The Front Row with MARK NELKE Oct. 21, 2012

I'm trying to convince myself that this staying in Division I in football - even if it means playing as an independent for the time being - is a good thing for the Idaho Vandals.

But my mind keeps drifting back to the people you see on TV who have a little guy on one shoulder telling them to do one thing, and a little guy on the other shoulder telling them to do the exact opposite.

"Stay in Division I," the one little guy says. "Play against the best in college football, and have a chance to go to a bowl game. Wasn't that 2009 Humanitarian Bowl win a memorable run?"

"Go back to the Big Sky," the other little guy counters. "Re-create all of those great regional rivalries, and have a chance to compete for a national championship, like the Vandals did in the glory days of the 1980s."

Meanwhile, the man in the middle shakes his head and wonders exactly what the right move is.

THE ARGUMENT against staying in Division I (the Football Bowl Subdivision) is, the Vandals have been largely not competitive enough at the highest level. Idaho has just four winning seasons and two bowl appearances in 16 seasons of Division I football.

2009 was supposed to be a breakthrough season, but the Vandals have been unable to back that up, going 8-25 since then.

The argument against dropping back into the Big Sky is, while games against Montana were always a great draw (and Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula is the best setting for college football in the region), few other Big Sky foes would make fans budge from their recliners and their remotes and their high-def TVs with dozens of games to choose from on any given Saturday.

Sure, the Eastern Washington game would probably develop into a rivalry, and perhaps folks might get excited about Montana State coming to town. But I can't imagine much interest in games vs. Cal Poly, UC Davis, North Dakota, Northern Colorado, etc.

THE FOOTBALL schedule for 2013 that the Vandals announced on Friday, on paper, does not appear to be a brutal, body-bag one.

The Vandals will play home games vs. Northern Illinois (Sept. 14), Temple (Sept. 28) Fresno State (Oct. 5), New Mexico State (Nov. 2) and Old Dominion (Nov. 9).

The road games are at North Texas (Aug. 31), Wyoming (Sept. 7), Washington State (Sept. 14), Arkansas State (Oct. 12), Mississippi (Oct. 26), at a BCS opponent TBA (Nov. 23) and at New Mexico State (Nov. 30).

If things go well, Idaho even has a backup agreement with the Idaho Famous Potatoes Bowl in Boise.

Fresno State was part of the recent mass exodus from the WAC, so getting the Bulldogs on the schedule is a good get. Mississippi will provide a nice addition (a reported $850,000) to the Vandal athletic bank account, as will the games at WSU ($550,000) and at the TBA BCS foe ($950,000).

Yes, it’s a money grab, but the reality is, athletic departments need money to fund their other, non-football, non-revenue sports. And Idaho isn’t in a conference like the Pac-12, where its members get more that $20 million in TV money annually.

And for the donors who shelled out millions to spruce up the Kibbie Dome in hopes of enjoying their Division I experience a little bit more, you think they might want a bit of a refund if they’re instead subjected to a steady diet of Sacramento State and Northern Arizona?

AS FOR all of Idaho’s other sports, returning to the Big Sky in 2014 will fit those Vandal teams just fine.

According to RealTimeRPI.com, last year the WAC was ranked 12th out of 30 conferences in men’s basketball. The Big Sky was ranked 25th. I think the gap between the two leagues is much closer than that, and besides, that was the WAC with Fresno State, Hawaii and Nevada. This year’s WAC has ... some other schools whose names don’t immediately come to mind.

Idaho volleyball coach Debbie Buchanan, the former St. Maries High great, said the Big Sky in volleyball is “probably in some ways more competitive than the WAC right now.”

BUT, IF the Vandals want to stay at the Division I level in football, they need to step it up on the field. No more losing by 66 points to a North Carolina team when it isn’t a men’s basketball game. No more getting run over by a Texas State team which is only in its second year of Division I football.

There’s been too many games where you said, “Man, if they could play like that all the time ...” followed by games where you sighed and said, “they’re just not getting any better.”

Meanwhile conference foes (for now) like Louisiana Tech and Utah State have improved to the point where they can play with the big-boy schools.

Then again, despite the recent lack of success, the Vandals are still drawing pretty good crowds.

The Wyoming game drew 13,558. The New Mexico State game drew 14,755. When Eastern Washington visited in the season opener, 11,136 showed up, even though it was a Thursday night and the Cougs were on TV at the same time.

So maybe Vandal fans don’t mind seeing football at the Division I level — no matter which team is playing it.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter at CdAPressSports.