For the guy who scheduled Florida.

A deep roster that includes senior quarterback Tim Lester gives WMU fans hope. But realistically they have a better chance of seeing pass-happy Florida in the Wishbone than they do of seeing a Bronco victory. Such is life for respectable Mid-American Conference programs like Western Michigan that teeter on the line between major and meager.

They schedule non-conference powerhouses for a shot at earning respectability and fat checks. They go home with healthier bottom lines, if not always offensive lines.

Again this season, besides Western's skirmish at The Swamp, Akron plays No. 1 Penn State, Marshall takes on Clemson in Death Valley, Eastern Michigan provides Michigan State at tune-up and Central Michigan goes to Syracuse to name just a couple other perceived mismatches.

"We're going to go out there and find out if we belong," Darnell said, "if we like it well enough, if we want to go there someday."

There as in the big-time.

National TV as opposed to local access.

Media teleconferences instead of one-on-ones in the equipment room.

Inside the Top 25 aquarium rather than having your nose pressed to the glass.

"It's kind of a chance," said Darnell, a former assistant at marquee venues like Florida, Notre Dame and Texas, "to go out there and see what life is like on Broadway."

Not that either player will lack the credentials. Only the exposure.

Pennington and MAC-favorite Marshall may appear only once on national TV -- possibly against Toledo on Oct. 14 on ESPN. He has his own website (www.HerdQB.com), and received 58 percent of the vote in a preseason Internet poll for Heisman.com, but Drew Brees of Purdue and Tee Martin of Tennessee, for example, will spend more time in American living rooms.

The reality that his celebrity has limits hasn't stopped Pennington from working out this summer like he was trying to sell exercise videos. He hired a personal trainer in Knoxville and one day exhausted his body so badly that he required hospitalization. "I couldn't walk and I couldn't move ... I had that nauseous feeling," he said.

Just like defensive coordinators feel after a Saturday afternoon against the Thundering Herd.

		The MAC is a league full of great regional rivalries. This year it will be a league that features some truly great players. Chad Pennington of Marshall and Travis Prentice of Miami (Ohio) have the credentials to make an impact at the next level. But this will be a key year for them. Rarely have two players from a mid-level conference garnered this much attention. It remains to be seen if that proves a distraction for a smaller program not used to national media scrutiny. The other thing this conference is producing is excellent coaches. Randy Walker leaving Miami (Ohio) for Northwestern was an example of that. Bob Pruett has done a great job with Marshall and Gary Blackney appears to have Bowling Green back on track. I like the brand of football these teams play. The league already has one bowl slot, the Motor City Bowl. And there is talk that it could snare another, with a game that is scheduled to be played in Toronto next year. There are a lot of good things happening for the MAC.

The Tar Heels are likely to answer no after losing to Miami last season. On Sept. 4, Hoeppner can ask Northwestern and Miami's old boss, Walker. A big game in the Chicago market should help Prentice and the Miami publicity machine

"It's not normal here," Hoeppner said. "Maybe at Notre Dame, it is normal. It's not normal for most places to have someone like Travis get the attention that he has gotten.

"He is one of the most level-headed and mature football players we've had here," Hoeppner said. "He practices like the guy who is trying to make the team."

Even if he is the guy who wants to win the Heisman.

"Well," Hoeppner added, "he has a better chance of leading the nation in rushing and becoming the Heisman Trophy winner than I had in getting this job."

That may have been a long shot, but so is the prospect of the MAC's name up in lights. This season may be the closest the league has ever come to Broadway -- in more ways than one.

David Haugh of the South Bend Tribune is a contributor to ESPN.com