MOSCOW - University of Idaho football is returning to the Sun Belt Conference beginning with the 2014 season, school and league officials announced Wednesday.

"We are excited to rejoin the Sun Belt Conference as a football member," Idaho athletic director Rob Spear said. "This membership provides our deserving coaches and student-athletes the opportunity to compete for a conference championship and participate in bowl games, and it provides our department with much needed conference stability in such a volatile environment."

Idaho played football in the Western Athletic Conference from 2005-12. With most of the WAC football schools headed to other conferences in 2013, Idaho and New Mexico State will be football independents this fall, before both join the Sun Belt in football only in 2014.

First-year Idaho football coach Paul Petrino welcomed a conference home for the Vandals and praised the Sun Belt for its competitiveness.

"We're extremely excited to get into the Sun Belt Conference," Petrino said. "It's a great football league.

There are a lot of great coaches in that league.

"I couldn't be more excited than being a part of the Sun Belt. It's a great thing for the University of Idaho football program."

Petrino, who has recruited the southeastern part of the country, said it opens doors to players, too.

"It's a part of the country where they have a lot of great players," he said. "It helps us recruit and it will help us get into bowl games."

University president M. Duane Nellis noted the importance of maintaining football at the FBS level.

"The move to the Sun Belt Conference is an important move for us," he said. "It provides us a known conference schedule, affiliation, and revenue source as we build strength in our FBS football program."

When the Vandals enter the league in 2014, there will be two six-team divisions. There will be a Western Division with Idaho, New Mexico State, Texas State, Arkansas State, Louisiana-Lafayette and Louisiana-Monroe, and an Eastern Division with Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, South Alabama, Troy and Western Kentucky. Appalachian State and Georgia Southern (who also accepted Sun Belt invites on Wednesday) will be in transition from FCS status. The divisions provide the opportunity for a league championship game.

Western Kentucky is coached by Bobby Petrino, Paul's brother. The school has denied reports it is interested in leaving the Sun Belt for Conference USA.

"The additions of Idaho and New Mexico State marks a significant moment for the Sun Belt Conference," said Sun Belt Commissioner Karl Benson, a former WAC commissioner. "The administrators from our league have been working hard and taking the initiative for the conference to continue its expansion during a time where national realignment has been extensive.

"Having these two FBS programs join the league will give us two teams that are instantly ready to compete for a bowl bid and also gives us the ability to host a conference football championship game should we choose to do so."

Vandal football was a member of the Sun Belt Conference from 2001-04.

Georgia Southern's football team has won 10 Southern Conference titles and six national championships since 1985. Appalachian State has won 10 conference titles and three national championships.

Both schools are slated to begin playing Sun Belt games and will be revenue-sharing members of the conference in 2014 and eligible for the Sun Belt conference title, but will not be eligible to play in a bowl game until 2015.

For Georgia Southern, the move to FBS comes after 65 percent of school's students voted to pay $75 a semester to support the move.

That fee will be collected starting in the fall. Ground will also be broken in a few weeks to add 6,300 additional seats to Allen E. Paulson Stadium and build a new Football Operations Center in the east end zone.

New Mexico State, which also joined the WAC in 2005, went 1-11 last season and hasn't appeared in a bowl game since 1960.