At the University of Idaho, we know where we belong. It’s at the top.

My favorite thing about our drop down in 2018 was the way opposing fans scoffed at our expectations of immediate success. Those critics projected a strange picture upon us of an entitled fanbase thinking we’d wipe the floor with the competition with our superior FBS recruits.

Maybe this led to the level of enjoyment some of those fans felt when our first four seasons ended in utter disaster. But we Vandals, we were never wrong about our expectations in the Big Sky. We know where our confidence came from.

The University of Idaho football team belongs in the playoffs on an annual basis. It belongs at the top of the Big Sky Conference. It belongs with a title of champion.

Let’s not just be confident, let’s be arrogant. We deserve it.

There’s a reason the Big Sky spent the better part of a decade trying to convince Idaho to return to the fold the second the Western Athletic Conference began to show signs of weakness.

While it’s true the Big Sky officially gave Idaho an offer with an expiration date, the Big Sky was always going to keep the door open for us regardless of our choice in 2016. The distinct lack of football programs in the western United States and our proximity to Big Sky partner schools meant the Big Sky needed us as much as we needed them.

Academically, the University of Idaho is on track to become the fourth Big Sky Conference member classified as an R1 research institution with its R1-2026 initiative. Athletically, our budget is in line with the Montana powers, and well ahead of our regional rivals Eastern, Portland State and Idaho State. Historically, Idaho has a proud heritage of representing the Big Sky in deep runs into the postseason.

Everybody knows the sleeping giant we have in Moscow. It’s why the Big Sky wanted us so bad. It’s why Jason Eck left a powerhouse program in South Dakota State to lead the Vandals, because he saw that very same potential here. Not just for the future, but for right now. This is what we are.

It’s time to get arrogant. It’s time to let our friends in Cheney, in Missoula, in Bozeman, in Ogden know who the hell we are. We are the Vandals, and we’re about to take our rightful place at the top of the Big Sky Conference.

Take it from the big man Eck himself.

“The Vandals are back.”