Arizona State, Arkansas to Get Holiday Bowl Bids

Arizona State will play Arkansas in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium on Dec. 22 unless the Sun Devils win the Pacific 10 Conference championship, it was learned Sunday night.

Arizona State is 5-1 in the Pac-10 and trails UCLA (6-1) by a half-game. The Sun Devils would win the Pac-10 and a Rose Bowl berth if they beat Arizona and UCLA loses to USC.

Otherwise, Arizona State and Arkansas, both 8-2 overall, will meet in the Holiday Bowl. Bids will be extended Saturday.

Arizona State was being considered by several bowls but made its decision to attend the Holiday Bowl on Sunday night.

“All along, I knew that was probably where Arizona State would go,” said Tom Starr, executive director of Anaheim’s Freedom Bowl. “We made an effort for them, but it didn’t surprise me when they chose the Holiday Bowl.”

Arizona State has won its last six games under first-year coach, John Cooper. The Sun Devils are led by quarterback Jeff Van Raaphorst, a graduate of La Mesa’s Grossmont High.

According to sources in Arizona, Holiday Bowl officials were attempting to make a package deal with Arizona State and UCLA. Under the agreement, whichever team did not win the Pacific 10 would have played in the Holiday Bowl.

Though Arizona State agreed with the arrangement, UCLA balked. The Bruins wanted to play in the Aloha Bowl in Hawaii if they did not play in the Rose Bowl, sources said.

Arkansas was rated ninth in the country before it was upset Saturday by Texas A&M;, 10-6. The Razorbacks thus dropped out of the race in the Southwest Conference, whose winner qualifies for the Cotton Bowl.

“After Arkansas lost, it must have thought it wanted to go somewhere fast,” Starr said. “They really jumped on the Holiday Bowl. Evidently, they wanted to go somewhere nice.”

The Holiday Bowl is inviting two at-large teams for the first time in its eight-year existence. In the game’s seven previous years, the Western Athletic Conference champion automatically qualified.

Next year, the WAC champion will again gain an automatic Holiday Bowl berth.