COLLEGE FOOTBALL / GENE WOJCIECHOWSKI : Would Irish Cotton to Being Tied Down to a One-Bowl Deal?

It’s nothing more than an improbable notion right now, but Cotton Bowl officials have informally discussed the merits of offering Notre Dame a multiyear contract to play in the Dallas-based New Year’s Day game.

“With everything that’s going on, (the idea) has come up during coffee,” said John Stewart, president of the Cotton Bowl Athletic Assn. “You say, ‘Why mess with (the normal selection process)? Why not sign up Notre Dame for five years as a host?’ ”

The rationale is simple enough. Notre Dame can provide bowl organizers with what they cherish most: boffo television ratings, a packed house and the likelihood of a game with national championship implications.

“I think it’s an intriguing idea,” Stewart said. “An independent, marquee team could do it, with Notre Dame being one of the few that could. I don’t know what (an agreement) does for your game year in, year out. I haven’t talked to CBS (the Cotton Bowl network) about it.”

The downside of the plan also is obvious. What happens if you sign a deal with the Irish and they bomb that year? Then what? Or what happens if the Southwest Conference winner, which receives an automatic bid, resists the arrangement?

Stewart acknowledged that the idea is something of a gamble. Then again, there are those bowls that might be more willing to take the risk--for example, the Fiesta Bowl, which has no conference ties. A financial safety net could be arranged, whereas Notre Dame would receive a signing bonus, but no bowl appearance if its record was worse than, say, 8-3.

Meanwhile, bowl organizers would be free to pursue another team.

“In the long range, I don’t think it’s practical,” Stewart said. “But in the short range, it might buy you some time.”

Don’t hold your breath. A Notre Dame spokesperson said the Irish preferred their present status as free agents.

“We have the best scenario right now because we have so many options available to us,” the spokesperson said. “I’m not sure if we’d want to limit ourselves.”

That’s OK. Does anyone have Miami’s phone number?

As the U.S. military presence increases in the Middle East, so do the trickle-down effects to the various stateside service academies and their football programs.

West Point recently lost two of its three team physicians to Operation Desert Shield. No replacements are expected, either, as the Gulf crisis has depleted the nearby Keller Army Hospital staff.

Pregame flyovers, an Air Force Academy tradition at the Colorado Springs campus, might be eliminated because of a lack of available fighter jets. “They might be all over in Saudi Arabia,” said an Air Force spokesperson.

However, cadet players, as well as the entire cadet student body, are safe from being pressed into early duty. No cadet--Army, Navy or Air Force--is eligible for active duty until he or she graduates and receives an officer’s commission.

“And none will be asked to leave early,” said Bob Kinney of West Point.

In World War II, classes at the Naval Academy were accelerated to allow cadets to earn their degrees a year earlier. But the practice hasn’t been repeated since.

Of course, the Midshipmen are well represented in the Gulf. Marine Brigadier General John Hopkins (Class of 1955) and Rear Admiral Tom Lynch (Class of 1963) are former Navy football captains.

This week’s four good reasons for a mercy rule in college football:

1--Auburn vs. Cal State Fullerton.

2--Nebraska vs. Northern Illinois.

3--Houston vs. Nevada Las Vegas.

4--Florida State vs. East Carolina.

Hats off to Mr. Sensitive himself, ESPN scoreboard host Tim Brando. After announcing the results of West Virginia’s 35-24 victory over Kent Saturday, Brando boldly stated that the Ohio school had changed its name from Kent State to distance itself from “the massacre,” a reference to the shootings of four students by National Guardsmen at the campus in 1970.

Uh, Tim, stick to the teleprompter and leave the social commentary to others. School officials said the name change, as well as a new university logo, was made about two years ago and that it was related to improving the school’s academic image. Kent, they said, simply sounded, well, smarter, than Kent State. “Marketing razzmatazz,” said John Wagner of Kent.

Noteworthy: A Cal State Fullerton season ticket goes for $24. A single reserved seat ticket for USC’s home opener against Penn State costs $23. Of course, the Titans play only three home games. . . .

In order to gain his academic eligibility, Maryland tight end Frank Wycheck, a redshirt freshman, had to write a two-page paper explaining his problems in school and how he intended to correct them. Then he had to go before an appeals board to state his case. All this, because he was .002 points short of Maryland’s academic requirements, which are tougher than NCAA standards. The board ruled in his favor and Wycheck thanked everyone by making his first game a memorable one. He caught a school-record 14 passes as Maryland won its season opener against Virginia Tech. . . .

The massive Notre Dame and USC media guides seem thicker than the New Testament. They each could crush a canned ham. . . .

Former Air Force quarterback Dee Dowis, who finished sixth in last year’s Heisman Trophy voting, is a graduate assistant at the Academy, where he helps coach the junior varsity team. Dowis is considering pilot training school.

At last month’s Southeastern Conference media meetings in Birmingham, Ala., new Florida Coach Steve Spurrier was questioned about the status of quarterbacks Shane Matthews and Kyle Morris. Matthews and Morris were suspended midway through the 1989 season for betting small amounts of money on college games.

Ironically, the two quarterbacks bet on the Duke-Clemson meeting, a game in which Spurrier’s Duke team upset Clemson. Said Spurrier: “We were watching film and I told Kyle, ‘How in the world could you bet on Clemson against Duke last year?’ And I said, ‘Shane, you bet on Clemson, too, didn’t you?’ He said it was too long ago to remember.”

Spurrier added that Matthews and Morris had learned their lesson. But which one: Never bet, or never bet against a Spurrier team?

Winner of this week’s Lou Holtz Whine Award goes to Tennessee defensive coordinator Larry Lacewell. The Volunteers were prohibitive favorites over tiny Pacific last Saturday, but Lacewell still told the Associated Press that he was worried.

“We don’t have any idea what (Pacific coach) Walt Harris is going to do,” he said. “It’s like going from daylight to dark in philosophies.” Lacewell added, “I just wish I knew what he was going to run. It’s awful.” Tennessee won the squeaker, 55-7, but lost star running back Chuck Webb, a Heisman candidate, to a knee injury. He’s out for the season.

Bret Johnson update: He’s still gone. Johnson certainly had the right to leave UCLA and transfer to Michigan State, just as UCLA had the right to choose someone other than Johnson as its quarterback.

But it says here that if Homer Smith, the UCLA offensive coordinator, thought Jim Bonds, not Johnson, deserved the starting position, then Bonds deserved the position. Smith was hired to create an offense, not scapegoats.

Only 44 more days until Miami plays Notre Dame. . . . Our Top 10: 1) Auburn, 2) Miami, 3) Notre Dame, 4) Florida State, 5) USC, 6) Michigan, 7) Colorado, 8) Tennessee, 9) Texas A&M;, 10) Clemson.