Idaho to drop down to FCS after 2017 season

After losing its membership to the Sun Belt Conference, Idaho is dropping down a tier in college football.

The Vandals will start playing at the FCS level in 2018 as a member of the Big Sky Conference, the school confirmed Thursday.

“I understand the magnitude of this decision and the strong opinions that surround it, both for and against, but joining the Big Sky Conference is the best possible course for our athletics program and for our university,” Idaho president Chuck Staben said in a statement. “We have carefully weighed our options and concluded that competing as an independent with an extremely uncertain future conference affiliation would be irresponsible when we have the alternative of joining one of the most stable FCS conferences. The Big Sky allows us to renew traditional rivalries and offers our athletes the opportunity to excel, just as they do in our other Big Sky sports programs.”

Idaho’s final season in the Sun Belt is in 2017 after the conference made the decision to play with 10 teams starting in 2018. New Mexico State also lost its membership to the conference along with Idaho.

”We are extremely motivated to compete in the Sun Belt for the next two years and then align with like institutions that make geographic sense in the Big Sky Conference that will provide our student-athletes with a quality experience,” said Idaho athletic director Rob Spear.

The Sun Belt was already a wacky geographical fit for the school because most of its members were in the southeastern part of the United States. With no openings in other FBS conferences, Idaho could have either gone independent or joined the Big Sky.

And going independent would have been a logistical nightmare and not very feasible. As an independent, Idaho would have had to schedule every game itself and getting teams to come to the Kibbie Dome without an exorbitant cost to the school would have been hard. Not to mention the lack of television revenue that comes with conference membership; there would not be a nationwide market for the rights to broadcast Idaho football games.

The Vandals are members of the Big Sky in all other sports and were previously part of the conference in football from 1965-1995 before moving up to FBS. Idaho also becomes the first team to drop out of FBS and into FCS football.

“We have two years to position our athletics department to best serve our students and provide the quality co-curricular benefits we expect from Vandal athletics,” Staben said. “We will be successful in the Big Sky Conference and will build a vibrant football culture that is an excellent front porch for our university.”

Idaho has games against FBS teams scheduled from 2018-2022. And as a member of FCS it can keep those games. However, its opponents – especially Power Five schools – may not want to keep the Vandals on the schedule, especially because of the College Football Playoff. Teams can only count one win against FCS schools for bowl eligibility.

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And as we saw last season with North Carolina, having two FCS teams on the schedule can be a serious schedule strength detriment. Despite having just one loss before the ACC Championship Game, North Carolina wasn’t within sniffing distance of making the Playoff.

Here’s Idaho’s currently scheduled future non-conference opponents starting in 2018:

2018
Fresno State
Wyoming
Northern Illinois
Florida

2019
Penn State
Wyoming
San Jose State

2020
Temple
San Jose State
LSU

2021
San Jose State
Indiana

2022
San Jose State
Indiana
Old Dominion

The Sun Belt is currently an 11-team league with New Mexico State and Idaho, though that’s about to change. Coastal Carolina is joining the league and the conference will play at 12 teams for two seasons before dropping down to 10.

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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @NickBromberg