DISNEYLAND PIGSKIN CLASSIC : They’ll Find Big Crowds at Magic Kingdom, but at Anaheim Stadium?

They’re going to Disneyland.

The winners and the losers. Before they play the game.

The Colorado and Tennessee football teams will parade down Main Street today, two days before they meet in the national college football opener, the first Disneyland Pigskin Classic at Anaheim Stadium.

They will wave to the crowd as teams that are still undefeated. And winless. Much like the Pigskin Classic.

Results will come Sunday.

By staging the game this weekend, the Pigskin Classic has one-upped the Kickoff Classic at East Rutherford, N.J., in which USC will face Syracuse next Friday.

The Pigskin Classic even found a way to bill itself as a clash between No. 1 and No. 2, with the help of Gameplan Magazine, which ranked Colorado first.

The rest of the country views it as a bit less dramatic, but still a very good game between teams that have never met.

The Buffaloes, who finished with an 11-1 record last season, losing to Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl, are ranked No. 5 by United Press International. Tennessee, which also went 11-1 and lost to Alabama, is ranked No. 9.

Almost as suspenseful as how the teams will fare is how the game will fare.

Organizers report that there have been about 230 media credential requests, and that a crowd of more than 40,000 is expected.

The Freedom Bowl, also held in Anaheim Stadium, has a history of struggling at the gate. Last year’s game between Washington and Florida drew only 33,858, the smallest attendance among the 13 New Year’s weekend bowls.

Colorado, which is arriving this morning, will be without starting running back Eric Bieniemy, formerly of Bishop Amat High School. Bieniemy was suspended for the game several weeks ago because of his arrest on charges of interfering with firemen who were trying to chop a hole in the wall at his parents’ home.

Colorado Coach Bill McCartney this week named Michael Simmons as the starting tailback for Sunday’s game.

Simmons, a senior fullback and wingback, had 140 yards on 18 carries last season, but played in only eight games because of a midseason ankle sprain.

“I’m surprised, but not too surprised,” Simmons said when told he’d be starting. “I’ve been working at it enough to know what I’m doing, but I’m a wingback.”

McCartney said that senior Michael Pritchard, a two-year starter at wingback who also has been a tailback and wide receiver, will start at wingback.

He said Pritchard would also play tailback, as would David Arterberry and Chuck Snowden.

Bieniemy will return for the Buffaloes’ home opener against Stanford on Sept. 6.

Tennessee, which arrived last night, might have some extra insight into Colorado’s option offense.

The Volunteers’ new defensive coordinator is Larry Lacewell, who was credited with much of Oklahoma’s defensive success during nine years at the school ending in 1977, a period in which the Sooners won two national titles.

He knows something about defending against the option offenses that rule the Big Eight, and McCartney is well aware of that.

“Larry Lacewell knows as much about option football as all of us put together,” McCartney said. “We’re concerned about giving him this much time to prepare.”

Said Lacewell: “We do understand the offense. We just don’t know how to stop it. It’s one of the most diverse, difficult offenses there is to prepare for. I’d hate to shock anybody, but I’ve been beat by the wishbone by 45 points before.”