SPOKANE, Wash. -- A week ago, the idea that 29 members of the University of Idaho pep band would become dedicated supporters of the Yale Bulldogs men's basketball team would have been too preposterous to consider.
Yet, here they are.
With Yale's band unable to travel to Spokane this week for the NCAA men's basketball tournament due to previous travel plans with the university on spring break, the Vandal Marching Band emerged from the bullpen. It is calling themselves the "Vandogs."
Idaho band director Spencer Martin learned of Yale's plight on Sunday, shortly after the field was announced, and was asked if either the Idaho band could step in as a temporary Yale band or if there was a high school band up to the task. He immediately sent a message to members of his band, asking if there was interest in filling in on Friday -- and, in the unlikely event Yale beat the fourth-seeded Auburn Tigers, again on Sunday.
The response was swift and decisive: Of course, the band wanted to experience the tournament firsthand. Martin went to work on the instrumentation -- determining what mix of instruments would be included -- and other logistics such as what Yale sheet music needed to be obtained and which traditions would be beneficial to understand.
"You have a spreadsheet of all your band members, and so when they're limited, you really have to kind of overload on brass and percussion and things like that just for sound power and things like that," Martin told ESPN. "It just worked out. We had a good number of trumpets and trombones and tubas and percussion. Got some saxophones in there. You have to be selective, sadly, because if you could bring everybody, that'd be cool, but you can't."
The band held one practice -- Friday morning at the Kibbie Dome -- during which it practiced the Yale fight song and customized some of its own song lyrics to represent Yale. Then it loaded up the bus and made the 90-minute drive to Spokane, where Idaho was serving as the site host. When the band members arrived, they met the Yale spirit squad, which provided Yale shirts and gear, and were escorted into the arena.
It caught the Yale team off guard.
"In our shootaround we didn't have a band, we just had our cheer team that flew with us," Yale center Danny Wolf said. "[Before the game started], I remember looking to my coaches and being very confused as to how we had a band all wearing extremely interesting Yale-branded gear.
"But for the University of Idaho to be gracious enough to come here and be able to play our fight song to the best of their ability, I just appreciate that, and I think it goes without saying that -- it was a very gracious thing they did, and we appreciate it."
Idaho band members took the job seriously. They asked the spirit squad for suggestions. They reached out to members of the Yale band via social media. And then, as Yale stuck with Auburn late in the game, they were authentically some of the most excited Bulldogs fans in the building.
"It was awesome watching them play," said Idaho grad student Cody Barrick, who plays the tenor saxophone. "We were right on our feet with everyone else at the end there cheering them on for sure."
After the game, Yale coach James Jones acknowledged it made a difference in the game.
"Yeah, I saw them out there and they had their sheets, so they knew the music in terms of what to play. It was great," Jones said. "Having that atmosphere and the people coming out and support us, there's nothing better than that, and we can't appreciate them more than to be Bulldog fans. And a lot of times when you're on the road and you're the underdog, a lot of times the crowd goes in your favor and that helped a little bit, too."
The "Vandogs" will be back in the building Sunday for Yale's round of 32 game against San Diego State, in which Yale will try to become the second straight Ivy League team to reach the Sweet 16 following Princeton's run last year.
"We played Gonzaga earlier this year, and I think we put forward a pretty good effort against them," Yale guard August Mahoney said. "So I think the Spokane community kind of has rallied behind us a little bit, and hopefully they're just as loud against San Diego State."
