Bowl Scouts Will Get Down to Business on Opening Day

Here they come.

Saturday is the first day bowl officials can officially scout games, and the Washington-Oregon game is one of the quick draws.

Six bowl games will be represented at Husky Stadium: The Florida Citrus Bowl (Jan. 1, Orlando, Fla.), the Holiday Bowl (Dec. 29, San Diego), the John Hancock Sun Bowl (Dec. 25, El Paso, Texas), the Freedom Bowl (Dec. 29, Anaheim, Calif.), the Copper Bowl (Dec. 31, Tucson, Ariz.)

Pacific 10 Conference and Big Ten Conference teams are not eligible for the Fiesta Bowl because it goes head-to-head with the Rose Bowl in the battle for television viewers on New Year’s Day. Pac-10 and Big Ten presidents have said that as long as the game is in the same time slot as the Rose Bowl, its teams will not consider going to Tempe.

The minimum appearance fee for each team is going up to $600,000 this year, although that hasn’t stopped yet another bowl -- the Sunshine Bowl of Hollywood, Fla. -- from joining the fray, making it 19 bowl games competing for attention.

King of the hill: As the first team with a defeat marring its record to take over the top spot in the AP Poll since 9-1 Nebraska in 1984, Michigan has its work cut out for it this week.

The Wolverines face Michigan State in a major Big Ten tussle in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Michigan (3-1) is No. 1 despite a loss earlier than any other team has done it in the past: Nebraska in ‘84, Southern Cal in ‘67, Minnesota in ‘60, Michigan State in ‘57, Ohio State in ‘50, and Minnesota in ’36 all took until at least mid-November to get to the top.

It might be noted that three of the six teams lost the very next game, while the other three (USC, Minnesota both times) held on to win the national title. But consider that none of those teams had more than two games remaining (including bowls), while the Wolverines have yet to play six games.

One other thing about the Michigan-Michigan State game: The winner reached the Rose Bowl in each of the past four seasons.

Taxing problem--When you mail your tax returns in next spring, keep your fingers crossed that a certain Internal Revenue Service agent in Kansas City doesn’t get his hands on it.

It turns out that one of the Big Eight officials working the Missouri-Colorado game last week works for the IRS as his career ... and if he can’t count to four, how can he be expected to handle a tax return?

The official was one of the seven who were given a police escort for their 125-yard dash across the floor of Faurot Field at the end of the game, with more than 100 fans in pursuit. The officials had inadvertently given visiting Colorado a fifth down ... at the Missouri 1-yard line ... with 2 seconds to go.

Can’t blame him: Washington coach Don James brought up an interesting point regarding why his longtime pal, Missouri coach Bob Stull, didn’t do something drastic before the fifth-down play. It was suggested that Stull should have run out on the field to get an explanation from the officials what was going on.

“If you know you’re right,” James said, “then it would be a good idea. But you’d better be absolutely sure, or you can imagine how much you’d hear about that.”

Hmmm ... Berserk coach runs out onto the field trying to convince officials it’s fifth down? Put him in a straitjacket.

With all the commotion surrounding the moment, Stull and his assistant coaches were unable to gain the officials’ attention long enough to delay the play.

Unlikely Irish fans: While they were dusting off No. 2 Florida State, 31-22, Miami players say they were rooting for Notre Dame last week.

“I wasn’t happy when I heard about it,” Hurricane offensive lineman Mike Sullivan said of Stanford’s 36-31 upset of the No. 1 Fighting Irish. “I was hoping they would be No. 1 when we play them. Then we could take them on man on man.”

So, now that Miami is No. 3 and Notre Dame is No. 8, apparently it won’t be man on man when they square off at Notre Dame next week.

He’s the boss: UCLA chancellor Charles Young was a walking, talking, yelling, red-faced reason to keep the chief executive officers off the field during games. Let them entertain guests in their private boxes, but watching Young scream himself silly on national TV, berating officials at the end of UCLA’s 28-21 loss to Arizona was embarrassing to watch.

Young is one of the leading proponents of reform in the NCAA, a primary mover on the Presidents Commission, stressing higher academic standards and de-emphasizing the overall largess of intercollegiate athletics.

Well, “Chancellor Chuck” showed once again he isn’t immune to the excitement surrounding big-time college football ... but when you can’t tell the university chancellor from a common boosters, credibility suffers.

Sensible policy: With all of the furor surrounding women in the men’s locker rooms after games, Washington State’s policy seems to make the most sense that we’ve seen.

The locker rooms are open to all reporters ... unless women reporters are covering the game and request postgame interviews. In that case, the locker rooms are closed to all reporters, and players are interviewed outside.

Quote of the week: West Virginia is facing 1-4 Cincinnati this week, and coach Don Nehlen admits he’ll have to find ways of motivating his team other than using the opponent to strike fear into their hearts.

“I can’t get in front of my team and tell them Cincinnati is a great football team,” Nehlen admitted. “They’ve got red-blooded Americans and are very comparative.”

He might have meant competitive, but he also could have meant comparative ... to, say, Oregon State or New Mexico State.

TV game of the week: No. 9 Florida (5-0) at No. 5 Tennessee (3-0-2), ESPN, 4:30 p.m.

Others to watch: No. 16 USC (4-1) at Stanford (2-3), ABC, 12:30; Oklahoma vs. Texas in Dallas is one of the nation’s great regional rivalries, ESPN, 1 p.m.; California (3-2) at Arizona State (2-2), Prime Sports cable, 3:30 p.m.

Atlantic Coast: A biggie in Atlanta has No. 15 Clemson (5-1) at No. 18 Georgia Tech (4-0). The Rambling Wrecks (actually the Yellow Jackets) have not allowed a touchdown on defense, but their defense might not be as good as that of the Tigers.

Big Eight: Missouri has to come up with another new goal post. Even though the Tigers were robbed with a last-second, fifth-down touchdown in the 33-31 loss to Colorado, some Missouri fans thought CU quarterback Charles Johnson was shy of the goal line, swarmed the field and tore down the goal post.

Big Ten: Iowa (3-2) was not expected to be a serious factor in the Rose Bowl race this season, but with its 12-7 upset at Michigan State last week, Hayden Fry’s Hawkeyes are ranked 25th, and can use Wisconsin (1-3) as a tune-up for the trip to Michigan next week.

Big West: Bad week for the league. Not only was No. 24 Fresno State (5-1) humiliated by Northern Illinois (73-18), but San Jose State (3-2-1) lost to Cal (35-34), destroying the Spartans’ chance to move into the Top 25. Now it’s league play, with those two already targeted for a Nov. 17 showdown in San Jose.

Pacific-10: Stanford fullback Tommy Vardell has already rushed for 11 touchdowns, which puts him ahead of Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Allen’s league-record pace of 22, set in 1981 at USC. But he’s not the Cardinal’s big-play guy -- that’s Glyn Milburn, who leads the Pac-10 with 174 all-purpose yards a game.