University of Hawai'i fans are relishing the prospect of what we're calling by acclamation the "biggest" football game in school history, Friday's long-anticipated, sold-out Boise State-UH showdown at Aloha Stadium.

Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson has called it the "biggest conference game in WAC history."

Clearly, "big" — as in importance and visibility — is in this week. Call it the biggest of weeks.

But history — the Warriors' especially — reminds us that hugeness of significance cuts both ways. There are big breakthroughs (1992, '99, etc.) to be celebrated — and also big letdowns (1981 and '93) to be mourned. Games that marked both milestone heights and deflating disappointments. Hawai'i and its fans have seen ample examples of both in UH's 30-plus years of playing sometimes thrilling, sometimes exasperating but rarely boring major college football.

So, to lend a little perspective to whatever awaits, we offer a Top 10 list of the most significant games in UH's major college era up till now and the import they carried:

1. UH, 27, Illinois 17 (Dec. 30, 1992, San Diego) — This Holiday Bowl victory put the wrapping on a school-record 11-2 season, only Top-20 finish and sole Mainland bowl appearance. It set the standard but may be on borrowed time. Coach: Bob Wagner.

2. UH 31, Fresno State 24, 2 OT (Nov. 13, 1999) — A rousing rally earned UH a share of its last WAC title, underlining a 9-4 season that marked an NCAA record turnaround from 0-12 the season before. Coach: June Jones.

3. UH 56, BYU 14 (Oct. 28, 1989) — UH broke out of the 10-game, 11-year BYU "jinx" to set the stage for the school's first NCAA bowl game. As Wagner told the team before the game: "Guys, it doesn't have to be close." It wasn't. Coach: Wagner.

4. BYU 13, UH 3 (Nov. 14, 1981) — UH had its first national ranking, an ABC network TV game and Sports Illustrated on hand to record an expected ascendancy to a WAC championship. It didn't materialize. The SI package never ran and BYU's reign, instead of being snapped, gained a second wind. Coach: Dick Tomey.

5. UH 31, Eastern Illinois 27 (Set. 11, 1999) — Warriors ended a 19-game, three-year losing streak that was the nation's longest, turning the corner on the darkest of chapters. Coach: Jones. The following week they beat Boise State — their only 1-A triumph over the Broncos.

6. UH 72, BYU 45 (Dec. 8, 2001) — The Warriors beat the daylights out of the Cougars and their Bowl Championship Series hopes but were left without a postseason themselves despite a 9-3 finish. The turn of events helped bring about the creation of the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl. Coach: Jones.

7. BYU 41, UH 38 (Sept. 11, 1993 at Provo, Utah) — Nine months after the Holiday Bowl and seemingly on the way to bigger and better things, a UH field-goal try hit the uprights, the Cougars dodged the upset and we were left to wonder "what if" as the program began to spiral downward. Coach: Wagner.

8. USC 21, UH 5 (Dec. 2, 1978) — In its last game as an independent, UH trailed 9-5 in the fourth quarter and showed it could hang with that season's eventual national champion, buoying optimism for its WAC debut in 1979. Coach: Tomey.

9. UH 20, Southern Methodist 0 (Sept. 25, 1999, Dallas) — Warriors ended a 24-game WAC road losing streak in a big way. Coach: Jones.

10. UH 30, San Jose St. 20 (Nov. 29, 1975) — UH knocks off its first nationally-ranked opponent. Coach: Larry Price.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.