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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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Idaho going back to Sun Belt in football

UPDATED

After the Idaho State Board of Education approved the University of Idaho's request to seek membership in the Sun Belt Conference, athletic director Rob Spear confirmed via Twitter that UI will join its old conference in football only in 2014. Spear tweeted: "I want to the thank our State Board of Education and Regent of the UI for approving football membership in the Sun Belt."

We've got our full story below and a few additional notes.

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This is obviously welcome news for those Idaho fans who bemoaned the Vandals potentially having to join the Big Sky in football after experimenting with independence. On the flip side, for those who wanted to see Idaho in the Big Sky, this isn't such great news.

The move to the Sun Belt takes effect July 1, 2014, and UI will be coming on board with New Mexico State, Georgia Southern and Appalachian State.

A few notes:

  • Spear said the move to the Sun Belt will not impact the salary for coach Paul Petrino. Languague in Petrino's contract stated that the coach and Spear be in contact about future conference changes, but Spear said it did not impact compensation.
  • The Sun Belt has agreements with the New Orleans Bowl and GoDaddy.com Bowl. Karl Benson said he hopes to have a third bowl affliation, and maybe a fourth. Meanwhile, Spear said Idaho has a backup agreement with the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl for 2013 if the MAC and Mountain West can't fill the game with teams from their conferences.
  • Asked about what made Idaho appealing, Benson said, "They are an existing FBS member. They’ve invested a lot into their program. They have made a commitment to being FBS in football. The renovations and additions to the Kibbie Dome the last two years have established and created a much better football environment."
  • Asked if he's pleased UI has a football conference home before he leaves for Texas Tech, Idaho president Duane Nellis said, "This is something that’s certainly been a priority for me."

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By Josh Wright
Correspondent

MOSCOW, Idaho – The University of Idaho needed a stable FBS home for its football program. The Sun Belt Conference needed to get to 12 teams so it could establish two divisions and a championship game.

If you're wondering why the Vandals and New Mexico State are headed back to the Sun Belt as football-only members, it's really that simple.

"We have to realistic and honest here," Sun Belt commissioner Karl Benson said. "University of Idaho needed a conference home from a football standpoint, and the Sun Belt is providing the University of Idaho and New Mexico State with a conference home."

Benson announced the additions of Idaho and NMSU on Wednesday in a late-afternoon teleconference. Earlier in the day, the Sun Belt announced two FCS schools – Georgia Southern and Appalachian State – were also joining the league on July 1, 2014.

For Idaho, the move brings stability, a consistent revenue source and better postseason prospects. The Vandals had been left teetering after the Western Athletic Conference collapsed last year following widespread conference changes across the country.

Those changes are still being felt in smaller leagues like the WAC and Sun Belt. But Idaho is now on solid ground.

"It’s something that we have been working towards for quite a long time since we announced our independent status back in August," UI athletic director Rob Spear said. "It’s going to provide great stability for our football program. I’m most excited for our student-athletes. They’ve endured some trying times with having conference instability."

The Vandals will compete as an FBS independent this fall, while all other Idaho sports have one more year in the WAC before joining the Big Sky Conference.

UI was part of the Sun Belt from 2001-2004 before jumping at the opportunity to join the WAC. Spear said it was hard to compare the conference now to where it stood the last time UI joined.

Still, Idaho is comfortable with the Sun Belt's contingency plans if it loses other members. One current SBC school, Western Kentucky, has been linked to Conference USA.

If Western Kentucky stays, the conference will have two Petrino brothers leading programs – Paul at Idaho and Bobby at WKU.

"We’re extremely excited to get into the Sun Belt Conference," Paul Petrino said. "It’s a great football league. There are a lot of great coaches in that league."

The Vandals will be part of the Sun Belt's Western Division with New Mexico State, Texas State, Arkansas State, Louisiana-Lafayette and Louisiana-Monroe. The Eastern Division will include Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, South Alabama, Troy and Western Kentucky (for now).

Benson said the league's members will consider a nine-game conference schedule during May meetings. As it stands, the Vandals will have four conference road games in locales that won't be unfamiliar to a team that traveled to Louisiana Tech and Texas State last season.

"We’re used to it," Spear said, "so I don’t think travel is an issue at all."

The AD said Idaho will focus on nonconference games with Western schools to balance its travel. Even more importantly to Spear, Idaho is expected to see a minimum of $1 million in conference revenue in the third and fourth years after rejoining the Sun Belt.

"That’s significant," he said, "and I think it opens the eyes of a lot of other institutions contemplating moving up."

Spear's ideal situation would be to see Big Sky schools form a new Western FBS conference or join an expanded Sun Belt. With changes to the BCS system and money flooding in for a playoff system, he and UI President Duane Nellis expect FCS schools to eventually join Appalachian State and Georgia Southern in making the move to the FBS.

 



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