Idaho’s football future is uncertain at best

MOSCOW, Idaho »In the crisp autumn weather you can see for miles across the rolling wheat fields of this side of the Palouse, where, tucked just inside the Idaho-Washington border, the leaves are turning brilliant colors.

Less clear — and bright — is the future of University of Idaho football, whose gold “I” logo can be seen proudly emblazoned on barns and grain storage facilities.

The Vandals play their last scheduled football game — Western Athletic Conference or otherwise — against the University of Hawaii on Saturday at the Kibbie Dome before the Warriors head off to the Mountain West Conference in 2012. For the Vandals and their hardy fans, it is one more reminder of the uncertain football future they face.

Of all the teams in the eight-member WAC, the Vandals might have the most to be concerned about. None of their closest major college neighbors, Washington State of the Pac-12 or Boise State of the (for the moment, at least) Mountain West seeks their company as league members.

In the speed-dating world of conference alignments, nobody is pursuing the Vandals or calling them back. At a time when desirability is measured in TV market size, the Vandals’ options are few unless they want to step down a level and return to the Big Sky Conference they left 16 years ago.

So, they cling to a WAC in wholesale transition as Hawaii follows Nevada and Fresno State out the door and Texas State and Texas-San Antonio come aboard in 2012 amid the search for more members.

Once upon a time the Vandals rubbed shoulder pads in a conference with USC, UCLA, Stanford, California, Washington, Oregon, Washington State and Oregon State. It was the Pacific Coast Conference, forerunner of the Pac-8, Pac-10 and Pac-12.

But that nearly 40-year run ended in 1958, and the Vandals, who once dominated down-state rival Boise State, have bounced around while the Broncos have ascended.

Which was why there was a giddiness that June 4 day in 2004 when it was announced that Idaho would be joining the WAC — and Boise State — for the 2005-06 school year. The belief then was that the Vandals had finally found a home where they could compete and grow. After three conferences in 10 years, including the far-flung Sun Belt, the WAC seemed to offer what the Vandals needed, regional rivals and stability.

In their fifth year of WAC membership, 2009, the Vandals went to the Humanitarian Bowl, capping an 8-5 season that underlined their potential. But rebuilding has been a chore, with a 3-5 finish in 2010 and the current 1-6 campaign that finds the Vandals last (0-3) in the WAC standings.

But that hasn’t been the worst of it. Word leaked earlier this week that the Mountain West and Conference USA had expanded their announced 22-member conference merger plan proposing to add the Big East and field four eight-team divisions for a 32-team alignment. Utah State, San Jose State and Louisiana Tech were included, Idaho and New Mexico State were the only current WAC members not listed.

That plan might now be dead in the water, but for Idaho it was one more reminder in a stream of them of just how precarious the Vandals’ position on the landscape remains.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.