If Boise State, ranked No. 3 in the nation by the Associated Press, beats the 10th-ranked Hokies, it has a shot at the national title. If the Broncos lose, they have none. It’s not winner take all, but it’s winner can take all. Beat Virginia Tech, and Boise State should have a downhill run through the rest of its schedule, with the only potential icy patch being a Sept. 25 home game against No. 24 Oregon State.

“We deal with this every year,” Boise State President Robert W. Kustra said. “Every year when we enter a season we know one loss kills it for us. It’s the reason I’ve been so vocal about the [Bowl Championship Series] and how it’s stacked. It discriminates against athletes who show up for practice every day just like the athletes at Virginia Tech.”

Ah, the BCS. Everyone knows by now the story of the plucky Broncos, who have been trying to join the Big Cheese Schools for years. Last season the Broncos finished undefeated, but because of a weaker strength of schedule they were relegated to the Fiesta Bowl with another unbeaten upstart, TCU, instead of getting a shot at the national title.

How tired are the Broncos of pounding on the door to the secret club? The school has hired D.C. law firm Arent Fox to try to persuade the Justice Department to examine the legality of a system that prevents certain schools – only six conferences receive automatic bids to BCS bowl games, and Boise State’s Western Athletic Conference isn’t one of them – from even being allowed to compete for the national title and all that goes along with it.

Including, let’s face it, the money. Kustra isn’t reticent in explaining the importance of college football in the life of a university. In eight years at the helm, Kustra, 67, has engineered Boise State’s move from the WAC to the Mountain West – that happens next year – and the subsequent push to have the Mountain West admitted to the BCS. He also has spearheaded a planned expansion of Bronco Stadium. He calls the the football team “a huge picture window” for the university, which is in the midst of a $ 175 million fundraising campaign.

“The football program’s identity really goes a long way in introducing you to the university,” Kustra said. “There has been a remarkable increase in enrollment the past few years. There was a significant jump after the first Fiesta Bowl.”

That was on Jan. 1, 2007, when the Broncos beat Oklahoma, 43-42, in overtime. Kustra said that victories like that one, in front of large TV audiences, draw interest in the university, not only from prospective students but from prospective faculty as well.

“The partnership between academic life and the athletic department is unlike some places where there is a huge rift because of funding,” Kustra said. “Here there is complete and total support across the university. People understand [football] serves a huge public relations purpose.”

Signs everywhere – except on BCS letterhead – point to the fact that Boise State is considered one of the elite teams in the country. The Broncos return 22 of 24 starters from a team that was 14-0 last season. They have put together three undefeated regular seasons in the past four. They have a Heisman Trophy candidate in junior quarterback Kellen Moore, who finished seventh in last year’s voting after throwing for 3,526 yards, 39 touchdowns and only three interceptions last season.

The Broncos were one of the 10 teams chosen to wear a new Nike uniform, in elite company such as Alabama, Ohio State and Virginia Tech. Sports Illustrated featured four teams on the covers of its regional college football previews; Boise State was one, along with Ohio State, Texas and Alabama. The first shipment of 10,000 magazines sold out quickly in the Boise area and SI sent an additional 30,000 copies.

The Broncos got one vote for No. 1 in the Associated Press poll, where they are ranked third. They are fifth in the USA Today coaches’ poll and third in the espn.com power rankings. The Los Angeles Times picked the Broncos No. 1.

The No. 3 ranking gives Boise State its best chance yet to make it to the national title game next January. It’s hard for the Broncos to move up in the polls so the higher the start, the better. Which is why Coach Chris Petersen raised a few eyebrows when he said that the high rankings don’t do Boise State any favors. (Be careful what you wish for, Coach.)

“Yes, he’s right, the ranking doesn’t help us,” Kustra said. “If you could lower the humidity [at FedEx Field] about 30 percent and transport an extra few thousand fans from Boise and Idaho. . . .

“It’s going to be a home turf [for the Hokies], and it’s going to be humid like it was in Georgia a few years ago [a 48-13 loss to the Bulldogs in 2005]. We came home with our tail between our legs. I don’t think that’s going to happen this time.”

If it doesn’t – if the Broncos can beat two ranked teams and put together an undefeated season, and somehow manage to land an elusive berth in the national title game – well, which would you rather have, President Kustra? A national title or a berth at the BCS banquet table for the Mountain West Conference?

“I’ll take the national title and we’ll talk about the BCS later,” Kustra said without hesitation. “If we could get to the national title game I think we’d have some gravitas. It gets increasingly embarrassing that these automatically qualified conferences are sitting around the table getting most of the revenue and denying access.

“Schools like Boise State are now schools to be reckoned with.”

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