[Vision2020] Win-Win for Idaho and BSU

[Go Idaho]

Adding U of I to Western conference is win-win
Idaho Statesman Editorial

Broncos and Vandals go together like football and tailgating.

So when Western Athletic Conference presidents meet this week, they should 
add the University of Idaho.

The U of I would get out of the far-flung Sun Belt Conference, where the 
Vandals are stuck with a bunch of schools from the Southeast. The WAC would 
add a regional rival.

And the biggest game on the state's football calendar — the Boise 
State-Idaho game — might recapture some of its luster.

How much of a win-win is this one? Enough that U of I and BSU leaders are 
on the same page in the playbook.

The U of I has long coveted a WAC invite. Joining a conference with BSU, 
Nevada and Utah State, among others, means shorter road trips and improved 
fan interest. "It's important for us to establish those regional rivalries 
like we had before," Idaho athletic director Rob Spear said recently. "And 
that's what the WAC brings us."

In turn, it's also what the Vandals bring the WAC. That's one reason why 
BSU President Bob Kustra supports the expansion. "It's always healthy 
competition when two schools in the same state can compete in the same 
conference," he said. "I want to stick up for our own."

Count us on Kustra's side. On-the-field rivalry is great fun; a little 
trash-talking between rivals is all part of the game. Let's not let petty 
competitiveness overshadow the benefits for the WAC and for Boise State:

• Idaho would give the WAC a ninth conference member, one likely to stay on 
board. The NCAA requires conferences to have at least eight schools. The 
WAC barely meets that minimum.

One thing is clear from the coast-to-coast conference reshuffling of the 
past few months: Anything can happen. The WAC already has added two schools 
while losing four; a fifth team, Louisiana Tech, is a good candidate to 
move someday to a conference closer to home. Standing pat is a bad strategy 
for the WAC, especially when the U of I presents a logical choice for 
expansion.

• Getting to nine schools — and trying to stay there — strengthens the WAC 
as a football conference. Every team gets to host four conference games a 
year. Football is a big revenue sport that supports other athletic programs 
that will never make money; an extra home conference game will help pay the 
bills.

• OK, let's talk Vandals vs. Broncos.

We don't doubt BSU football coach Dan Hawkins , who says the BSU-Idaho will 
take place every year no matter what conference the teams are in. This 
rivalry — like, as any BSU fan will duly note, the Vandals — has taken a 
few lumps in recent years.

This game has been relegated to early September, when teams are tuning up 
for a long conference season.

Call us sentimental, but we'd love to see BSU and Idaho wrap up the WAC 
season by playing in late November. This is a stadium blanket kind of 
football game, not a sandals and shorts game.

Sports is about tradition. This expansion protects an important one for 
BSU, while allowing the U of I to build some new tradition. The WAC's 
presidents should join Kustra in supporting this
move.

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