Why is Georgia playing Idaho State?

"Actually, when they said it was the University of Georgia, I said I wasn't interested any more," Tingey said. "Just because of the size of the school and the past performances of the team, it was something we weren't really interested in, being from a smaller conference."

The idea sounded better when he learned Georgia was willing to pay $525,000 for the game.

"That’s a large portion of our overall budget," Tingey said.

Idaho State's overall athletics budget, he said, is about $8 million. (Georgia's is about $85 million.) After expenses, Idaho State will clear about $425,000 from the trip to Athens, Tingey said.

Often, Georgia's football schedules are booked several years in advance. But in summer 2009, UGA associate athletic director Arthur Johnson was still seeking an opponent for the first Saturday in November 2010.

"We probably talked to anywhere from five to 10 schools," Johnson said. "While talking to those schools, we were just waiting on someone to get back to us to say they were interested."

Did he find it strange when the call came from Pocatello, Idaho, 2,000 miles away?

"It was strange," Johnson said. "But for them, if they didn't have anyone else calling, and if they are going to play a certain number of ‘buy' games a year, how long do they wait? It was that perfect storm; they had an opening at the same time we had an opening."

A "buy" game is a game in which a large program pays a smaller program to travel to its stadium without getting a return engagement. Georgia generally plays at least two "buy" games a year in Sanford Stadium -- one of them against an FCS opponent, which tends to command a fee about half as large as an FBS (formerly Division I-A) opponent would. Idaho State, conversely, generally goes on the road a couple of times a year to an FBS team's stadium, although this is the farthest the Bengals have ever traveled for a game.

"Buy" games are, by design, mismatches, this one perhaps more than most.

FBS teams, such as Georgia, are allowed 85 scholarships, while FCS teams are permitted no more than 63. And Idaho State had its allotment reduced 10 percent to 56.7 scholarships this year as a penalty for the team's poor scores on the NCAA's Academic Progress Rate (APR).

In addition, while the NCAA generally allows teams to practice 20 hours per week, Idaho State is limited to 16 hours because of the APR issue.

If you think Georgia's 4-5 season has been difficult, consider Idaho State's. The Bengals are 1-7 (0-6 in the Big Sky) and on a seven-game losing streak since beating Montana Western in the opener. Idaho State's record since the start of the 2008 season is 3-28.

Yet another disadvantage the Bengals face Saturday: The game starts at 12:30 p.m., which is 10:30 a.m. in Idaho.

"We're going to be placed at our extreme physical limit in this game," Tingey said. "But for most of these guys, the only other time they will ever see the University of Georgia is on television. A lot of the guys they'll be playing [against] Saturday, they'll see playing on Sundays in the NFL in coming years."

Idaho State plays its home games in front of an average of 5,500 fans in a 12,000-seat indoor facility, Holt Arena. Sanford Stadium seats 92,746 and is sold out for the 62nd consecutive game.

"All of our guys are going to be excited ... to step up and compete in that kind of arena," Idaho State coach John Zamberlin said. "It'll be a great experience ... that no one can take away. But I think the crux of it when you schedule this one is the financial situation."