USC Has a Bowling Date Jan. 1 : Trojan Foe Is Auburn; UCLA Anaheim-Bound

Both USC and UCLA are going to play in bowl games, but only the Trojans will play on New Year’s Day.

USC will meet Auburn in the Florida Citrus Bowl on Jan. 1, and UCLA will play either BYU or Air Force in the Freedom Bowl on Dec. 30 in Anaheim.

Although invitations to bowl games cannot officially be accepted until after Saturday’s games, both the USC and the UCLA bowl dates are firm and do not depend on the outcome of any other games.

That means that both the Bruins and the Trojans will accept their bowl invitations about 20 yards from each other in locker rooms of the Rose Bowl as soon as the USC-UCLA game is over Saturday evening.

USC, 7-2 and ranked No. 13, closes out its regular season Nov. 29 against Notre Dame in the Coliseum. The Bruins, 6-3-1 and ranked No. 19, conclude their season against USC.

“We’re excited to be playing in a New Year’s Day bowl game,” USC Coach Ted Tollner said. “And to be be facing such a strong team like Auburn will certainly be an exciting challenge. But we need to concentrate on beating UCLA and Notre Dame.”

No team has won more bowl games than USC, which has a 21-8 record overall, although Alabama also has 21 victories. The Trojans have played in a bowl game each year since 1972, except for the three years in which they were ineligible.

USC has won seven of its last nine bowl games but lost its last one, 24-3, to Alabama in the Aloha Bowl last season.

The Bruins, who have a 6-7-1 overall record in bowl games, lost what realistically was only a slim chance to play in a fifth consecutive New Year’s Day game when they were tied by Washington, 17-17, Saturday in Seattle.

If the Bruins had won, it was still possible that the USC-UCLA winner could then have gone to the Florida Citrus Bowl. However, even if that deal had fallen through, there was further speculation that the Washington-UCLA winner would go to the Sun Bowl.

As it turns out, tying UCLA also cost Washington a chance at a Jan. 1 bowl game. The Huskies, 7-2-1 and ranked No. 10, now appear headed for the Sun Bowl where they would play either LSU or Alabama.

The Sun Bowl had previously expressed interest in a Pacific 10 school, preferably USC or UCLA because of the L.A. television market.

In addition to USC, UCLA, Washington and Rose Bowl-bound Arizona State, it appears as though six Pac-10 schools will play in bowls. The other two schools are Arizona, ranked No. 14 and penciled in for the Aloha Bowl, and No. 16 Stanford, which is lined up with the Gator Bowl.

Representatives from the Freedom Bowl, which is played in Anaheim Stadium, are scouting five games Saturday: BYU and Utah, Air Force and Rice, Arizona and Arizona State, Stanford and Cal and USC and UCLA.

However, Freedom Bowl executive director Tom Starr will be the bowl’s representative at the Bruin game.

“It’s safe to say they’re No. 1 in our book,” said Starr, who was cautious in his comments about UCLA.

Whether the Bruins play either BYU (6-3) or Air Force (6-3) depends on which team emerges as the runner-up to probable Western Athletic Conference champion San Diego State.

UCLA Athletic Director Peter Dalis could not confirm that the Bruins are already wrapped up for the Freedom Bowl, but he hinted that it would be an attractive bowl.

“We’re obviously very interested in playing a bowl game and, if an opportunity arose to play locally, we’d be very interested in doing that,” Dalis said.

UCLA and its opponent in the Freedom Bowl would each receive $500,000. The game, which kicks off at 5 p.m., would be syndicated by Mizlou and televised by Channel 11.

Both USC and Auburn will earn $900,000 from the Florida Citrus Bowl, which begins at noon PST in Orlando, Fla. The game is nationally televised by ABC TV.

The probable bowl matchups:

California Bowl (at Fresno, Dec. 13)--San Jose State vs. Miami of Ohio.

Independence Bowl (at Shreveport, Dec. 20)--Texas Tech vs. Mississippi State.

Hall of Fame Bowl (at Tampa, Dec. 23)--Boston College vs. Florida or Georgia.

Sun Bowl (at El Paso, Dec. 25)--Washington vs. Alabama.

Aloha Bowl (at Honolulu, Dec. 27)--Arizona vs. Georgia or North Carolina.

Gator Bowl (at Jacksonville, Dec. 27)--Clemson vs. Stanford.

Liberty Bowl (at Memphis, Dec. 29)--Mississippi vs. Minnesota.

Freedom Bowl (at Anaheim, Dec. 30)--UCLA vs. BYU or Air Force.

Sea World Holiday Bowl (at San Diego, Dec. 30)--WAC champion (Air Force, BYU or San Diego State) vs. Iowa.

All American Bowl (at Birmingham, Dec. 31)--Indiana vs. Florida State.

Bluebonnet Bowl (at Houston, Dec. 31)--Baylor vs. Colorado.

Peach Bowl (at Atlanta, Dec. 31)--Virginia Tech vs. North Carolina State.

Cotton Bowl (at Dallas, Jan. 1)--SWC champion (Texas A&M; or Arkansas) vs. Michigan-Ohio State loser.

Florida Citrus Bowl (at Orlando, Jan 1.)--USC vs. Auburn.

Orange Bowl (at Miami, Jan. 1)--Oklahoma-Nebraska winner vs. Arkansas or Texas A&M.;

Rose Bowl (at Pasadena, Jan. 1)--Arizona State vs. Michigan-Ohio State winner.

Sugar Bowl (at New Orleans, Jan. 1)--LSU vs. Oklahoma-Nebraska loser.

Sunkist Fiesta Bowl (at Tempe, Jan. 2)--Miami vs. Penn State.

Times staff writers Mal Florence and Mike Penner also contributed to this story.