Dec. 1, 1997
ASU Bowl Picture
Arizona State will attend the 17th bowl game in its football history, but while the Sun Devils have a good idea where they are going - nothing is official yet. The Sun Bowl has extended a conditional bid to ASU and if UCLA is not selected by the Alliance, the Sun Devils will be headed to El Paso.
The entire bowl picture is awaiting Sunday's Alliance selection. UCLA, still protected by the Alliance, could be an at-large selection. If the Bruins are not picked by the Alliance, they would go to the Cotton Bowl and ASU would go to the Sun Bowl.
However, if the Bruins are selected by the alliance, it would leave the Cotton Bowl slot open to another Pac-10 team or the WAC champion. A Cotton Bowl spokesman told the Arizona Republic that in that scenario ASU "would almost surely be picked."
The college football season has one Saturday remaining with the SEC, Big 12 and WAC championship games played this weekend. The SEC and Big 12 championship games determine two of the six Alliance teams and any upset of second-ranked Nebraska or third-ranked Tennessee would dramatically change the entire bowl picture. ACC champion Florida State and Big East champion Syracuse have already locked up Alliance berths and will be joined by the winners of the SEC and Big 12 championship games. Two at large selections of all remaining teams will then be made.
The Alliance selections will be made this Sunday, December 7, at 2 p.m. MST on ESPN.
Alliance Selection Order 1. Orange Bowl 2. Orange Bowl 3. Sugar Bowl 4. Fiesta Bowl 5. Sugar Bowl 6. Fiesta Bowl
Automatic Alliance Bids
Florida State (ACC champion)
Syracuse (Big East champion)
Winner of Nebraska vs. Texas A&M (Big 12 champion)
Winner of Tennessee vs. Auburn (SEC champion)
Pac-10 Bowls
Rose Bowl: Washington State vs. Michigan (official)
Cotton Bowl: UCLA (conditional on the Bruins not being picked by Alliance)
Sun Bowl: Arizona State (conditional on UCLA not being picked by Alliance)
Aloha Bowl: Washington (conditional on UCLA not being picked by Alliance)
Other Pac-10 Bowl Eligible Teams
USC, Arizona, Oregon
Pac-10 Bowl Arrangements
The Pac-10 has guaranteed that four of its teams will appear in bowl games this postseason. The Rose Bowl gets the champion or winner of a tiebreaker if there are co-champions. If the Bowl Alliance does not invite a Pac-10 team, the second choice goes to the Cotton Bowl. If the Cotton Bowl chooses the WAC champion instead of a Pac-10 team, the Holiday Bowl will get the second choice of Pac-10 teams. The third selection of Pac-10 teams belongs to the Sun Bowl and the fourth choice goes to the Aloha Bowl. Furthermore, there are four bowl games with "open" slots, meaning it is possible for a fifth (or more) Pac-10 team with six Division I wins to be chosen. Bowl games with open slots are the Las Vegas Bowl, Motor City Bowl, Independence Bowl and Humanitarian Bowl.
Pac-10 Order of Choice 1. Rose Bowl 2. Bowl Alliance* 3. Cotton Bowl or Holiday Bowl^ 4. Sun Bowl 5. Aloha Bowl
*The Bowl Alliance can, but is not obligated to, select a Pac-10 team
^If the Cotton Bowl selects the WAC champion instead of a Pac-10 team, the Holiday Bowl gets the choice