We have seen the University of Hawai'i's football dream and it is currently alive and wearing blue and orange.

It goes by the name of Boise State and it is who — and where — the Warriors have wanted to be for some time now.

Well, maybe, not physically in Idaho, mind you, but in the national polls, atop the Western Athletic Conference standings and playing before sellout crowds decked out in school colors.

The Broncos, off their 41-34 victory over UH Saturday, are 4-0 and 22nd across the board in the Associated Press, USA Today and Harris Interactive polls today. There is the prospect of going much higher if they get past Utah, probably their toughest remaining obstacle to a perfect season and Bowl Championship Series berth.

They share a place atop the WAC standings, where they have been a fixture for five seasons now. And Bronco Stadium is often sold out as it was for the UH game, a sea of income-producing blue and orange. Broncowear is everywhere in the city, not just on game day.

Bronco Stadium seats just over 30,000, but the 30,642 that were there Saturday night were still more than the 25,661 that rattled around in 50,000-seat Aloha Stadium when Boise came here last season. Moreover, Boise State is in the midst of presenting stadium expansion and upgrade plans to the state, renovation that will largely come from generated funds, not taxpayer money.

In short, to glimpse the scene at Saturday's WAC opener was to see UH's avowed dream usurped and put on display by the Broncos. If not dangled in front of the visitors from Hawai'i. It was to marvel at what Boise State has done in a remarkably short period of time and wonder what has kept UH from getting there.

For the Broncos were not welcomed to the WAC until 2001. Heck, they weren't even NCAA Division I-A until 1996. Meanwhile, UH last shared a WAC championship in 1999, its only one in the last 13 seasons, and has never won one outright.

And, it wasn't like the Broncos were coming from the Pac-10, either. They were refugees from the Big West and, before that, the Big Sky Conference. The feeling was it would take the Broncos a while to grow into their new surroundings. Instead, they have dominated them - and UH — from the welcoming handshake with six victories in a row.

On the field, where UH has lost the last two meetings by 3 and 7 points, the Warriors might be finally closing that part of the gap. But how is it that there came to be so much separation at all?

Maybe someday the Warriors will realize their football dream. But right now it is the Broncos who are living it. And, around here, that should be food for thought and fuel for action.

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