When down is up, Vandals

This is not an argument for the University of Idaho to drop its football program from the highest level in intercollegiate sports to the next highest level.

It is simply an argument that if a step down becomes necessary, as it well might, there are plenty of consolation prizes.

Idaho is dealing with loss on a scale that is nothing short of overwhelming. Last year, UI lost a blood-feud rival when Boise State ended their annual match. Earlier this month, popular walk-on receiver Ken McRoyal was shot and killed in Los Angeles. And now, Idaho is trying to chart a future after its conference has fallen apart and none of the big boys from other conferences is inviting the Vandals to come play with them.

That has a lot more to do with the relative scarcity of TV sets in the region than it does with Idaho's stature as a football program worthy of superconference consideration. The name of the game in Division I college football is money, and if you can't bring it, you're not welcome.

So be it. UI Athletic Director Rob Spear and President Duane Nellis are looking at every possibility, including going back to the good ol' days as a member of the Big Sky Conference. To be clear, "good ol' days" is our term, not necessarily theirs. Prestige isn't the only thing that would be lost if Idaho were to step down to the next tier of college football's elite. Big Sky members have fewer scholarships and smaller budgets to work with, but in the Big Sky, silver linings would abound.

What sports fan from this neck of the woods wouldn't relish a return to the times when Idaho would face off in the explosive battles with regional rivals like Montana, Eastern Washington and Idaho State? Nowadays, when Idaho's football schedule is announced, foes aren't frantically circling their date with the Vandals or working up a competitive lather. But in the Big Sky, you'd better believe that Idaho would be the biggest game of the year on most teams' schedule.

Some fans won't be happy unless their team is a small fish in a big pond, but we believe competitiveness, week in and week out, is more important to many fans than getting hammered by teams with broad and deep recruiting bases and other resources that Idaho will never have.

Those who would rather finish in the bottom half of a superconference than compete for a national championship as a member of the Big Sky can take heart in Spear's pledge that no matter what happens in the short run, Idaho's long-term goal would be to get back to Division 1. We understand, but aren't convinced. Maybe we're old fashioned, but we'd take a win over Montana in Missoula over a 57-10 drubbing in Baton Rouge every time.