Back in the 1990's, they were a 1-AA powerhouse. Went to the playoffs almost every year. Dominated Boise St (beat them 11 times in a row).

But it never made any sense that they would join 1-A, for all of the reasons listed above. Terrible geography. A state and a region that are the farthest thing from a recruiting hotbed. A small student body coupled with an alumni base that doesn't stick around the city (NOBODY graduates and then gets a job in Moscow - the vast majority move to Boise, Seattle, or Portland - all of which are a 6-8 hour drive away). The result is that they aren't even able to fill a 14,000 seat stadium.

Hopefully they can go back to being successful and the FCS level. FBS was a disaster for them.