Tuesday, Aug. 05, 2008

Hill, Fresno State football aim for the top

Coach takes different philosophy

FRESNO -- One conversation topic continually filled Pat Hill's ears during his seven-city summer tour of the Central Valley.

That topic among fans, as always, was scheduling.

"They loved what we do," said Hill, the Fresno State football coach.

So no one said they disagreed?

"Maybe there were some out there that wanted to say it," Hill said. "They just didn't want to say it to me."

A theme actually new to this offseason was the following: "The baseball team did it, now it's your turn." And so more expectations were born.

Hill said the baseball team's national championship is a great momentum boost for this football season, which starts with today's 9 a.m. practice.

"It's about winning the ultimate prize," he said. "That's what any business is about. In football, people look at me like I'm crazy for saying this is a goal: We'd love to win a national championship.

"The path to get there is going to be very, very difficult, but there is a path," he continued. "You have to believe there's a path. You can't be in a division and say there's no chance you can go. I always believe there's a chance."

Quarterback Tom Brandstater, a Turlock High graduate, shares Hill's outlook.

"I'm never one to write checks that I can't guarantee, but (when asked by fans about a possible Bowl Championship Series game) I told them that we have a great team and all the pieces are set for a great season," he said. "My expectations are to win every game. You can't have any other attitude than that."

Hill said the desire to crack the BCS and beat the big boys -- not just play them -- separates the Bulldogs from other Western Athletic Conference teams in national exposure and recruiting.

"That's why (players) sign the line," he said.

BCS conference foes stack the Bulldogs' schedule. The Bulldogs open their season at Rutgers on Sept. 1, host Wisconsin on Sept. 13 and travel to UCLA on Sept. 27.

Predictably, September will either be spectacularly wonderful or agonizingly awful for the Bulldogs.

Maybe both.

Hill expects the best. It's a sin not to.

"It's the only way I know how to operate," he said.

Other coaches shy away from speaking about national title hopes. Take BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall. His team is the only other non-BCS conference team to be ranked (No. 17) in the USA Today poll.

After the announcement, he had this to say in a statement: "Our goals will continue to be winning at home and winning the Mountain West Conference. We will not focus on an undefeated season or going to a BCS game. While that pressure exists ... our focus will be on doing our personal best, and doing it as a collective unit on a daily basis."

Hill said this in a statement about his team being ranked 25th: "Getting in the preseason Top 25 will help us as we try to reach our goal of playing in a BCS bowl game. If we can win and get on a roll, we can reach the top 12 faster. The playoffs for college football start on Labor Day for us."

Last week, Hill said other coaches (not specifically Mendenhall) secretly covet the national spotlight.

"They can say they don't want it, but they really do," Hill said. "For us, it's really important because it gets people into the stadium."

Hype that puts fans in the seats is important for his mid-major team's bottom line.

"We need those types of things to help boost ticket sales," Hill said. "At Fresno State, filling the stadium is so important in the entire athletic department revenue stream that I think it's very important to have those national hypes out there to get the interest of the people."

This season, Hill said he hopes to have people's interest from opening day through January.

If the Bulldogs match Hill's expectations, that shouldn't be a problem.