What defines an upset?

One obvious answer is for a low-ranked team to beat a prestigious team on the road.

The Detroit Pistons upset the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2004 NBA Finals four games to one.

The New England Patriots beat the St. Louis Rams in the 2002 Super Bowl after their odds of winning the whole thing at the beginning of the year were 45 to 1. That's an upset.

The Bulldogs went into Tuscaloosa, Ala., back in 1999 and upset the Alabama Crimson Tide 29-28. 'Bama would later that year be the SEC champions.

What do these teams have in common? The underdogs believed they could win the big game.

On Sept. 13, 2003, Tech traveled to East Lansing, Mich., to play the Michigan State Spartans in what would later be heralded as "The Miracle in Michigan."

Now, no one has any reason to drag the 2-2 Bulldogs across the coals by any means, but factual information cannot be rebutted: We did not upset Miami or Tennessee.

Few people believed.

Why is that? Is it because Tennessee and Miami have better teams? Granted, that matters, but better teams on paper are not invincible.

The problem was most people's ambitions were to "just win the WAC," given the seemingly impossible schedule.

At the same time, you shouldn't chastise realism. It's fairly certain that going to those places will result in defeat.

On the flip side, even having Miami come to Shreveport in 2003 didn't work very well either, as the Hurricanes beat the Bulldogs 48-9.

Nobody is going to say that the Bulldogs are wrong for being realistic. And, they're not the only guilty ones.

When was the last time anyone said, "Hey, that Bulldog team is going to go undefeated?"

These "paycheck" games are nice, but at what point do they become more?

Beating Miami and Tennessee would have made the dreams of thousands of people come true, but it didn't happen. Few people believed.

Now, the Bulldogs are faced with No. 17 Fresno State on Saturday in "The Battle of the Bone."

For thousands of people, this would be the upset of their lives, and by all definitions of the word, Tech's winning against its California counterparts would be an upset.

And why not? Fresno has said before they are willing to play anybody, anywhere. Except they believe that when they do, they'll win.

Bulldog faithful would be wise to adopt this attitude and not take these difficult, non-conference games just as "getting ready for conference play."

Fresno State is in the immediate future, and what's worse is they think they are unbeatable. That state of mind makes this game all the more difficult.

Or does it? This game is winnable because it is at home, and Tech has the talent and, hopefully, the attitude to pull it off.

Believe.

Kyle Roberts is a senior journalism major from Ruston and serves as associate sports editor for The Tech Talk.