The University of Hawai'i football team needs to not only beat Boise State Friday, but go about it impressively if it is to be assured a treasured Bowl Championship Series berth, according to Sam Chi, who operates www.BCSguru.com, a leading tracker of the BCS process.

After close calls in three previous cable appearances and little movement above them, the Warriors, "not only need to beat Boise but to look good doing it," on ESPN, Chi said yesterday. UH is a 3 1/2-point favorite on the Las Vegas betting lines.

UH, which is currently 15th in the BCS rankings, needs to be 12th or better in the final printout on Dec. 2 to be guaranteed a berth in a lucrative BCS bowl. A top-16 finish would assure a BCS appearance only if a champion from one of the six non-guaranteed conferences finishes lower.

UH is 10-0 with two regular season games remaining, Friday against Boise State and Dec. 1 against Washington.

After their inability to parlay last week's two-point victory over Nevada into a leap into the top 12, Chi suggests on his Web site, "...the hopes of a WAC representative in a BCS bowl were all but dashed by Ohio State's victory (over Michigan). The Warriors, at No. 15, may have already climbed to the top of Mauna Kea and can't go any higher. Hawai'i's only hope appears to rest with a Tennessee upset of LSU in the SEC title game, but even that doesn't guarantee anything. Boise State's quest for a repeat trip to a BCS bowl is deader than Generalissimo Francisco Franco."

For UH to finish in the top 12 without a compelling win over Boise State or some help from other teams "from where they are right now is probably a little bit of a stretch," according to Chi, a former San Francisco sports writer.

"The problem for them is they need all the votes they can get in the polls because the computers are just not going to help a whole heckuva lot at this point because of Hawai'i's schedule," Chi said.

WAC commissioner Karl Benson said, "I remain confident that the (BCS) process will reward a 12-0 Hawai'i team."

The Jan. 1 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans and Jan. 2 Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz., are the most likely destinations for UH if the Warriors crack the BCS. Both have had representatives at UH games.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com.