OPINION

By Matt Hayes

updated 5:55 p.m. ET Sept. 11, 2008

Matt Hayes

Pat Hill is no different than you or I. He's watching East Carolina, too.

Here's something else you wouldn't expect from Fresno State's BCS-busting coach: He's pulling for the Pirates, even though they're sucking the very life — and the Saturday night highlights — from the rest of the non-BCS teams chasing big boy glory.

"The bar was set a long time ago for us as non-BCS schools," Hill says. "I get excited about anyone reaching it. We have to work that much harder; it's part of the deal."

Especially when you're the original little guy with the big stick.

The unthinkable will happen this weekend in California's Central Valley: a ranked team from a BCS conference will travel to play Fresno State. No more buyouts, no more 11th-hour cancellations — just the big, bad Badgers from Wisconsin rolling into town for what will be the biggest home game in the program's history.

Could've been even more exciting in the Valley this fall were it not for Kansas State's gutless move of canceling its game at Fresno a mere seven months before the start of the season.

"Already had our hotel rooms booked," Hill says.

So what did Fresno State do? What it always does — added another game against the BCS big boys. This time it was Rutgers, and a 4,000-mile round trip to start the season against a talented team with a fifth-year senior quarterback.

That's what made last weekend's 24-7 victory at Rutgers so satisfying. It not only signaled — yet again — Fresno State's entrance into the hunt for a BCS bowl, but it reaffirmed to Hill's players the recruiting pitch he sells over and over: Come to Fresno, play in big games and reap the rewards of winning big games.

"Pat always tries to raise the bar," Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema says. "His players feed off that mentality."

And it shows when the big boys show up on the schedule. The Bulldogs are 13-13 in their past 26 games against BCS-conference teams, and they have Wisconsin and UCLA left on this fall's schedule. Two more wins against BCS teams will put Fresno State in the familiar position of needing to win out in the WAC to earn a berth in a BCS bowl game.

Despite all the success against BCS teams, the Bulldogs have yet to translate those program-defining wins into a conference championship. As crazy as it sounds, winning the WAC has become more difficult than banging heads with BCS heavyweights.

"East Carolina is going to find that out," Hill says. "When you start winning games against BCS teams, it's becomes a psychological deal for teams in your conference. People get excited about playing you."

Translation: Before we get too excited about ECU's victories over Virginia Tech and West Virginia, understand that games against Conference USA opponents will dictate the Pirates' season. It's one thing to beat a BCS team in a one-shot deal, in a game full of emotion and motivation.

It's another to persevere through an eight-game conference schedule and the conference championship game against opponents who play you every fall and know your personnel and schemes and tendencies. And against teams that can make their season by beating the team that beat the BCS big boys.

Think about that as East Carolina celebrates its new-found celebrity, or if Fresno State upsets No. 10 Wisconsin this weekend and makes it through the rest of its non-conference scheduled unscathed. The hard part is just beginning.

"I love these games," Hill says. "But they don't help us one bit in our conference."

It's part of the deal.

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