When the Western Athletic Conference hands out the hardware, June Jones (coach of the year), Colt Brennan (offensive player) and Adam Leonard (defensive player), would be our choices for the honorees.

But the big winner this season?

That stands to be — drum roll, please — UH athletic director Herman Frazier, even if there is no official trophy for blind luck.

After nearly a year of speculation and concern about the softness of the schedule separating the Warriors from a Bowl Championship Series berth, odds are that a victory over Washington Saturday will keep UH in the top-12 position needed to guarantee an appearance. The possibility of which no doubt fueled Frazier's exuberance as the clock ticked down on the Warriors' 39-27 victory over Boise State in the WAC Championship game.

After the tardiness in completing a schedule blighted with two I-AA teams, the worst case scenario for Frazier would be if UH finished the regular season undefeated and didn't make the BCS because of its schedule strength. Or, lack thereof.

If you thought the booing was merciless at Riley Wallace's going-away game, imagine the fallout if UH misses out on the BCS by a narrow margin. Also imagine a new AD.

But what has taken place has been just short of alchemy, a lead schedule turning to gold while a heretofore unseen string of upsets helped render 11-0 UH the only unbeaten team in the land.

Even the inability to secure Boise State for an advantageous early-season date paid off this past week. Truth be told, UH should have played Boise in September when the Broncos were most vulnerable, plugging in replacements at quarterback and elsewhere. Witness how it benefitted Washington, which had handed Boise State its only loss — until UH. The Warriors would have played Boise State early on, too, had it not taken UH so long to put together its schedule. The WAC waited until March and, then, when it could wait no longer, put UH and Boise in the Thanksgiving Day window Frazier had been unable to fill and ESPN had requested. Turns out that gave UH a bigger bump in the polls than it might have in September or October.

Moreover, Frazier's pickup of Charleston Southern for the Sept. 22 slot also proved providential when Colt Brennan injured an ankle the week before. How the AD knew in February when the game was signed that the quarterback might go down then is amazing. Or, maybe it really was a benefit of "strategic scheduling," as Frazier put it.

Having given Frazier heat for the schedule, we are now prepared to give him some due as the BCS hopefully gives the Warriors theirs. As a former UH athletic director once put it: "There are enough bad things that happen in this job that aren't your fault, so, sometimes you've got to appreciate a little dumb luck, too."

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