Now that Idaho has finally tasted success on the football field...

[Cave_Johnson]

Not familiar with Portland State, but the other two schools are pretty much on par with the Sun Belt. A few of the mid-major conferences have become glorified FCS conferences as it is.

Glorified FCS Conferences with 85 scholarships, money coming in from the College Football Playoff, and money coming in from bowl games.

Oh man, I feel a rant coming on about how fucked up the FCS playoffs are. System sounds decent in theory but when teams start bidding in order to host games like the fucking CIT or CBI it gets real dumb.

 

[Cave_Johnson]

You might be right but it's tough to fill a football stadium when you're located in an isolated place such as Moscow.

It's even tougher when you're playing Southern Utah at the same time a real football game with two PAC-12 teams going at it is occurring 8 miles away.

 

[Cave_Johnson]

Part II: Getting Chucked in the Ass

So here’s the thing about Chuck Staben. This may come as a surprise but he doesn’t really care for college athletics. Chuck thinks all college sports should be club sports. He has wanted Idaho’s football program killed from the second he stepped on campus. How he was hired is still a mystery to me. I’ve heard they turned away great candidates like the woman who is now president at Wyoming and another guy who the SBOE vetoed because he had the audacity to make a Mormon joke during the interview (again, don’t quote me on that). I guess it all comes down to a bunch of incompetent clowns at U of I and on the Idaho State Board of Education. They made the hire.

Anyway, let’s look at exactly what Chuck has done at U of I.

First of all, the guy actually purchased a house in Boise because his wife (who kind of looks like a Far Side character by the way) didn’t want to live in Moscow. For those of you not in the know, that’s 300 miles away from the U of I campus. Right off the bat that’s weird.

But his first true fuck up was the infamous presentation he gave to the Sun Belt Conference. Idaho and NMSU were both asked to plead their case and explain why their football-only SBC membership should be extended. NMSU gave a well-researched, professional presentation that explained their plan moving forward to improve their football team and university. Chuck slammed together a fourth-grade-level powerpoint with multiple factual errors that basically summed up Idaho’s case for an extension as:

“Hey, we’ve sucked. But we’ve sucked less than at least a few of the teams already in the conference.”

See the presentation here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/sport...e/BINARY/Idaho's presentation to the Sun Belt

This presentation was laughably bad to the point where sites like SB Nation were picking it up and mocking the shit out of it, as they should have.

So why was this presentation so shitty? Only really two options here.

1. Staben is an incompetent piece of shit who couldn’t be bothered to put any effort into this because….well sports aren’t important. Who cares. He wants the Big Sky anyway.

2. Staben purposely made it shitty so that there was no way Idaho would get extended.

Both options make sense. Honestly I thought Idaho was going to get the boot anyway due to certain SBC teams complaining about the one road trip every 2-3 years they might have to make to Moscow/Las Cruces. Regardless, this whole ordeal pretty much clued people in on how much of a retard this guy is.

A month after the SBC officially dropped Idaho Chuck announced that the Vandals would accept a Big Sky invitation for the 2018 season. Before the announcement the U of I conducted a “study” on the viability of FBS Independence vs. the Big Sky Conference. This “study” was released about a year ago and is essentially a 40 page long S.W.O.T. analysis. If you’re not familiar with this method, it’s basically just throwing shit at a wall and seeing what sticks. There were no hard numbers or facts in this thing and it actually came to no legitimate conclusion. The best part is that the version that was made available to the public was dated something like a week after the university received the study, meaning that it was edited by Chuck Staben before release.

Interestingly enough NMSU state did an actual study on FBS vs. FCS and of course found FBS to be the better option in every regard. Makes sense when you consider that every other school that has found itself in a situation where dropping down has been suggested (see UMass, EMU, ULM, NMSU, and Wyoming) has laughed off the FCS option. Chuck’s just smarter than all those guys I guess.

Oh boy I’m just getting started. Here’s a short (and incomplete) list of everything Chuck Staben has been wrong about in his time as U of I president.

1) He claimed that athletic department donations would not decrease. In fact the U of I has already revealed that donations have decreased by $350,000 since the announcement. That number probably ends up being closer to $1 million when all is said and done. And that tends to make a difference when the school is begging the SBOE to be able to allocated more money towards the AD because they’re currently running a $1 million AD deficit.

2) He claimed no women’s sports would have to be cut due to financial issues or due to Title IX. He just recently stated that they are exploring cutting programs.

3) He claimed the school would increase enrollment under his watch. Technically there is an increase in total students, but if high school students taking dual credit courses are ignored then it was basically stagnant with total dollars coming in from tuition decreasing.

4) He claimed that Idaho could not possibly compete at the FBS level. Oops, 9-4 season with a bowl win. Need to a solid showing next year to really prove him wrong but it’s not looking good for him right now.

5) He claims that 75% of the feedback he received in regard to the FCS move has been in favor of the Big Sky return. Reporters from a local newspaper used the FOIA to search the feedback he received through mail and email and found this to be a lie. They found that in fact 75% of the feedback opposed the move.

It’s safe to say that the possibly autistic guy in charge at U of I is dead set on killing the football program regardless of what anybody thinks. It’s unlikely that if some actual conference came knocking he would accept the invitation.

What’s sad is that if Chuck hadn’t preemptively and foolishly cut the legs out from underneath the football program there was a great chance of Idaho putting together an independent football schedule for a few years. They had 5-6 money games set up over the course of the next 5 years. They had home and homes with schools like Nevada, Wyoming, and SJSU set up. Factor in guaranteed games with NMSU and the growing number of FBS independents and I don’t believe there would have been a huge issue getting a schedule together for a few years.

To be clear, sustained independence would not be the goal. That’s not going to be possible at Idaho. 2-3 years though? It’s doable. They essentially had half the games already scheduled. As an independent you keep your name out there when some inevitable conference shuffling goes on. You fight to stay alive and keep your options open. If after a few years you have to drop to the Big Sky then so be it. At least you went down swinging instead of retreating like a pussy. An FBS card is valuable moving forward. No sense ripping it apart and shitting on it before you have to.

Too late now though. Too many schools have backed out of the future series that they had scheduled with Idaho. At this point it would be impossible to put anything together even if for some reason the decision were reversed.

The absolute only hope would be for the Sun Belt to bring Idaho back again. They need a conference invite to fill out the schedule and the Sun Belt is the only real FBS option. MWC is a no go due to the U of I’s decision to not improve facilities. New WAC conference is a pipe dream.

Short of a miracle Idaho will be voluntarily dropping down to a dying division of college football that every team with ambition and a pulse is trying to move out of.

Oh sorry, I meant to say Idaho is voluntarily “moving forward”. That’s what Dumb Fuck Chuck calls it.

That was depressing typing all that. Time to go blow my brains out.

 

[mrwallace2ku]

Idaho's NOT A "Hope-n-Change" place…go figure.

 

[Boise4Life]

It seems laughable but Idaho is actually 3-0 in their bowl games which date back to 1998. I thought they were going to get slapped the fuck down in their last one by a red hot Colorado State team in last season's bowl and they threw up 61 on 'em. Go figure.

 

[Cave_Johnson]

Idaho's NOT A "Hope-n-Change" place…go figure.

Idaho: Where guns on campus are a right but adults drinking alcohol (a.k.a. the Devil's Brew) at a tailgate is a "safety concern".

 

[theboardref]

Glorified FCS Conferences with 85 scholarships, money coming in from the College Football Playoff, and money coming in from bowl games.

Oh man, I feel a rant coming on about how fucked up the FCS playoffs are. System sounds decent in theory but when teams start bidding in order to host games like the fucking CIT or CBI it gets real dumb.

Every system is flawed. Part of the beauty. Everyone has an opinion, everyone of them has holes.

 

[Cave_Johnson]

Every system is flawed. Part of the beauty. Everyone has an opinion, everyone of them has holes.

Chuck Staben has a few holes I wouldn't mind shoving a sanded down baseball bat right up inside.

 

[BamaDude]

Cave, I appreciate your in-depth analysis of the Idaho situation. You provided some facts that I was unaware of; but the simple answer is what I had already stated: lack of commitment by the administration (and, apparently, the SBOE).

Something to consider: although NMSU & Idaho are in similar straights as far as losing their FBS conference affiliation, there are also compelling reasons why the two schools chose differing paths. For the Aggies, it was FBS or bust - which could still happen - since there are not enough nearby schools in the FCS ranks for them to affilate with in a conference. Idaho has a multitude of nearby schools in the Big Sky Conference (many of which they have a long history with) that make a natural conference fit and can cut down their travel costs immensely.

I feel bad for Vandal fans that it has come down to this - especially after last season. But they will be more in their element, competition-wise and facilities-wise.

 

[Cave_Johnson]

Cave, I appreciate your in-depth analysis of the Idaho situation. You provided some facts that I was unaware of; but the simple answer is what I had already stated: lack of commitment by the administration (and, apparently, the SBOE).

I suppose if you want to boil it down to one issue that might be the biggest, but like I said there are tons of contributing factors.

I understand the point you're making about NMSU and Idaho's different situations. It's a good point. The issue I have is that NMSU actually conducted a thorough study that backed up their decision. A study where they actually looked at the financial impact and came away with hard numbers. Idaho didn't do that. As I mentioned the "study" Idaho conducted was a 40 page S.W.O.T. analysis that was devoid of hard numbers, never came to a real conclusion, and was never released unedited by Chuck Staben. Idaho's "study" was just for show. They made their decision and THEN hired someone to throw something together so that they could say that they looked into all options.

As far as the natural conference fit is concerned, you're right. That's partly why Idaho is already in the Big Sky for all sports other than football. The only money saved by this move is the cost of Sun Belt road games plus I believe some money that Idaho pays to aid in travel costs for the four teams that have to come to Moscow. That's four plane trips a year plus a bit extra. The money that will be lost due to the drop down (CFP money, potential bowl $, drops in donations, etc.) far exceeds any money saved by not taking four extra plane trips a year. I'd give you specific dollar amounts but I don't know them for sure because U of I never did a real study showing the numbers.

Idaho has history with the other four original member of the Big Sky, but only Montana was ever a real rivalry. Boise State and UNR were big back then, but both of those schools play real football right now. Trust me, Idaho State, EWU, and Weber State don't draw as well as Wyoming, UNLV, Colorado State, and UNR (all teams Idaho had a home and home lined up with or have played recently). Montana State brings tons of their fans, but they're not a school that elicits much excitement either.

Sure, Idaho is more likely to be consistently good as an FCS school. The same is true of UMass, Liberty, and Coastal Carolina. Like I said though, I'm not convinced Idaho will be that great once Petrino leaves. Not with the current administration in place. And even if they are great, being the tallest midget isn't exactly something to brag about.

Well...the tallest midget thing isn't really a great analogy. It's more like being the tallest dwarf among a group of dwarves and midgets. 4 conferences in FCS allow less than 63 scholarships and 2 don't allow any. Additionally 3 conferences don't even participate in the playoffs. It's...it's just a real fucky division.

 

[Boise4Life]

God bless your knowledge, Cave. My recollections growing up were simply Idaho whipping our asses routinely, rubbing our faces in it, and me hating that program as a result of all of it and vice versa. I really do hate those sons of bitches, but it's actually gotten so pathetic these past couple of decades or so that I actually feel sorry for them and almost in a way want to see them win if for no other reason than to not be embarrassed anymore as a dude who was born and raised in the great state of Idaho. It's insane. I found myself actually rooting for them in last year's bowl game, never thought I'd see the day.

 

[Cave_Johnson]

God bless your knowledge, Cave. My recollections growing up were simply Idaho whipping our asses routinely, rubbing our faces in it, and me hating that program as a result of all of it and vice versa. I really do hate those sons of bitches, but it's actually gotten so pathetic these past couple of decades or so that I actually feel sorry for them and almost in a way want to see them win if for no other reason than to not be embarrassed anymore as a dude who was born and raised in the great state of Idaho. It's insane. I found myself actually rooting for them in last year's bowl game, never thought I'd see the day.

I heard Chuck Staben is working on a neutral site game with College of Idaho in Boise so that he can drive to the game from his house. Reportedly it will be played at Boise High to ensure all those who want to attend will have a guaranteed seat.

 

[Boise4Life]

I heard Chuck Staben is working on a neutral site game with College of Idaho in Boise so that he can drive to the game from his house. Reportedly it will be played at Boise High to ensure all those who want to attend will have a guaranteed seat.

I would like to see the games come back. It's been almost seven years now. Boise can extend it out to 13 or 14 in a row or however many it is. It went away because our strength of schedule sucks and we couldn't afford to have anymore shitty teams on it to drag it down even further. But now that Boise has become irrelevant too these last couple of years, I say what the hell. Bring it back.

 

[Cave_Johnson]

I would like to see the games come back. It's been almost seven years now. Boise can extend it out to 13 or 14 in a row or however many it is. It went away because our strength of schedule sucks and we couldn't afford to have anymore shitty teams on it to drag it down even further. But now that Boise has become irrelevant too these last couple of years, I say what the hell. Bring it back.

Realistically it would be another 7-8 years before scheduling would even allow that. Idaho has two road FBS games scheduled every year now until 2024. That only leaves one extra non-conference game a year (FCS plays 11 games) and it would have to be a home game.

Regardless, it's my opinion that FCS schools should get as much $ as possible if they're going to play up. Idaho would be better served to go to Seattle, Eugene, Pullman, or Corvallis rather than Boise in that case.

 

[wazzu31]

If you think about it though, Idaho might actually have a better product in FCS, that's how Montana, Montana St and Eastern have become great FCS programs. Filling out your roster with FBS second tier recruits and getting all the transfers. Our game against Montana State is essentially going to be us against a Pac 12 transfer squad.

 

[Olyduck]

If you think about it though, Idaho might actually have a better product in FCS, that's how Montana, Montana St and Eastern have become great FCS programs. Filling out your roster with FBS second tier recruits and getting all the transfers. Our game against Montana State is essentially going to be us against a Pac 12 transfer squad.

but are the cougs actually going to show up to play or pretend it doesn't matter and lose to another FCS school?

 

[USCDoom]

The Real Question is what is Worse, Idaho or New Mexico State......

 

[Boise4Life]

I see DUI really gettin' 'er done in the classroom too. You know, the flagship school. Ranked last in the nation in multi-year APR yet again among the 128 FBS schools for graduating players. One more season left to reign in that category. Wonder where their rating of 927 will stack in 2018 amongst the FCS teams. Only time will tell.

 

[Cave_Johnson]

I see DUI really gettin' 'er done in the classroom too. You know, the flagship school. Ranked last in the nation in multi-year APR yet again among the 128 FBS schools for graduating players. One more season left to reign in that category. Wonder where their rating of 927 will stack in 2018 amongst the FCS teams. Only time will tell.

Saying APR measures how well you graduate players is not completely accurate. It measures athlete academic eligibility year-to-year as well as athlete retention (a graduating student is counted as being "retained" but a student that transfers out in good academic standing still can fail to gain APR points).

So essentially APR is a measurement of how well a school funnels their athletes into easy majors and keeps them from transferring/dropping out. If your point is that Idaho sucks at that, then I agree. We can't all be Boise State:

College athletes studies guided toward 'major in eligibility' - USATODAY.com

To the point, a string of 4 different head coaches in five years from 2003-2007 tanked the APR due mostly to kids transferring or just straight dropping out after regime changes. When Idaho finally had consistency at the coaching position for a bit, it turned out that the HC (Robb Akey) was really unprofessional and lax with making the kids go to class. He also happened to recruit a lot of guys that didn't stick around for more than a year. Basically a recipe for a real bad APR. Not that it's all on Akey. AD Rob Spear deserves some blame for this too. Athletic departments that give a shit usually make sure the coaches are on top of this.

Anyway the four year running APR is low again this year because they're still counting Akey's last season in the four year average. That year was especially bad. Mass exodus of players dropped the single year score to 838. Take the 3 year running total and the score is 955 which is about average. Nothing to brag about, but outside of Boise State I've yet to see a school that really brags about their APR score anyway.

 

[Cave_Johnson]

The Real Question is what is Worse, Idaho or New Mexico State......

NMSU has balls so moving forward I'm giving them the nod.