SAN JOSE, Calif. — The Western Athletic Conference is betting on the University of Hawai'i this season.

Not at the gaming tables in Las Vegas or Reno, but at the equally high-stakes negotiating tables with ESPN.

Which is why national cable games like today's 2 p.m. (Hawai'i time) football clash with San Jose State on ESPN matter well beyond the playing field for UH and, indeed, the whole WAC.

When the WAC Board of Directors turned down a contract extension that came with what has been described as a "significant" increase in rights fees this summer, the presidents and chancellors of the nine institutions gambled they could do better in future talks.

With Boise State coming off its 13-0 breakthrough season and Fiesta Bowl finish of 2006 and UH figuring it could make its own Bowl Championship Series run in 2007, the WAC calculated it could come out of this season with more bargaining leverage for the next round of negotiations.

If UH could crack the BCS, giving the conference back-to-back BCS-busters, it would demonstrate the conference's depth and attractiveness, significantly enhancing the WAC's argument for a more realistic payoff.

As it is, the current ESPN contract pays the WAC relative peanuts, $6 million over six years. That's a far cry from the $4 million per year the WAC was offered before its 1998 breakup and well short of the seven-year, $48 million deal the Mountain West receives from College Sports Television. While the WAC package offers more visibility than the CSTV deal, the meager moolah is more than a financial setback for the WAC, it is also an image slap in the face.

Twice, most recently in July, ESPN has come back to the WAC with what has been described as vastly upgraded proposals and each time the conference has rejected them primarily on financial grounds.

With another proposal expected in 2008, the WAC hopes to earn better terms by what its football teams, primarily UH and Boise State, do on the field this season.

"We have to maintain the momentum that we have and demonstrate a valuable television product," said WAC commissioner Karl Benson. "I think that means entertaining, exciting games but it also means having teams ranked like Hawai'i and Boise State."

With UH having four ESPN regular season appearances — beginning with today's game — and the opportunity for a fifth in the postseason, the Warriors are central to the WAC hopes.

Surely, the WAC's jackpot scenario would be for its two marquee, nationally-ranked teams, an undefeated (10-0) UH and once-beaten (10-1) Boise State to meet in the Nov. 23 ESPN game at Aloha Stadium.

To get there and help deliver for themselves and the WAC, the Warriors especially need to win today and again in their next ESPN appearance Nov. 16 at Nevada.

This is one stage where the WAC is not only pulling for them, it is betting on them.

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