The Pirate football team's dream for a perfect season and a BCS Bowl invitation ended with their 30-24 loss to NC State on Saturday.  Then again, was it ever this team's dream in the first place?  Head Coach Skip Holtz and his staff have pounded the "Stay humble, stay hungry, go 1-0" mantra in their heads since day one.

Fans, and to large degree the media were the real BCS dreamers.  ESPN's "experts" had already posted bowl projections pairing the Pirates in the Fiesta Bowl against Auburn.  Another had Holtz and the Pirate Nation headed to Miami for an Orange Bowl showdown against FSU.  Just craziness. 

The local media is guilty as well.  Headlines across the state read how the Pirates BCS dreams were dashed.  Local sportscasters talked about the BCS letdown in Raleigh in the 11pm news. 

There's likely another loss or two on the horizon.   Winning on the road is always tough.  The Pirates still have to head to Charlottesville to take on Virginia out of the ACC.  There is a trip to the Rock to take on Southern Miss.  The Sunday match up against preseason favorite UCF is not a gimme.  And of course the Alabama state losing streak will be on the line at UAB in November.

As great as the wins over West Virginia and Virginia Tech were, it wasn't fair or realistic to assume this Pirate football team could run the table.  Sure, the team was one play away from winning in Raleigh and being 4-0.   But keep in mind, this team could easily be 1-3 had it not been for a couple of big plays in the Va. Tech and Tulane wins.   What would the talk be then?

The Pirates are in great shape at 3-1, 1-0 in C-USA play.  The goal was and remains to win a first ever C-USA Championship.  Maybe that was Holtz's dream all along.