Once upon a distant time the University of Hawai'i looked to Brigham Young University for its football inspiration.

Now, the cleat is on the other foot.

And the Cougars are not alone in their pursuit, if not admiration, of what the Warriors gave the college football world's have-nots last season.

As the 54 non-Bowl Championship Series signatory schools begin fall practice tomorrow, being "the next Hawai'i" — a Cinderella school from an other-side-of-the-tracks conference that crashes the lucrative BCS ball — is the goal of most.

Just as the Warriors took "what-if" note of Utah (2004) and gained hope from Boise State (2006) breakthroughs, UH's stunning success in a 12-1 Sugar Bowl season now nurtures similar dreams in Fresno, Calif, Provo, Utah, Fort Worth, Texas, Tulsa, Okla. and beyond.

Utah proved it could be done. Boise State showed it need not be a once-in-a-blue moon event and UH illustrated that if a wonder season could play out 2,500 miles out in the Pacific it could happen anywhere.

This year it is the long-hated Cougars of BYU who stand, coming out of the gate, the best chance of following in UH's footsteps. They have the offensive firepower, the returnees, the schedule and, now the launching pad.

Debate all you want the strength of the teams and worthiness of their schedules at this point, but when the USA Today Top 25 coaches poll came out Friday, the Cougars immediately stepped to the front of the line of BCS-buster hopefuls. Very far in front.

Their No. 17 ranking in a poll that is a component of the BCS ranking formula was not only miles ahead of the nearest non-BCS hopeful (No. 25 Fresno State) this year, it was a considerable jump on where UH (24th), Boise State (unranked) or Utah (unranked) opened in the preseason polls in their break-out seasons.

Since a top-10 finish in the final BCS standings or a higher finish than the lowest of the BCS signatory champions is the criteria for inclusion, the Cougars are sitting pretty, needing only to win.

To be sure the schedule is manageable with non-conference games against Northern Iowa, Washington (road), UCLA and Utah State (road). BYU beat the Bruins in the Las Vegas Bowl eight months ago.

For Fresno State, Texas Christian, Utah or Tulsa, the only other non-signatory schools even receiving votes in the coaches' poll, there are not only longer climbs but tougher paths. Fresno has Rutgers, Wisconsin, Toledo and UCLA; all but the Badgers on the road. TCU needs to get past Oklahoma in Norman, Okla., Utah travels to Michigan and Tulsa goes to Arkansas.

There were times, a quarter-century ago upon joining the Western Athletic Conference, and years later in finally beating BYU, when UH envisioned it might take a page out of the Cougars' road map to prominence.

This season begins with BYU trying to walk in UH's footsteps.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.