Idaho Vandals | |
---|---|
University | University of Idaho |
Conference |
Big Sky Sun Belt (football only) |
NCAA | Division I – FBS |
Athletic director | Rob Spear |
Location | Moscow, Idaho |
Varsity teams | 16 |
Football stadium | Kibbie Dome |
Basketball arena | Cowan Spectrum |
Baseball stadium | Guy Wicks Field |
Soccer stadium | Guy Wicks Field |
Natatorium | UI Swim Center |
Other arenas | Memorial Gymnasium |
Mascot | Joe Vandal |
Nickname | Vandals |
Fight song | Go, Vandals, Go |
Cheer | I-D-A-H-O |
Colors | Silver and Vandal Gold |
Website | www |
The Idaho Vandals are the intercollegiate athletic teams of the University of Idaho in Moscow. They are members of the Big Sky Conference in NCAA Division I, except for football, where they play in the FBS (formerly I-A) Sun Belt Conference.
The football team was an independent for the 2013 season due to a major wave of departures from the WAC that left just two football-playing schools. In July 2014, Idaho returned its football team to the Sun Belt Conference and the other sports rejoined the Big Sky Conference.
The university's official colors are silver and gold, honoring the state's mining tradition. Because these metallic colors in tandem are not visually complementary for athletic uniforms, black and gold are the prevalent colors for the athletic teams, with an occasional use of silver, similar to Colorado, whose official colors are also silver and gold. When Idaho moved out of the Big Sky to the Big West in 1996, the yellow "Green Bay" gold was changed to metallic "Vegas" gold. Yellow gold and black were the colors used by most of the varsity teams from 1978 to 1996, initiated by first-year head football coach Jerry Davitch's new uniforms for 1978.
On April 27, 2016, it was reported that the Vandals will become the first football program to voluntarily drop from the FBS level to the FCS level, beginning in 2018. All previous programs to have moved from FBS to FCS level did so because the NCAA downgraded either the individual programs or their conferences.