The SBC honored the contract, I don't see the issue. I'm on record of bringing in NMSU for all sports down the road along with a eastern member. But a home and home with either in football isn't beneficial for either party.

Do you think NMSU and Idaho really want to come to Boone or Statesboro?

A formal agreement would be nice, but I don't know if we need it. Quite a few Sun Belt schools don't find it easy to get enough FBS home games. I'm sure an Idaho or NMSU indy schedule would include a few H&H's with Sun Belt schools every year.

Just looking at 2018, Coastal, Georgia St., Texas St., ULL & ULM all have open OOC dates. In 2019 practically everyone does. If Idaho goes indy I'd be surprised if we weren't on a few of those schedules.

(03-25-2016 10:20 AM)LatahCounty Wrote:  A formal agreement would be nice, but I don't know if we need it. Quite a few Sun Belt schools don't find it easy to get enough FBS home games. I'm sure an Idaho or NMSU indy schedule would include a few H&H's with Sun Belt schools every year.

Just looking at 2018, Coastal, Georgia St., Texas St., ULL & ULM all have open OOC dates. In 2019 practically everyone does. If Idaho goes indy I'd be surprised if we weren't on a few of those schedules.

If Idaho goes Indy, you might as well drop football and move back to the WAC. FCS football is better than no football at all, which why other schools have been adding football...even at the FCS level.

(03-25-2016 10:32 AM)MWC Tex Wrote:  

(03-25-2016 10:20 AM)LatahCounty Wrote:  A formal agreement would be nice, but I don't know if we need it. Quite a few Sun Belt schools don't find it easy to get enough FBS home games. I'm sure an Idaho or NMSU indy schedule would include a few H&H's with Sun Belt schools every year.

Just looking at 2018, Coastal, Georgia St., Texas St., ULL & ULM all have open OOC dates. In 2019 practically everyone does. If Idaho goes indy I'd be surprised if we weren't on a few of those schedules.

If Idaho goes Indy, you might as well drop football and move back to the WAC. FCS football is better than no football at all, which why other schools have been adding football...even at the FCS level.

Forgive us if we don't take our marching orders from a guy who's been trying to kill Idaho on these boards for years.

Unlike 2013, when the program was in shambles and we had about 6 months notice to put together a desperation slapdash indy schedule, Petrino has us in pretty good shape and we have 2 years with lots of G5 teams who still have open dates. We'll be fine as an indy, at least for a while.

(03-25-2016 10:20 AM)LatahCounty Wrote:  A formal agreement would be nice, but I don't know if we need it. Quite a few Sun Belt schools don't find it easy to get enough FBS home games. I'm sure an Idaho or NMSU indy schedule would include a few H&H's with Sun Belt schools every year.

Just looking at 2018, Coastal, Georgia St., Texas St., ULL & ULM all have open OOC dates. In 2019 practically everyone does. If Idaho goes indy I'd be surprised if we weren't on a few of those schedules.

I think Idaho will have a hard time scheduling H&H games as an independent due to the isolated location and the small 15k stadium.
NMST will have a easier shot at going independent for a while. NMST has UTEP, NM, Idaho, and UMASS to start a H&H schedule with plus they have the MWC and western CUSA and Sunbelt schools to schedule along with and FCS game and a money P5 team of two. On the other hand Idaho only has NMST and UMASS to schedule for H&H 's and because of it isolation only has the MWC and the NW P-12 conferences available regionally and how many of the schools from those conferences will play Idaho at home. Idaho will have to schedule 2 home FCS games a year to meet the 5 home game rule a year. Both Idaho and NMST might get H&H's with BYU too but expect those contracts to be 2 for 1's.

Both Idaho and NMST better be on the phone to the MWC begging for inclusion and begging them to go to 14 teams as a conference as of YESTERDAY. Good luck on independence - you will need it. Sorry for the position your in too.

(03-27-2016 08:21 AM)PA-GAMECOCK Wrote:  

(03-25-2016 10:20 AM)LatahCounty Wrote:  A formal agreement would be nice, but I don't know if we need it. Quite a few Sun Belt schools don't find it easy to get enough FBS home games. I'm sure an Idaho or NMSU indy schedule would include a few H&H's with Sun Belt schools every year.

Just looking at 2018, Coastal, Georgia St., Texas St., ULL & ULM all have open OOC dates. In 2019 practically everyone does. If Idaho goes indy I'd be surprised if we weren't on a few of those schedules.

I think Idaho will have a hard time scheduling H&H games as an independent due to the isolated location and the small 15k stadium.
NMST will have a easier shot at going independent for a while. NMST has UTEP, NM, Idaho, and UMASS to start a H&H schedule with plus they have the MWC and western CUSA and Sunbelt schools to schedule along with and FCS game and a money P5 team of two. On the other hand Idaho only has NMST and UMASS to schedule for H&H 's and because of it isolation only has the MWC and the NW P-12 conferences available regionally and how many of the schools from those conferences will play Idaho at home. Idaho will have to schedule 2 home FCS games a year to meet the 5 home game rule a year. Both Idaho and NMST might get H&H's with BYU too but expect those contracts to be 2 for 1's.

Both Idaho and NMST better be on the phone to the MWC begging for inclusion and begging them to go to 14 teams as a conference as of YESTERDAY. Good luck on independence - you will need it. Sorry for the position your in too.

I don't see BYU getting away with offering anyone a 2 for 1. They aren't exactly having an easy time scheduling.

Here is a Q&A With Idaho's Prez about their football team.

(03-27-2016 08:21 AM)PA-GAMECOCK Wrote:  

(03-25-2016 10:20 AM)LatahCounty Wrote:  A formal agreement would be nice, but I don't know if we need it. Quite a few Sun Belt schools don't find it easy to get enough FBS home games. I'm sure an Idaho or NMSU indy schedule would include a few H&H's with Sun Belt schools every year.

Just looking at 2018, Coastal, Georgia St., Texas St., ULL & ULM all have open OOC dates. In 2019 practically everyone does. If Idaho goes indy I'd be surprised if we weren't on a few of those schedules.

I think Idaho will have a hard time scheduling H&H games as an independent due to the isolated location and the small 15k stadium.
NMST will have a easier shot at going independent for a while. NMST has UTEP, NM, Idaho, and UMASS to start a H&H schedule with plus they have the MWC and western CUSA and Sunbelt schools to schedule along with and FCS game and a money P5 team of two. On the other hand Idaho only has NMST and UMASS to schedule for H&H 's and because of it isolation only has the MWC and the NW P-12 conferences available regionally and how many of the schools from those conferences will play Idaho at home. Idaho will have to schedule 2 home FCS games a year to meet the 5 home game rule a year. Both Idaho and NMST might get H&H's with BYU too but expect those contracts to be 2 for 1's.

Both Idaho and NMST better be on the phone to the MWC begging for inclusion and begging them to go to 14 teams as a conference as of YESTERDAY. Good luck on independence - you will need it. Sorry for the position your in too.

Maybe it will be tougher than I think, but I doubt it. MAC, Sun Belt, CUSA and MWC schools are constantly complaining about how hard it is to get OOC home games with FBS schools. We're an easy H&H for them. They were coming to Moscow before independence, and they'll come to Moscow after.

Nowhere is more fear generated over a plane ride than on the Sun Belt message board. And actually it is about to be even easier to get to Moscow now that the airport that's 5 minutes away from campus is being upgraded to handle 737s.

(03-27-2016 10:47 AM)CrimsonPhantom Wrote:  Here is a Q&A With Idaho's Prez about their football team.

We're so screwed. I hate that guy.

(03-27-2016 11:03 AM)LatahCounty Wrote:  

(03-27-2016 10:47 AM)CrimsonPhantom Wrote:  Here is a Q&A With Idaho's Prez about their football team.

We're so screwed. I hate that guy.

Clearly, the guy's already sold on dropping down to FCS, IMO. It's hard for me to imagine ANY football booster urging him to drop down, much less the 50/50 split he's claiming exists amongst that group.

(03-27-2016 12:25 PM)airtroop Wrote:  

(03-27-2016 11:03 AM)LatahCounty Wrote:  

(03-27-2016 10:47 AM)CrimsonPhantom Wrote:  Here is a Q&A With Idaho's Prez about their football team.

We're so screwed. I hate that guy.

Clearly, the guy's already sold on dropping down to FCS, IMO. It's hard for me to imagine ANY football booster urging him to drop down, much less the 50/50 split he's claiming exists amongst that group.

It depends on how loosely you define "booster." If you expand that to include people who loosely identify as Idaho fans and have foggy memories of Big Sky success 30 years ago but don't give money, don't go to games, have no idea about the difference between FBS & FCS, and their participation is limited to flipping open the sports page and seeing that we won/lost, I can see that group being 50/50.

Among people who actually donate/go to games/pay attention it's more like 95/5. The word on the Idaho board is that of the top 50 Idaho donors, exactly 1 wants FCS.

Staben comes from a place where FCS can work (South Dakota) because they don't have another in-state school playing FBS football and don't have a PAC 12 school playing 6 miles away. He has no clue how much damage he's doing and how irrelevant Idaho football will be if he makes this move. It's so frustrating.

I don't recall seeing this interview linked previously, my apologies if it had. This seemed like an appropriate thread.

The San Marcos Daily Record did an interview with Benson and discusses many topics including Idaho and NMSU. Other topics include football stability, a football championship game, basketball tournament location, and basketball scheduling.

http://www.sanmarcosrecord.com/sports-te...arl-benson

(03-30-2016 09:24 AM)rokamortis Wrote:  I don't recall seeing this interview linked previously, my apologies if it had. This seemed like an appropriate thread.

The San Marcos Daily Record did an interview with Benson and discusses many topics including Idaho and NMSU. Other topics include football stability, a football championship game, basketball tournament location, and basketball scheduling.

http://www.sanmarcosrecord.com/sports-te...arl-benson

Good read, thanks for sharing!

"Each team will play six opponents twice and the other six once."

I'm no math wizard, but is each team gonna play themselves?

(03-30-2016 03:47 PM)ThaGinga Wrote:  "Each team will play six opponents twice and the other six once."

I'm no math wizard, but is each team gonna play themselves?

Good catch. So is it going to be 7x2 + 4 = 18 games?

(03-30-2016 04:16 PM)rokamortis Wrote:  

(03-30-2016 03:47 PM)ThaGinga Wrote:  "Each team will play six opponents twice and the other six once."

I'm no math wizard, but is each team gonna play themselves?

Good catch. So is it going to be 7x2 + 4 = 18 games?

I'm a little more concerned with what seems to be a barely high school educated commissioner running this conference

Any more news on Idaho and NMST after they leave the Sunbelt. The last thing I heard was that the Big Sky gave Idaho a date in May to let them know if the were dropping to 1-AA in their conference. NMST would have the better chance at survival as an independent with a 33k seat stadium, and UTEP and New Mexico willing to play them on an annual basis. Throw in annual H and H's with independents BYU, Army, and UMASS, along with an FCS game and a P5 money game or two and they already have a seven or eight game schedule in place. Pick up some MWC games and games from western Sunbelt and CUSA members and they should be alright until the next wave of realignment.

(04-09-2016 08:58 AM)PA-GAMECOCK Wrote:  Any more news on Idaho and NMST after they leave the Sunbelt. The last thing I heard was that the Big Sky gave Idaho a date in May to let them know if the were dropping to 1-AA in their conference. NMST would have the better chance at survival as an independent with a 33k seat stadium, and UTEP and New Mexico willing to play them on an annual basis. Throw in annual H and H's with independents BYU, Army, and UMASS, along with an FCS game and a P5 money game or two and they already have a seven or eight game schedule in place. Pick up some MWC games and games from western Sunbelt and CUSA members and they should be alright until the next wave of realignment.

That May 4th date wasn't a Big Sky deadline. It was the date our president said he'd make a decision.

An independent schedule for us would be no worse than our current Sun Belt schedule. This year we're playing 5 home games with a Thursday night game, a Thanksgiving weekend home game and zero home games from Oct. 16 to Nov. 25. We could easily at least replicate that as an independent, and likely play more teams closer to home. If we've been satisfied in the Sun Belt, as we've said we were, we should be satisfied as an independent too.

(04-09-2016 11:18 AM)LatahCounty Wrote:  

(04-09-2016 08:58 AM)PA-GAMECOCK Wrote:  Any more news on Idaho and NMST after they leave the Sunbelt. The last thing I heard was that the Big Sky gave Idaho a date in May to let them know if the were dropping to 1-AA in their conference. NMST would have the better chance at survival as an independent with a 33k seat stadium, and UTEP and New Mexico willing to play them on an annual basis. Throw in annual H and H's with independents BYU, Army, and UMASS, along with an FCS game and a P5 money game or two and they already have a seven or eight game schedule in place. Pick up some MWC games and games from western Sunbelt and CUSA members and they should be alright until the next wave of realignment.

That May 4th date wasn't a Big Sky deadline. It was the date our president said he'd make a decision.

An independent schedule for us would be no worse than our current Sun Belt schedule. This year we're playing 5 home games with a Thursday night game, a Thanksgiving weekend home game and zero home games from Oct. 16 to Nov. 25. We could easily at least replicate that as an independent, and likely play more teams closer to home. If we've been satisfied in the Sun Belt, as we've said we were, we should be satisfied as an independent too.

Can Idaho remain FBS considering you will lose $1.5 million in conference payout?

(04-09-2016 11:27 AM)GSU Eagles Wrote:  

(04-09-2016 11:18 AM)LatahCounty Wrote:  

(04-09-2016 08:58 AM)PA-GAMECOCK Wrote:  Any more news on Idaho and NMST after they leave the Sunbelt. The last thing I heard was that the Big Sky gave Idaho a date in May to let them know if the were dropping to 1-AA in their conference. NMST would have the better chance at survival as an independent with a 33k seat stadium, and UTEP and New Mexico willing to play them on an annual basis. Throw in annual H and H's with independents BYU, Army, and UMASS, along with an FCS game and a P5 money game or two and they already have a seven or eight game schedule in place. Pick up some MWC games and games from western Sunbelt and CUSA members and they should be alright until the next wave of realignment.

That May 4th date wasn't a Big Sky deadline. It was the date our president said he'd make a decision.

An independent schedule for us would be no worse than our current Sun Belt schedule. This year we're playing 5 home games with a Thursday night game, a Thanksgiving weekend home game and zero home games from Oct. 16 to Nov. 25. We could easily at least replicate that as an independent, and likely play more teams closer to home. If we've been satisfied in the Sun Belt, as we've said we were, we should be satisfied as an independent too.

Can Idaho remain FBS considering you will lose $1.5 million in conference payout?

I think Idaho was spending much of that as a travel subsidy to the Sun Belt Conference.