Did you hear about what happened when Idaho played at New Mexico State last Saturday? Of course you didn’t.
AP Photo/The Las Cruces Sun-News, Robin Zielinski
If you're a fan of college football, last weekend had more than enough big games to keep you satiated between plates of turkey. Alabama vs. Auburn. Michigan vs. Ohio State. Florida State vs. Florida. Stanford vs. Notre Dame.
Idaho vs. New Mexico State was not one of those games. Call it the Game of the Weak.
Both teams entered Saturday's game in Las Cruces, N.M., with matching 1-10 records, nothing at stake but school pride and no conference or league to call home. That's because New Mexico State (NMSU) and Idaho are two of the six schools in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision that aren't part of a conference.
This happened because their previous league — the Western Athletic Conference — disintegrated in 2012 after most of its schools left for other conferences. Suddenly left with no other options, NMSU and Idaho were forced to play as independents during the 2013 season.
Both programs will join the Sun Belt Conference for 2014, saving them from another season with no tangible (but not necessarily realistic) goals or rewards, such as a league championship or all-conference nominations.
Their season finale on Saturday was, in some ways, a Bizzaro-style Iron Bowl. This game would involve none of the following: a rivalry, good football, media attention, fan interest, or trophy.
ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?
If so, why?
Actual thing said by broadcaster following New Mexico State's 31-24 victory over Idaho in 2011: "For $13, could you find more entertainment than this football game in Las Cruces?"
An abbreviated history lesson on these two football programs: They're both bad at football.
In 120 years of football, the University of Idaho is 136 games below .500 and has won only 10 conference championships — its last came in 1998. If the Vandals had anything resembling a Golden Era, it would have been when they went 119-51 from 1982–1995 and twice advanced to the national semifinals of the Division I-AA playoffs.
Those good times came to an end soon after Idaho moved to Division I-A (now called the Football Bowl Subdivision) in 1996. Since then, the Vandals have returned to their old losing ways, going 78-144 and earning only two bowl berths in an era where nearly every major program can rig their schedule in such a way to achieve bowl eligibility.
A notable exception was the 2009 Humanitarian Bowl, which seemed a precursor to a long and awesome Robb Akey Era.