Where would Idaho fit in the Big Sky?

This is the first in a series of posts that discusses the reality of Idaho remaining at the FBS level.  This post examines how Idaho would fit if they were to return to the Big Sky Conference.

Assuming that further conference expansion doesn't come and take any Big Sky Conference members, which it probably will not, where would Idaho fit in a 14-member football Big Sky Conference?

First, it is doubtful with 14 members that the Big Sky Conference would not split into division and keep the 2-team rival system it has now.  But if it did, you would probably see Idaho be assigned Idaho State and Montana as rivals.  And here is where the problem arises.  You would think that Idaho would replace Portland State as one of Idaho State's rivals.  But it probably will not happen that way.

Montana has to keep Montana State as a rival, so Idaho would replace Eastern Washington as one of Montana's rivals.  The other of Eastern Washington's rival is also Portland State, and EWU can not have PSU as both of their rivals.  Therefore, Idaho does not replace Portland State has one of Idaho State's rivals, they would replace Weber State.  And Weber State and EWU become rivals who play every season.  You would therefore have Weber State skip two closer potential rivals to play Eastern Washington.

The only way to avoid this is to make Idaho's rivals Eastern Washington and Montana and not have a Gem State rivalry.  Therefore, here is what you have,

Current Rival System.

Eastern Washington
Montana
Portland State

Montana
Eastern Washington
Montana State

With Idaho

Eastern Washington
Idaho
Portland State

Idaho
Eastern Washington
Montana

Montana
Idaho
Montana State

With an even number of teams, you would think that the schedule would be more balanced, but it may not be.  If you have two rivals, you would play your two rivals, plus 6 of the remaining 11 conference teams, leaving 5 out.  It would work out better to switch to 3 rivals.  If the conference did this, the numbers work out well.  You have 3 games against teams you play every season, and have 5 games against the remaining 10 teams.  This means you play the rest of the conference twice every 4 years.  Here is how that could work.  Each school keeps their current two rivals and adds another.

UC Davis
Cal Poly
Sacramento State
Portland State (n)

Cal Poly
UC Davis
Sacramento State
Southern Utah (n)

Eastern Washington
Montana
Portland State
Idaho (n)

Idaho
Eastern Washington
Idaho State
Montana

Idaho State
Portland State
Idaho (n)
Weber State

Montana
Eastern Washington
Idaho (n)
Montana State

Montana State
Montana
North Dakota
Northern Colorado (n) 

North Dakota
Montana State
Northern Colorado
Northern Arizona (n)

Northern Arizona
North Dakota (n)
Northern Colorado
Southern Utah

Northern Colorado
Northern Arizona
North Dakota
Montana State (n)

Portland State
Eastern Washington
Idaho State
UC Davis (n)

Sacramento State
UC Davis
Cal Poly
Weber State (n)

Southern Utah
Cal Poly (n)
Northern Arizona
Weber State

Weber State
Idaho State
Sacramento State (n)
Southern Utah

But, lets say that the Big Sky chooses, with an even number of teams, to break into divisions, here is how they could work out.

Western Division

UC Davis
Cal Poly
Eastern Washington
Idaho
Idaho State
Portland State
Sacramento State

Eastern Division

Montana
Montana State
North Dakota
Northern Colorado
Northern Arizona
Southern Utah
Weber State

OR

Northern Division

Eastern Washington
Idaho
Idaho State
Montana
Montana State
North Dakota
Portland State

Southern Division

UC Davis
Cal Poly
Northern Arizona
Northern Colorado
Sacramento State
Southern Utah
Weber State

You play 6 games against teams from your division, plus 2 games against teams from the other division.  In a four year time frame, you play everyone in the other division at least once, and one team twice.  I can see why, even though I was critical of it at first, the BSC adopted the rival system.  At the FCS level there is no advantage to playing a conference championship game, and with the rival system, team will play the entire conference more often and one can use tie breakers to determine who will get the NCAA automatic bid.