After months of speculation and powerpoint slides, Idaho and New Mexico State football programs have officially been booted out of the Sun Belt, the conference announced Tuesday.

According to Fox Sports, Sun Belt presidents decided they’d rather proceed as a geographically consistent 10-team football conference (with Coastal Carolina joining in 2017). Idaho and New Mexico State are thousands of miles away from the other Sun Belt schools, which are mostly concentrated in the Southeastern United States.

This was a strategic decision that was reached following a thorough and complete review of our options,” said Sun Belt Conference and Texas State University President Dr. Denise Trauth. “The Sun Belt’s presidents and chancellors strongly believe it is in the best interest of the conference to have a core membership of 10 football teams that are geographically located within the ‘footprint’ of the conference and that these 10 members also compete in all conference sports. This decision, along with the full 12-team membership that goes into place for the 2016-17 season with the addition of Coastal Carolina University, will reduce travel demands and missed class time for all Sun Belt student-athletes – while also furthering the development of regional rivalries within the conference.”

In other sports, New Mexico State and Idaho are part of the Western Athletic Conference, which does not sponsor football. Rejected by the Sun Belt, the schools must now either find a new football conference (The Idaho Statesman has previously reported that the Big Sky Conference could be a fit for the Vandals), build an independent schedule or downgrade to FCS.

New Mexico State and Idaho, both of whom rejoined the Sun Belt in 2014 after leaving in 2005, went 3-5 in conference play in 2015 and failed to qualify for postseason play.

In a statement released Tuesday, Idaho president Chuck Staben said the school is disappointed about the Sun Belt’s decision but optimistic about options for the future.

[Sun Belt]

About Alex Putterman

Alex is a writer and editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. He has written for The Atlantic, VICE Sports, MLB.com, SI.com and more. He is a proud alum of Northwestern University and The Daily Northwestern. You can find him on Twitter @AlexPutterman.