November is bowl bid month.
Which means bowl committee men and women are doing more traveling and phoning this month than the other 11 combined as they scramble for the best possible matchups.The WAC champion automatically goes to the Sea World Holiday Bowl, which this year is paying out $1 million per team.
Who will the other team be?
If the Holiday Bowl selection committee were granted its wish the answer would be Penn State.
There will be representatives at this Saturday's Penn State-West Virginia game, and Holiday Bowl Executive Director John Reid says the bowl is very interested in bringing in an independent team this year. In a phone conversation this week he pointed out that only in the bowl's inaugural year, 1978, was there an independent team, Navy.
"We're plowing new ground. We feel we're maturing as a bowl," Reid said in explaining why the bowl feels more comfortable in going after high-profile teams than in the past. The past has been pretty good of late. Last year the Holiday Bowl had Heisman Trophy winner Barry Sanders of Oklahoma State.
There's stature in the names Joe Paterno and Penn State and the Holiday Bowl would like to be part of it. Reid also says the bowl is very interested in West Virginia with its Heisman candidate, Major Harris. Both are ranked in the Top 20, West Virginia 12th in UPI and 13th in AP with a 6-1-1 mark and Penn State 17th in both at 5-2. Saturday's winner will be in contention for a New Year's Day bowl, likely the Citrus or Hall of Fame, which means the Holiday Bowl will have a better shot getting the loser.
Should the bowl fail to get an independent (Pittsburgh is also being considered), Ohio State is probably next on the wish list. The Buckeyes are 5-2 after their remarkable victory last Saturday over Minnesota, where they trailed 31-0 before winning 41-37. Ohio State was in the Holiday Bowl in 1982, when Earle Bruce's team defeated BYU, 47-17. The Holiday Bowl is also interested in Illinois, but the eighth-ranked Fighting Illini likely will go to a New Year's Day bowl as the first or second-place Big 10 team.
Other teams being considered include Arizona, Washington, Auburn, Tennessee, Iowa and Texas A&M, Reid said.
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If Air Force defeats Army Saturday the Falcons clinch the Commander In Chief Trophy and a berth in the Liberty Bowl - if they fail to get the WAC's Holiday Bowl berth. Hawaii probably must hope for a berth in the Aloha Bowl, since other bowls are reluctant to commit to a team that nobody sees or reads about because of their late, late Saturday night games.