Much has been made about how Cal Poly ended up appearing on the University of Wisconsin football team's schedule. The Badgers were desperate for a 12th game and had a hard time finding a team with an open date in late November. UW would have preferred to close the regular season against a Football Bowl Subdivision (I-A) opponent, but it was forced to settle for Cal Poly, a Football Championship Subdivision (I-AA) team.

The Mustangs were just as desperate. Because it plays just three league games in the Great West Conference, Cal Poly has to find eight nonconference games to fill out its 11-game schedule. It's not easy, because a lot of I-A teams don't want to play Cal Poly, and a lot of I-AA teams don't want to travel to San Luis Obispo because of the costs and long plane rides.

So Cal Poly was scrambling to complete its 2008 schedule about the same time UW was doing the same.

Although Cal Poly will receive $500,000 for their trip to Madison and will receive a ton of exposure for playing this game, it's a less-than-ideal situation for the Mustangs. The UW game is sandwiched between Cal Poly's victory over rival Cal Davis last Saturday in the Golden Horseshoe Classic and the start of the FCS playoffs on Nov. 29.

"It's horrible,'' Cal Poly athletic director Allison Cone said. "That's certainly not the date, nor the game, that we would have chosen. In the ideal world, if we were to play this game, it would certainly not be on that date. But I'll tell you we're darn glad that we have it. We're excited to play it. Our players are really excited to have it.''

Poor Rich Ellerson, the Cal Poly coach. His team is set to play on its biggest stage to date, and he has to decide whether or not to keep his key players fresh for the start of what could be a promising postseason for the Mustangs, who are 8-1 and ranked No. 3 in the FCS.