“I remember back in the day, when I was at Weber (from 1984-87), playing at Dornblaser,” said Akey. “I think it's a perfect example of, ‘If you build it, they will come.' “
Akey refers to the Grizzlies' seemingly ever-expanding Washington-Grizzly Stadium. It will hold 25,000-plus once the latest renovation is completed. But will it play in the Bowl Subdivision? Only if several other pieces fall in place.
But what about four years from now, when the NCAA's moratorium on programs changing divisions (and sub-divisions) ends? Certainly a study needs to be done. Then we'll see if the Griz are more like Boise State, with its $29 million budget, than Idaho, with its $16 million budget.
When Boise State jumped out of the Big Sky Conference, there may not have been a more ambivalent shoulder shrug than the one I gave in 1996. But the Vandals? I miss those guys.
A dozen years later, I have the suspicion that the Montana Grizzlies are the modern version of Boise State's time in the Big Sky. The campus is constantly growing, the stadium keeps expanding, and the football and basketball teams are winning.
But a dose of reality, spiked with the current economy, should be enough to dissuade the more ardent proponents of the Griz going to the FBS. As for four years from now, there's a list as long as my arm that UM would have to cross off in order to jump.
Infrastructure. Funding. Adding sports, scholarships and coaching positions. More funding. The iron would have to be hot, like it was in 2000-01, when talk of going I-A in football started heating up. And there'd have to be a conference that wanted the Griz and vice-versa.
As in, one supposes, the WAC.
“We've got as great a conference as there is,” said Akey, who after coaching at Weber State and Northern Arizona was on the staff at Pac-10 Washington State for eight years. “And in my opinion FBS football is where it's at. They've had a great run there (in Missoula), and I've been involved in the (FCS) playoffs. But there's nothing like the bowls.”
Montana coach Bobby Hauck prefers the bowls to the playoffs. But he's realistic.
“Fiscally, we're far away from any school that's having any success in (FBS) football,” he said.
Here's another disconcerting fact. In 1995, the year Idaho handed the eventual FCS champion Griz their lone Big Sky loss, the Vandals boasted 27 Idahoans on their roster.
Just 10 Idaho natives dot the current roster. There isn't an infinite number of Division I players in Idaho, certainly, but just 10 Vandals who call Idaho home? That's striking.
So Idaho battles on, not looking back, but not winning either, at least not for the last nine football seasons. The Vandals are 1-4 against Montana since going to the FBS. If you're waiting for game six of the nonleague Little Brown Stein series, don't hold your breath.
“It is a game we need to have at some point in time,” said Idaho athletic director Rob Spear, softening an earlier comment about when the Stein would be up for grabs.
Which was this: “When we can beat Montana,” Spear said, smiling.
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