Penn State Does Its Bit; Now Miami Must Win to Set Up a Jan. 2 Fiesta

Penn State has done its part in setting up a possible Jan. 2 matchup with top-ranked Miami (Fla.) for college football’s “national championship.” Now, the Hurricanes must apply the finishing touches.

With a 34-14 rout of Pittsburgh Saturday, the second-ranked Nittany Lions (11-0) conditionally accepted a bid to the Fiesta Bowl at Tempe, Ariz. The condition is that Miami (10-0) defeats East Carolina (2-9) Thursday night.

In the unlikely event that Miami loses, Penn State would be free to accept a bid to another bowl, probably the Orange Bowl against third-ranked Oklahoma.

Oklahoma (10-1) won the Big Eight title Saturday by beating No. 5-ranked Nebraska, 20-17.

The Orange Bowl said it would wait until Thursday night before announcing which team would face Oklahoma Jan. 1. If Miami loses, the invitation would go to Penn State. If Miami wins, it would probably go to the Southwest Conference runner-up, either Texas A&M; (8-2) or Arkansas (9-2).

The Cotton Bowl picked up a visiting team, Ohio State, when the Buckeyes lost, 26-24, to Michigan in the showdown for the Big Ten title. Ohio State (9-3) will play the Southwest Conference champion, either Texas A&M; or Arkansas.

Michigan (10-1) won the right to go to the Rose Bowl, which suffered a blow when fourth-ranked Arizona State, the Pacific 10 champion, was knocked from the unbeaten ranks by Arizona, 34-17. The loss by Arizona State (9-1-1) left Miami and Penn State as the only unbeaten major college teams in the country.

Texas A&M; clinched at least a tie for the Southwest Conference title with a 74-10 mauling of Texas Christian and can win the title outright--and a Cotton Bowl bid--by beating Texas Thursday. That would leave Arkansas, a 41-0 winner over Southern Methodist Saturday, in the Orange Bowl against Oklahoma.

The loss to Oklahoma dropped Nebraska (9-2) into the Sugar Bowl against the Southeastern Conference representative, either Louisiana State (8-2) or Alabama (9-2), which closes its season next Saturday against Auburn.

LSU, which plays Tulane next Saturday, already has clinched a tie for the SEC title and holds a victory over Alabama, but the Sugar Bowl may invite the higher-ranked team should both teams end the season with the same conference record.

Other bowl matchups include:

--California Bowl: Miami of Ohio (8-3) against San Jose State (9-2).

--Sun Bowl: Either LSU or Alabama against Washington (8-2-1).

--Gator Bowl: Stanford (7-3) against Clemson (7-2-2).

--Aloha Bowl: Arizona (8-2), with a Nov. 30 game against Stanford remaining, against North Carolina (7-3-1).

--Holiday Bowl: The Western Athletic Conference champion--Brigham Young (7-3), San Diego State (7-3) or Air Force (6-4)--against Iowa (8-3).

--Freedom Bowl: UCLA (7-3-1), against a team to be named later, with candidates including the WAC runner-up.

--Florida Citrus Bowl: Auburn (8-2) against USC (7-3), which plays Notre Dame next Saturday.