The Big Sky Conference released the Spring 2021 schedules for football, women’s volleyball and women’s soccer.
Each sport will participate in an adjusted schedule and will partake in weekly COVID-19 testing. These schedules are subject to change with the ongoing concerns of COVID-19.
Football
The Spring 2021 Big Sky football schedule features 12 teams that will compete in a six-game schedule over an eight-week period. Big Sky football enters its 58th season as games kickoff on Feb. 27 and end on April 10.
There will be an open week for all schools from March 20 and April 17 to reschedule games if they are postponed due to COVID-19.
The University of Idaho football team opens up the season against Northern Colorado on Feb. 27 in the Kibbie Dome. The Vandals play against Portland State March 13 in Moscow and Montana April 3, with The Little Brown Stein up for grabs in the Kibbie Dome against the Grizzlies.
The Vandals away games include Idaho State, in the annual ICCU Battle of the Domes on March 6, Eastern Washington on March 27 and Southern Utah on April 10 to close out the season.
Each team will have three away games and three home games with no teams playing three consecutive away games.
Ticket sales of Vandal home games will be announced in the coming weeks. Kibbie Dome attendance will be determined by local and/or state health ordinances and government officials. Game times and broadcast clearances will be decided at a later date.
Travel by bus will be used to reduce the spread of COVID-19 as each team will play at least three opponents from their original Fall 2020 schedule.
Big Sky teams will not be allowed to participate in non-conference games in the spring and Sacramento State University announced on Oct. 15 they will not be competing this spring football season.
The NCAA Board of Directors approved 2020 NCAA Division I fall championships to be played in the spring as outlined by the Division I Council.
The FCS Playoffs will feature 16 teams with 11 automatic qualifiers and five at-large berths. The bracket will be announced April 18, with a champion being crowned in Frisco, Texas, on May 14, 15 or 16, according to a press release from the Big Sky.
“This spring football season certainly will be unique, and I am confident that all who care about our conference share in the sentiment that we cannot wait to watch our student-athletes and coaches compete for a Big Sky title and contend for the FCS championship,” Big Sky Commissioner Tom Wistrcill stated in a press release. “This schedule provides consistency by utilizing much of the original Fall 2020 slate, flexibility by allowing space for games to be rescheduled and sensibility by prioritizing regional matchups that minimize travel and expenses.”
Volleyball
The Spring 2021 Big Sky women’s volleyball schedule includes 16 games to be played over an eight-week span between Jan. 24 and March 22. Each Big Sky team will play eight different opponents in back-to-back games each week to limit travel.
The UI women’s volleyball team will play four opponents at home and four on the road beginning Jan. 31. The Vandals open up the regular season at Memorial Gym against Southern Utah. The Vandals’ remaining home games include Northern Arizona, Montana State and Northern Colorado.
On the road, the Vandals will face-off against Idaho State, Sacramento State, Montana and Eastern Washington. The Vandals close out the regular season at home against Northern Colorado.
The top eight teams in the standings at the end of the regular season will advance to the Big Sky Conference Tournament hosted by Northern Colorado from March 31-April 2. The tournament champion will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, stated in a press release from Vandal Athletics.
“It’s a sense of relief for our athletes,” Debbie Buchanan, head coach of women’s volleyball, said. “They have all been waiting so it is exciting to be able to share this information with them. It gives us something to look forward to. Going through COVID-19 and all the different regulations takes a toll on the athletes mentally, but they are super excited and can’t wait to play.”
Ticket information will be announced at a later date. To stay up to date on Idaho Volleyball, fans can go to GoVandals.com or check out @IdahoVolleyball on Twitter.
Soccer
The Spring 2021 Big Sky women’s soccer season begins on March 12 and will last five weeks, with each team playing each other once. There will be no Big Sky Championship this season due to COVID-19 concerns.
The Vandals open up the season on the road as they face Southern Utah March 12 and Northern Arizona March 14. The Vandals return home the following week to play against Portland State March 19 and Sacramento State March 21.
The Vandals’ remaining away games will be played against Northern Colorado and Montana. They return home for the remainder of the season to play against Eastern Washington, Idaho State and Weber State. The game against Weber State will close out the spring season for the Vandals.
“We are very excited to have a conference schedule for this spring,” Jeremy Clevenger, head coach of women’s soccer, said. “It has been a long time since anyone has played a game. I know the soccer team is looking forward to competing and representing the University of Idaho.”
Armin Mesinovic can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @arminmesinovic.