In its fourth season of Western Athletic Conference membership, Boise State is unbeaten and ranked No. 9 in the Bowl Championship Series standings.

Idaho (3-8), which finishes its last season in the Sun Belt Conference with tonight's non-conference game against host Hawai'i, is 9-37 in the past four years. The Vandals join the WAC on July 1, 2005.

Boise State has "had a lot of success lately," Idaho quarterback Michael Harrington said. "That's where we're hoping to head. If you keep working, keep working, things are bound to go right. We're waiting for our break."

The thing is, the roles used to be reversed. For a dozen seasons through 1994 — under coaches Dennis Erickson, Keith Gilbertson and John L. Smith — the Vandals did not lose in their annual game against the Broncos.

"Idaho used to be the team that dominated them," Vandal defensive end Brandon Kania said. Now the Broncos "are definitely taking their turn at that."

Idaho coach Nick Holt said: "We have to catch up to them, no question about it. ... I think we will catch up to them. We don't think we're in anybody's shadow in our state."

The power shift came four years ago, when Boise State, using the locally controlled bowl game as bait, gained membership in the WAC.

At the time, the question was: Would Boise State improve the WAC or would the WAC improve Boise State? Three consecutive league titles later, the answer is clear. The same question is now posed to Idaho.

"We've got a lot of good things going here," Harrington said. "You can look at the won-loss column the last few years and say we don't belong in the WAC and we can't compete. But we're a good program with a lot of things the WAC needs, (such as strong) academics. A lot of our other sports are really competitive. I think we bring a lot of things to the WAC other than just football."

Holt said joining the WAC should help recruiting. As members of the Sun Belt, the Vandals compete against schools from Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas and Michigan.

"We've been all over the country, especially in the Southeast," Holt said. "We get on an airplane and go play. They tell us what time to show up, and we show up."

Holt, who was a USC assistant coach last year, said the Vandals will expand their recruiting base in the Northwest and California.

With their season ending tonight, many of the Vandals will return to Idaho tomorrow. But Holt is expected to stay a few extra days in search of football prospects.

"We're going to be out recruiting in the Islands, and get that Island talent, hopefully, to the Mainland," he said. "We've got some kids from this area in our program. Hopefully, we can continue to recruit well. We're going to have to, to compete with the Hawai'is and the Fresnos and the Boise States. ... There's excellent football out here."