Idaho QB BOISE, ID – DECEMBER 22: Famous Idaho Potato Bowl MVP quarterback Matt Linehan #10 of the Idaho Vandals at the conclusion of the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl on December 22, 2016 at Albertsons Stadium in Boise, Idaho. Idaho won the game 61-50. (Photo by Loren Orr/Getty Images)

The 2016 Idaho Vandals football season is perhaps one of the best stories in sports this year and it was capped off with one of the craziest bowl game victories in recent memory too.

Idaho, who were kicked out of the Sun Belt Conference this spring following the 2017 season, went on to show why it belongs in the FBS by getting bowl eligible. Winning 61-50 (yes that was the actual score) over Colorado State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl certainly helped the team’s case.

It also provided fuel to the debate about the future of the program, and quarterback Matt Linehan let all of his frustration over the situation of the program go in a post-game MVP speech on ESPN radio.

“We know we can compete, we belong here. No matter what anyone thinks, even our tone-deaf president. Maybe he doesn’t think we belong here, but I think we belong here,” Linehan said.

You see, the Vandals are dropping to the ranks of the FCS with no FBS conference affiliation being viable for the financial health of the program.

However, a season like the 2016 season, in which the team finished 9-4 overall and won a bowl game, can spark some growth.

Linehan obviously was speaking out of joy and frustration over the situation the program finds itself in. He would go on to apologize for his heated words directed towards the Idaho president in his post-game press conference.

As for the future of the program? Head coach Paul Petrino echoed the sentiment of Linehan’s statement that the team belonged at this level.

“You’d hope we made a statement,” Petrino said. “We were 2-0 against Mountain West teams year. We’d look pretty good in that conference. But I can only control what I can control, and that’s to be as good of a coach as I can be.”

Petrino’s coaching job didn’t go unnoticed this year, as he became a name linked with some of the bigger jobs to open up in the FBS this offseason.

One good season certainly doesn’t erase decades of fiscal issues and conference affiliation issues, but it certainly has been a nice release for a group of coaches and kids who work their tail off for the university they represent.

Hopefully, that same university will show them the effort and faith they did despite the impending move down to the FCS level. Heck, maybe the Mountain West finds a way to add the Vandals and another team to the mix and save their FBS future.

That may be a dream that won’t come true, but they’ll always have the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl to look back upon fondly.

[ESPN]

About Andrew Coppens

Andy is a contributor to The Comeback as well as Publisher of Big Ten site talking10. He also is a member of the FWAA and has been covering college sports since 2011. Andy is an avid soccer fan and runs the Celtic FC site The Celtic Bhoys. If he's not writing about sports, you can find him enjoying them in front of the TV with a good beer!