THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE, July 3, 2014

The University of Idaho officially leaving one league and joining two others - as weird as that sounds - happened rather quietly the other day.

Effective Tuesday, the Vandals joined the Sun Belt Conference in football, and left the Western Athletic Conference for the Big Sky Conference in all other sports but swimming and diving.

For the fans who wanted the Vandals back in the Big Sky - like they were in the good ol' days - you got your wish.

Mostly.

Now, we'll see how it all turns out.

BUT FIRST, let's look at the team many wish had returned to the Big Sky but isn't - Idaho's football team.

The Vandals, an independent last year after the WAC dropped football because only two member schools played the sport in 2013, went 1-11.

It's hard to say they were "a competitive 1-11" with a straight face, but they were.

In 2004, when Idaho last was in the Sun Belt before leaving for the WAC, the Vandals' football opponents were Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana-Lafayette, Middle Tennessee, Troy State, Arkansas State and North Texas.

Ten years after that, all but Middle Tennessee and North Texas are still in the league, whatever that means.

Despite their record last year, the Vandals say momentum has been generated in Paul Petrino's first year as coach, and they hope to keep that momentum going this year, in his second season.

The Sun Belt has ties to four bowl games this year, five in 2015, so there's that carrot if somehow the Vandals put it together, like it last did in the 2009 Humanitarian Bowl season.

Those who argue Idaho's Sun Belt home schedule this year of South Alabama, New Mexico State, Arkansas State and Troy is less appealing than playing, say, Montana, Eastern Washington and Montana State, may have a point.

However, the benefit to Idaho staying in the Football Bowl Subdivision is the chance to reap the big paydays by playing two or three major-college teams per year. Like it or not, that pays a lot of other expenses in the athletic department. And, the Vandals want to stay FBS in case a chance arises to join a league in the West, which would mean playing more opponents fans could identify with. If that doesn't happen, it's hard to see the Vandals staying for long in the Sun Belt, where most of the schools are in the Southwest or Southeast.

If the Vandals do eventually decide to drop to the Big Sky in football, those paydays would be all but gone. Depending on how the college landscape changes in the future, that move could still happen - then we would find out if those fans put off by Idaho still trying to make a go of it in FBS would really start to show up again to watch all those regional rivals in the Big Sky.

IN BASKETBALL, Idaho's men were one game away from their first NCAA tourney berth since 1991, making it all the way to the title game of the WAC tourney before losing to New Mexico State.

The Vandal women won the WAC tourney last season for the second straight year to advance to the NCAAs again.

The WAC was a one-bid league to the NCAAs in men's basketball last year; the Big Sky is also a one-bid league.

In the past, the WAC was markedly better than the Big Sky in basketball; last year, after most of the good teams left for the Mountain West, the WAC was only a few slots ahead of the Big Sky in a handful of conference computer rankings.

In women's basketball, the WAC was actually rated lower than the Big Sky last year.

Either way, playing Big Sky teams should be more appealing to Vandal fans than watching what was left of the WAC last year - more familiarity, more players they have heard of.

Men's basketball might prove to be a barometer of whether Big Sky basketball is still a big deal to Vandal fans; Idaho was a member of the Sky from 1965-95. In any event, it will be cool to see Marcus Colbert come to Moscow with Montana State to take on Connor Hill and Idaho in a matchup of former Post Falls High stars.

It will be interesting to check back in a year and see how Vandal fans liked the switch.

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@CdAPressSports.