Thursday, March 28, 2024
46.0°F

THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Idaho AD on football success, playing Boise State ...

| February 19, 2023 1:15 AM

After the Idaho football team earned a berth in the FCS playoffs in November for the first time since 1995, the Vandals embarked on a 2,500-mile trip to Hammond, La., where they eventually fell, 45-42.

But they put in a bid to play that game at home.

“The reason we didn’t get the bid was because of the Apple Cup, and we had to have hotel rooms up here,” Idaho athletic director Terry Gawlik said recently.

With Washington State playing host to Washington that weekend some eight miles away, in Pullman, most (if not all) of the motel rooms in the area were already booked.

The first round of the 24-team FCS playoffs is not seeded. The top eight teams are seeded, and receive first-round byes. The remaining 16 teams can put in bids to host that first round.

The minimum bid for each of the first two rounds is $30,000. Gawlik said Idaho’s bid was slightly above that.

“We were on the list to be considered as a host, and as soon as they saw the hotel situation, that (hotels) would be an hour 15 (minutes), an hour and a half away, they said, ‘That doesn’t make sense.’ And I can’t control the Apple Cup, but we did put in a bid to host all the way through.”

THAT EXPLAINS why Montana, likely one of the last teams in the field, was able to host a first-round game, after the school bid roughly $126,000 to host.

The bid money goes to the NCAA. Schools bid roughly what they think they can recoup from ticket sales, etc. The Griz routinely pack 25,217-seat Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula.

“Our (bid) wasn’t that much above; so we’re going to have to look at that,” Gawlik said. “I told our president the other day, it’s great to start being successful, but what most people don’t realize is, whether you go to the first round of the volleyball championship, first round of the basketball championship, or football, even hosting, every one of those costs you money. You don’t break even, even. Even though the NCAA pays for you to go to the basketball championship, you don’t get as much money as you need to take the band, and everybody along. It costs. Success, participating in championships in the NCAAs, is costly.”

Even though the top eight seeds would seemingly host in the second round, they still have to bid for the game.

“Even if you’re in the top eight, you might not have even put in a bid to host because of something else on your campus (that weekend),” Gawlik said.

Idaho even put in a bid for the semifinal round, despite the Kibbie Dome already booked that weekend for graduation.

“And this is where our campus was awesome,” Gawlik said. “I had to go to the president and the provost and say, ‘Hey our team’s looking like we might get in the championship,’ but we had to forward-think it, because graduation was supposed to be in the Kibbie Dome, so I told them, ‘Would it be possible to move it to the (ICCU) Arena, and they did. So graduation was in the ICCU Arena.

“The graduation ceremony had to be split into two sessions, because in the Kibbie Dome they could have it as one,” she added. “But the winter graduation was moved and that was great of campus to support us like that.”

DURING A recent stop at The Coeur d’Alene Resort for a Vandal football recruiting function, Gawlik touched on a few other topics, including:

THE EFFECTS OF IDAHO HAVING A WINNING/PLAYOFF SEASON

“There’s been people back in the Vandal fold, so to speak,” Gawlik said. “Our Vandal Scholarship Fund, people willing to donate, and come back, saying we believe in what you guys are doing, and moving it forward.”

Season ticket sales are up.

The parking lot used for RVs who park there on game weekends is full, with roughly 100 vehicles … and there’s a waiting list for 80 more. The school is looking at expanding that RV lot, or using another one across campus.

“Working with (football) coach (Jason) Eck and his staff has been really fun, and they’ve come in with a lot of energy, great attitude, excitement. Football coaches always have great work ethic — you have to — but they raised the bar.

“Coach Eck has his terms. This past summer I came up with ‘elevate,’ and I am talking to everybody, not just coaches,” she said. “Everybody in the department has to elevate. And that means you might have to work extra hours. That means, you might be walking down the hall, you might have to pick up trash. Whatever it takes, we want to elevate.”

PLAYING BOISE STATE IN FOOTBALL

“We want to play them,” Gawlik said.

Have you reached out to them?

“Yes.”

And …

“We’re not playing them, so what do you think that means?”

Idaho hasn’t played Boise State in football since 2010, when both teams were in the Western Athletic Conference. The teams haven’t played in basketball since the 2014-15 season season, when they met in a “neutral site” game at Boise’s downtown arena.

“I think it’d be good; maybe they (the Broncos) play Idaho State one year, and Idaho the other year,” Gawlik said. “I’ll just put it this way — Idaho football and basketball is open to playing Boise State.”

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @CdAPressSports.