Of all the bowl games, the Freedom Bowl is the only one not being televised by a major national network. The game is being put on by Raycom, a small network based in Charlotte, N.C.
However, the Utah-Arizona game will still be seen throughout most of the country. According to a Raycom executive, the game will be seen on 100 stations, covering 80 percent of the country. Of the top 35 markets, only one, St. Louis, did not pick up the game. Also, while the game will be seen in New York, several places in the Northeast will not see the contest.But as Freedom Bowl executive director Don Anderson said, the bowl will get considerably more coverage than the half dozen bowls being televised on ESPN, since just over 60 percent of the country has the cable television network.
Locally the Freedom Bowl game will be televised on KSL-TV at 7 p.m. Tuesday, the second straight year Utah's bowl game will be seen on BYU's primary station.
NEW CONTRACT: Coach Ron McBride's name surfaced last week in connection with the open job at Louisville, although apparently nothing ever came of it. But as long as McBride continues to have success at Utah, his name is bound to be mentioned when various openings occur.
McBride still has two years left on his contract, but he and athletic director Chris Hill are in the process of reworking and extending the contract.
"We're happy with the job Ron has done and hope to continue the relationship," said Hill. "We're in the process of solidifying our relationship with Ron. It's a matter of working out the details."
Hill has been able to keep national-caliber coaches such as basketball coach Rick Majerus and gymnastics coach Greg Marsden happy and hopes to do the same with McBride.
"We have a habit of keeping good coaches and I feel confident we can do that with Ron," said Hill.
INFLUX OF RED: The Ute ticket office sold nearly 10,000 tickets for the Freedom Bowl, up 1,500 over last year.
Many of those fans startedstreaming into Anaheim Sunday. A Utah charter arrived midafternoon and nearly the whole Delta flight to Orange County Sunday night was filled with Ute boosters. Several hundred more of the Ute faithful is expected Monday.
BOWL NOTES: Ute players who didn't have family or friends to visit spent a quiet Christmas at the Marriott Sunday. Two dinners were available for team members to attend. Players were all due back Sunday evening for more meetings and film sessions . . . Monday is another easy day with more meetings and a walk-through at Anaheim Stadium in the evening . . . The last time Utah and Arizona met was 1983 when Larry Smith's Wildcats defeated Chuck Stobart's Utes 38-0.