BOISE, Idaho - Virginia offers the perfect matchup for Fresno State coach Pat Hill: a Top 25 opponent and another chance to knock off a team from a Bowl Championship Series conference.
At least this time Fresno State faces the 18th-ranked Cavaliers of the Atlantic Coast Conference on a neutral field today in the MPC Computers Bowl. Usually, the Bulldogs play these games in the other team's stadium.
But if anyone thinks Fresno State (8-3) from the Western Athletic Conference has nothing to lose, think again.
"We've got plenty to lose," Hill insisted. "When we played Washington in the opener, our fans wouldn't have accepted a loss. The expectation at Fresno State is to win, and a win over Virginia would salvage our season at 9-3."
Boise isn't your typical bowl trip.
The weather is frosty, though this year it's rather warm with a forecast of 41 degrees and partly cloudy skies. Rather than strolling the beaches, players can ride snowmobiles in the mountains.
"The sky is as blue as the field," Virginia coach Al Groh marveled when the Cavaliers arrived last week.
Yep, there's that eye-popping blue field. Nothing's wrong with your television - the Smurf Turf matches the colors of host school Boise State.
As for the game itself, it's a solid matchup.
Virginia (8-3) is making its third straight bowl trip, and the Cavaliers' only losses this season were to ACC heavyweights Florida State, Miami and Virginia Tech.
"They're a couple of plays away from winning the ACC," Hill said. "They have an outstanding team. We feel very fortunate to get the fourth-place team from the ACC. Here at Fresno State, that's a great matchup."
MOTOR CITY BOWL: In only six years, Connecticut coach Randy Edsall has taken the Huskies from Division I-AA to a bowl game.
That's right, UConn is no longer just a basketball school.
"It's been a monumental ride and a monumental experience to get here this quickly and a lot of us in our wildest dreams never thought this could happen," Edsall said.
UConn, in its third season in Division I-A, and Toledo meet Monday in Detroit in a game that features two potent offenses led by talented quarterbacks.
Senior Dan Orlovsky owns nearly every Connecticut passing record, and he's thrown for 3,115 yards and 21 TDs this season. Toledo's Bruce Gradkowski, one of the most accurate passers in the nation, has thrown for 3,475 yards and 27 scores to help the Rockets (9-3, 7-1 Mid-American) roll up 474.1 yards of offense.
A record crowd of 51,286 watched Bowling Green beat Northwestern 28-24 in last year's Motor City Bowl, and officials expect nearly 60,000 fans today.
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