Among the most popular items at the Brigham Young University bookstore in Utah these days are T-shirts with "The Quest for Perfection" emblazoned across the front and the Cougars' 2008 football schedule on the back.

If "perfection" is on chests of a lot of folks in Provo these days, it is also on the minds of many more elsewhere.

For perfection, in the form of an unbeaten regular season, is what will get a team from a non-Bowl Championship Series conference into the promised land of the BCS' lucrative bowl games. Utah did it four years ago, Boise State in 2006 and Hawai'i in '07.

But if there is a season when a case might be made for a one-loss team from one of the five non-BCS leagues elbowing its way into the postseason party, this would seem to be it. In the absence of an unbeaten team, early upsets have shaped some intriguing possibilities that should merit consideration.

A top 12-finish in the final BCS rankings or a top 16-finish - and placing above the champion of a BCS conference - is required for one of the have-nots to get an invitation.

Now, BYU, 11th in the two major polls (the first BCS rankings aren't due until next month), is the runaway early leader in the BCS Buster Sweepstakes and a shoo-in if it runs the 12-game table.

Of course, BYU was considered a lock to go unbeaten in 2001 when it showed up 12-0 at Aloha Stadium and we all know what happened.

Should the Cougars falter, Utah (4-0) at No. 17 or Boise State (3-0) at No. 19 are well placed, if they go unbeaten considering UH, with an inferior schedule, was 18th-ranked at this point last year. And No. 24 Texas Christian (4-0) could get there if it were to, somehow, knock off Oklahoma Saturday and run the table.

But it really gets interesting if, in the Mountain West where BYU, Utah and TCU have yet to play each other, all end up with a loss.

What if, for example, 25th-ranked Fresno State (2-1) beats Boise State and its only loss remains the 13-10 defeat to a Wisconsin team that wins the Big Ten? Or, what about No. 23 East Carolina (3-1) not losing again and owning wins over Virginia Tech and West Virginia teams that end up winning either or both the Atlantic Coast Conference and Big East?

Two months ago BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said at the MWC meetings he believed a once-beaten outsider wouldn't make the BCS, in part because of UH's blowout loss to Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

But that was before the upsets. Yesterday, BYU quarterback Max Hall said, "If (we) happen to fall short in a game and have one loss at the end of the season, I hope they (recognize) the quality of the team we have and the wins we've had."

If there is a year for a once-beaten team to barge into the BCS gala, this could be it.

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