Should Idaho be part of the Pacific 12? (Part 7 of 11)

Last edited by thewiz06 on Wed Mar 03, 2010 8:50 pm; edited 1 time in total

University of Idaho

The Academics
Location: Moscow, ID
Type of School: Public
Total Student Population: 11,791
Undergrads: 9,241
Demographics: 2% Asian; 1% Black; 5% Hispanic; 88% White; 1% Native American; 1% International
Sex Ratio: 54.2% male; 45.8% female
%age of Natives: 69% are from Idaho
Ranking: 3^rd Tier among Full Research Universities
AVG SAT of admitted kids: 1090
Endowment: $77,042,418

CURRENT CONFERENCES: Western Athletic (all sports)
Football stadium capacity: 18,000
Men's Basketball capacity: 7,000
Women's Basketball capacity: 7,000
Most notable money sport: Football

So this is what I think of Idaho, first, and foremost, haha.

The University of Idaho is the flagship university in Idaho, located in the northwestern part of the state. If is a full research institution, which includes 10 collges including separate schools for engineering, law, education, business, and general graduate studies. Most universities’ liberal arts colleges/schools are known as the College or School of Arts/Letters and Sciences. At Idaho, this isn’t the case. In 2002, they broked the Liberal Arts college to several different schools to enhance the instruction in the more specific areas, into separate Arts and Sciences Colleges respectively.

Why Idaho should get in the Pacific 12

The funny part of Idaho is that the first school the national media thinks about in Idaho is Boise State, just because of the football. Idaho has made some strides in their own right football last year, and Pac 12 membership would continue to improve that. Second. The Vandals, unlike any other current Pac 12 candidate, already has a deep rivalry with a Pac 10 member right now. Washington State is only about eight miles west from Moscow, and that also will make it more alluring for the Pac 10 from that standpoint. Academically among the public universities, Idaho will provide another full research university meets Pac 10 standards, and such membership and partnerships with other universities already in the conference will help Idaho improve overall.

Why Idaho should not get in the Pacific 12

First I’ll hit athletics. The Vandals aren’t particularly good at any money sport, and those dollars will make or break profits. They may be improving at football as of late, but that won’t be enough as the basketball teams are not great either. Second, their football stadium, the Kibbie Dome, only holds 18,000 people, not far much above the FBS Requirement of 15,000. If Idaho wants to be in the Pac 12, they’re gonna have to build a new stadium. The Kibbie Dome also houses the basketball teams for a capacity of about 7,000 ish right now, so that’s acceptable. The rivalry with Washington State will not make up for the lack of athletic rep and also the barely FBS sized football stadium they have. Second, because Idaho has to expand their stadium, even their location to an extent hurts them, because they are in the exact same TV market as Washington State, and aren’t all that great in their own conference right now.

Next onto academics. Idaho may meet the minimum Pac 10 standard academically, but they will be just that. Meeting the minimum standard, and barely since Washington State, Arizona State, and Arizona (though they are a little better than ASU but not by that much) fight for that title. Bringing in the Vandals will bring down the academic reputation of the conference since they would add another school of that caliber. Second, if Idaho is added as a Pac 12 member, this will force their hand and pressure them to also accept Boise State, which we all are in agreement as a university that doesn’t meet the Pac 10 standard academically, even though their facilities do.

My Final Verdict

So I’m the Pac 10 expansion committee and this is my mind right now. in Idaho I have two universities that warrant at least some exploratory consideration. I can take a school that doesn’t meet my academic standards, but has the right athletic facilities and some good teams; or I can take a school that meets my academic standards though not by much, and subpar athletic facilities and for the most part, teams that will need some work before being competitive in my conference.

I will take… neither, and I’ll only explore this university more seriously if hell breaks loose, and I don’t think I will.

Idaho alumni:

Sarah Palin (born Sarah Heath), Class of 1987
Former governor of Alaska, and 2008 GOP Vice Presidential Nominee; now a political analyst for Fox News Channel

Should Idaho be part of the Pacific 12? (Part 7 of 11) Sarah_10

Dan O'Brien, Class of 1993
Olympic gold medalist in 1996 in the decathlon

Should Idaho be part of the Pacific 12? (Part 7 of 11) Dan_o_10

Kristin Armstrong, Class of 1995
Olympic cyclist, won the gold medal in 2008. Not related to Lance Armstrong, and is not his wife either (his wife's name is Kristin too)

Should Idaho be part of the Pacific 12? (Part 7 of 11) Kristi10

Nah. Not Pac 10 material