"That's a game for us where our fans out there are saying, 'thank you, this is so great.' They don't get to see us on TV. There are so many fans in Hawaii, and we recruit a lot out there, so it is a very good game for us. It's good for Hawaii because it's one of the best rivalries we have. It's too bad that we haven't played them in quite a while."

The "cupcake" game

When March rolls around, fans are excited for one thing: the release of next season's football schedule. Fans from every Division I team flock to see which teams will come to their home stadiums.

There is some letdown, however, when fans' searching eyes see the "cardinal sin" of scheduling: a I-AA "cupcake" on the schedule. With ever-increasing ticket prices, most fans don't understand why their school's athletic directors would do this to them.

But according to ADs around the state, there are many reasons for scheduling I-AA teams.

"I think it's a stopgap. We don't try to," Holmoe said. "I came in my first year and had to find a game in a short period of time. This year, Nevada dropped us and we had to quickly find another team that would come to Provo. I don't make excuses for it; I'd prefer not to. But I'm sure glad those schools are willing to play us when we get into a situation."

Hill agrees.

"If Michigan won't come back to Salt Lake, we've got to find someone who will play us at home," Hill said. "It's not that simple, but sometimes we play a I-AA school for those reasons. We try not to do that too often, but sometimes you get stuck because you want to have enough home games."

Hill also said the financial viability of a I-AA home game far outweighs any of the negatives associated with having a cupcake game. It's the same reason Notre Dame and Michigan can schedule Utah the way they did.

"Notre Dame pays us $1 million to come to their place, and they make $4 million every home game," Hill said. "They net $3 million, so they don't need to come to Salt Lake. That's why they have seven home games."

In Logan, Barnes said another reason to schedule these games is to give a program confidence coming into the season. Being winless coming into conference play, he argues, does not do well for a team's morale. I-AA wins count toward the requirement for bowl berths, and losses to Division I behemoths do not count against a I-AA school's run for the playoffs.

Each of the ADs said schedules mature with the direction of the program, meaning fans may see schools with less luster attached to their names until the programs have whatever they term "sustained success."