On Tuesday, the Sun Belt Conference determined that the University of Idaho football program would no longer be a conference member once the 2017 ends.
The decision speaks volumes, as the Vandals have struggled in the conference since rejoining in 2014.
A huge question haunts the Idaho football program: Where should the Vandals go?
The answer is clear. Idaho should follow the rest of the athletic department and move the program down to the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level and join the Big Sky Conference.
To be fair, moving down a division would have its consequences. For instance, many financial contributors want to see Idaho remain in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).
Some fans fear that if the program moves down, it would result not only in the loss of boosters, but also the ability to schedule “big name” opponents that generate revenue for the university.
However, these fears do not outweigh the intangible benefits of moving to the Big Sky.
When the Vandals first entered the Sun Belt in 2014, they posted a 1-7 conference record and finished the year at 1-10. The next season, the team saw some improvement and posted a 3-5 Sun Belt record and a 4-8 record on the year.
Despite some positives last year, these records speak for themselves. The Vandals had more wins in 2015 than the past four seasons combined.
The limited performance in the FBS has resulted in a general loss of interest in the football program that stretches beyond the university campus. Home game attendance consistently dwindles, especially late in the year when bowl game hopes have all but disappeared.
The Big Sky Conference stands as the last hope for the Vandals to bring competitiveness and former glory to for the team. By facing opponents with smaller programs, Idaho may begin to find its edge on the field.
Travel is also an additional and expensive cost of staying in the FBS. Nearly all Sun Belt teams reside in the Southeast in states such as Louisiana, Georgia and Alabama. The cost of transporting an entire team and coaching staff would be much lighter on the pockets of the university if the football team transfers to a league with more regional opponents.
Close contact with Northwest opponents would also provide a rebirth of old rivalries. Since the collapse of the Western Athletic Conference in 2012, Idaho has lost its identity as a team.
The longstanding rivalry with Boise State and Washington State used to generate excitement across the Palouse. Since that era has ended, the general excitement surrounding game day has failed to recover.
The ability to face programs such as Montana, Montana State and Idaho State in the Big Sky would offer the chance to rekindle some of that excitement, although on a smaller scale.
Rivalries are what give college football its identity. It’s what makes Saturday afternoon a thrilling experience. It can be difficult for Idaho to create that interest when the team is playing a program that is unfamiliar to most students.
Vandal fans should remember that football is just a game. From a university’s standpoint, it is also a business. Nevertheless, it is still a game to be enjoyed by the student-athletes and fans that call themselves Vandals.
The University of Idaho should make the right decision and move to the Big Sky. The decision should not be based on money or prestige. It should be about the student-athletes and the fans.
Brandon Hill can be reached at [email protected]
Bob Saget
Ron Reynolds nailed it. Something people seem to be missing here is that if the team moves down then players can ( and will) transfer without penalty. It is also very likely that most of the coaching staff takes off. They also won't be able to compete for anything at the FCS level for several years due to transitioning rules. All that destroys recruiting and basically guarantees that you can look forward to 3+ years of bad FCS football before maybe they turn it around. And by then the damage might be done. From what I've seen the people advocating for the Big Sky just don't understand the issues. They aren't the people who attend every home game, and they're not the people who donate to the VSF. They're the people who check out the scores on ESPN every once in awhile and maybe show up to the homecoming game if they attend any games at all. "The decision should not be based on money or prestige. It should be about the student-athletes and the fans." Tell that to the 40 student athletes who will lose scholarships if this bonehead FCS move goes through. Watch attendance decline even more. Basketball attendance sure spiked when they joined the Big Sky right? Like Ron said, it's a fact that attendance has always been better when Idaho was FBS.
Matthew Jensen
Oh how the mighty tribe up North has fallen...
Ron Reynolds
"Oh how the mighty tribe up North has fallen…" Look, this guy's an obvious Bronco fan and THEY want nothing more than for us to shoot ourselves in the head and further marginalize UI in the Treasure Valley. We did the same thing in 1958 when we declined to attempt to re-join a conference that became the Pac-12. Our AD at the time ridiculed WSC (WSU today) for rejoining stating, and I paraphrase, that they 'would rue the day they joined.' Look how that's worked out.
Fred Dorfman.
Strange, my reply in opposition to your article has disappeared.
86VAN
I see it Fred and it is well done!
Fred Dorfman
There are no benefits to 1aa football for the UI except to make it easier on Dr.s Staben and Spear. Staben can be lazy and take the issue off of his plate while Spear will have it easy scheduling one body bag game for about half as much as the UI gets now and one d2 or naia home game that I'm sure will fill the dome. You flippantly dismiss the loss of alums and money. That is simple minded and self defeating. Money does matter and the direct result of giving up and dropping football to 1aa will be less money and fewer plugged in alums. I assume you are a student and since this is the UI and not bjc that you are in your 20s. Let someone who attended the UI during the "great big sky days" of the 1980s provide you with some reality. The UI's rivals are not and have never been isu, ewu or mt st. I will grant that some view Montana as a rival but the Rivals that generated enthusiasm were bjc and reno. It is also disingenuous to fail to mention unc, und, suu, sac st, et al when you talk about the region "strength" of the big sky. These schools will provide many more games than Montana. Explain how und, suu, nau, etc will result in a regional feel to the conference? How many fans will travel to greely or flagstaff or wherever suu is located? You discount the factors that actually matter while basing your support for giving up on fan experience and competitiveness. Explain what fan experience is served by games against simon frazer and central Washington? How about the fan experience of a dome crowd of 2-3 k (less than the c of I gets)? There is a major fallacy being perpetrated by revisionist historians and supporters of giving up that there was in fact the great old days of the big sky. These great days caused more than one top 5 ranked UI team to play road playoff games due to lack of support or to play a home playoff game with 3k in the seats. Wake up people, there were no great old days in the bsc, there was a decade run with 3-4 good coaches not because of the bsc but because of good hires. How about the student athlete experience for the 44 athletes who will have their scholarships and or teams cut? Explain how the team will be competitive when the immediate impact will be the transferring of any football player who views themselves as a D1 player? How will the team be competitive with fewer VSF donations? Fewer season tickets sold? Zero chance of facilities improvements? The exodus of coaches? To argue for 1aa based on onfield results is missing the point. Sadly, many out there believe this is a football or athletics issue. It is much more. Ask yourself what will it look like in 15 years. Will giving up build the UI in the minds of the people and decision makers in Idaho? Will being the only school to go D1 and then drop build the athletic program? What are the actual costs of staying D1? Nothing, the worst case scenario is more of the same. The ramifications to the school as a whole for voluntarily lowering the public face of the school and therefor the political influence with those who make funding decisions is potentially disastrous. It would seem to me that a major decision to be made by carpet bagger president who spends half his time in Boise where his wife works and lives should be scrutinized and instead of settling on one of two options, be a leader and seek out a third option. The UI needs Churchill and not Chamberlin.
Darren
Well said, Fred. I couldn't agree more.
Martin
You should do your homework before you write uneducated articles like this. So, how do you make up for lost donations from businesses, boosters, and Alumni when we drop from FBS to FCS? How do you make up for lost revenue from FBS Playoff money and Bowl money? The only money earned through FCS affiliation is the FCS Championship $450,000. Lower bowls offer $750,000/team. How do you make up for lost revenue from money games? Currently we get over a million on average, where FCS games average $400,000. You were not around when Idaho was FCS. There are no rivalries in the Sky except for 1, Montana. All the others have moved to FBS. The teams in the FCS are not going to draw more fans and success will not be guaranteed. Instead of 11,000 fans at the games you will see 6,000. If we happen to make the playoffs in December you will still see 6,000 at the games. Our last H-Bowl win got more viewers than the FCS Championship game.Talent will drop and players will leave due to the drop down. IF FCS is so awesome and such a no-brainer, you should interview the UAB Athletic Director and ask them why they didn't just move to FCS instead of KILLING their program. Oh by the way, they are bringing it back and not at the FCS level! Go to an FCS game next year and compare it to one of our games next season and tell me if we should drop to that level. If we go bowling the next 2 years (which we have a very good chance of doing) tell me why we don't belong at the FBS level!
Matthew Jensen
" If we go bowling the next 2 years (which we have a very good chance of doing) tell me why we don’t belong at the FBS level!" You're not very familiar with Vandal Football, are you? Bowls require a winning season, and neither will happen as long as Spear or Petrino are around.
Martin
Classic response. How about next time come at me with I am rubber you are glue...
Cave Johnson
We all know how familiar you are with Vandal football Matt. Can't read anything about Idaho on ESPN without you showing up. And apparently you read vandal nation as well. Just when I thought your little obsession couldn't get any more pathetic. The football team won 4 games last year with two losses due to huge blown leads. But somehow it's not possible that they go to a bowl game. Great insight buddy. Care to address any of the 10+ other arguments for staying FBS? No? You're just here to troll? Great.
Matthew Jensen
If getting around online is your point of contention with me, then you must really hate your fellow dUI alumnus Sarah Palin. And yes, I stand by my assertion that a winning season for dUI isn't even possible, given that 2015 had two winning games that dUI essentially fell into. 2015's season happened without a buttmad coach and a team that has to be re-evaluating all of their individual options courtesy of the Sun Belt's need to do right by itself. The rest of your arguments for staying FBS are essentially a wash because of the impending reality of dUI not being able to sustain such a program in the future. I will admit to a bit of schadenfreude, but really, this is the result of having been born not long after the start of the Vandal streak against BSU, and seeing all of the deplorable, inhumane, nasty, inebriated, unconscionable, and barbaric behavior of dUI players, fans, and staff since. Don't try to pretend that you have some sort of logical or moral high ground. You're not fooling anyone, especially with a name ripped from a popular video game series.
Ron Reynolds
I graduated in 1969 so I've seen a lot of Vandal sports. We never had a rivalry with ISU, EWU, or even much of one with MSU. We certainly did not have anything with the rest of the BSC. Our biggest draws were always BSU and Nevada with Montana being a distant third. Kiss off EVER playing BSU or WSU again if we go Big Sky. Those that think attendance was better in the good ol days just need to do a Google search. Our biggest crowds have consistently been while FBS not FCS. This doesn't even take into account the loss of prestige of moving to the "minor leagues". Can the States "premier" university remain as such when so many people associate athletics with academics. Will this move help us increase enrollment when our biggest competition is playing in the major leagues? Yes, it's better to be at the bottom of the bigs than at the top of the minors. If it weren't, the Mariners would be triple A. One last thing, moving to FCS does not guarantee winning seasons. I will find it sadly laughable if we go to the BSC and are cellar dwellers. Imagine how your BSU pals in Boise will taunt you when that happens.
DesVandal
It renews my confidence in Vandals to see that some really do get it -- the Big Sky is the ONLY alternative that makes any sense at all for a program that has challenges in both location, demographics, and booster support.