vandal football program joining a more regional Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) league.

“We will explore all options, and I really believe that there is an opportunity out west for another type of league,” Spear said. “This is another challenge for our department certainly, but it’s not a challenge that we haven’t faced before and we will work through it and select the best option moving forward for the University of Idaho.”

Spear also said the decision by the Sun Belt Conference would not initially impact the contract of Idaho head coach Paul Petrino.

“We are in the Sun Belt for the next two years, so we have some time to work through that issue,” Spear said.

Spear said the focus of the program would be to find stability within a competitive conference.

“One thing that we will do in the future is control our own destiny,” Spear said. “And that’s one thing that we are going to put at the forefront here, is being able to control the next move, because we’ve been in this reactionary mode for too long. It’s very important for the University of Idaho to control its decisions.”

Staben said an attempt by the Vandal football team to become an Independent FBS program would be difficult to maintain.

“Independent is a very difficult status,” Staben said. “We will evaluate options, but we’ve been independent before, and it is not an easy way to schedule games and maintain a program and ensure stability. That will be a factor in our consideration.”

Spear said the athletic department discussed the policies regarding transfer requests, in case students decided to leave the Vandal football program.

“We’ve certainly had conversations,” Spear said. “We understand the rules … we feel that we are protected, that the student-athletes would certainly have a right to request a transfer, but it would through the normal transfer process.”

Staben said the university will consider all available options before making a future decision.

“The University of Idaho will continue to assess how to provide the best experience for our student-athletes and fans,” Staben said in the university statement. “Football is an important part of the college experience. A strong, stable athletic program complements the university’s great academic programs, enhances the student experience and engages our alumni and fans.”

Josh Grissom can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @GoshJrissom