In football, half the battle for a successful season takes place years before in the athletic director’s office, where the schedule is drawn up.

For Idaho State, this year’s schedule is not what you’d describe as conducive to a successful season. The Bengals play two FBS teams — UNLV (38-31 loss) and New Mexico — on the road, then have to face five Big Sky teams that all made the FCS playoffs last year. Idaho State could still be a better team than it was in last year’s 5-7 campaign and yet win fewer games.

While ISU has decided not to play more than one “money game” a season, it was forced to make up the New Mexico game that was wiped out by COVID several years ago when it had an opening this season. The UNLV matchup was already under contract.

The conference schedule, meanwhile, is under Big Sky control.

But the scheduling scenario is looking much more encouraging next season. While the exact teams the Bengals will be facing haven’t been released, ISU Athletic Director Pauline Thiros is excited about the general outline for the schedule.

For the first time since 1990, Idaho State will have seven home games next season. With the additions of Utah Tech and Southern Utah, the Bengals will have five home conference games next year, although who those schools will be has not been announced by the conference.

In addition, Thiros has landed two nonconference FCS teams to come to Pocatello next season. She isn’t able to release those opponents yet, but they have signed contracts.

“We spent some money on home games, but that’s one of those risks I’m willing to take,” Thiros said. “We’ve got to get those guys (the Bengals) to the playoffs.”

Idaho State’s long-range schedules were reduced to rubble when Sacramento State announced it was leaving the Big Sky Conference after this season, while Utah Tech and Southern Utah are joining the league next year. ISU had long-term, home-and-home deals with both Utah Tech and Southern Utah as nonconference opponents.

Now, the Big Sky schedule has been completely reorganized, and some of those ISU games against Utah Tech and Southern Utah will become conference games.

With the NCAA granting FCS a 12-game schedule every season and opening up Week 0 to FCS teams, the Big Sky has decided to go to a nine-game conference schedule. That means that every other year, Idaho State will have five conference home games.

And every year, the Bengals will play Weber State, Idaho and Montana State, their “protected rivals” in conference play. Those schools are three of the conference’s original members and traditional rivals who typically draw very well when they visit the ICCU Dome.

The Bengals have a contract to play Utah Tech that includes a game that will not be designated a Big Sky contest in 2027. Thiros is looking to renegotiate the back end of that deal for another nonconference meeting with Utah Tech down the line.

Idaho State’s “money game” next year, meanwhile, will be at Utah State, a 90-minute bus ride down the road.

“We want to get FCS wins, we want to play at home, we want fans to invest in the hometown experience, and when we play money games, we’re doing that by getting on a bus,” Thiros said in summarizing her scheduling philosophy. “I think we have some great opportunities, like nine conference games where every opponent is a quality opponent in the national landscape. That gives us playoff opportunities, and that’s where our sights are set.”

While the Big Sky is wrapping up dealing with the impacts of conference realignment in football, the conference has just begun dealing with how having an 11-team conference is going to impact basketball scheduling.

Thiros, who is on the basketball committee, said the league is looking at whether to have a complete, 20-game round-robin conference schedule.

Also, the Big Sky is considering whether to continue to invite every conference team to the postseason tournament. Adding an 11th team would require some restructuring of the bracket and might force the tournament to start earlier, which would impact the regular season.

One thing that isn’t up for debate right now is where the tournament will be played. The Big Sky announced recently that the contract to host the postseason tournament in Boise has been extended through the 2031 season.