Independence Bowl Snubs Aztecs

San Diego State’s last-minute Independence Bowl hopes were scotched Wednesday night when bowl officials said Louisiana Tech (8-3) and Maryland (6-5) had agreed to play in the game and would accept formal invitations Saturday, the first day formal bids can be extended.

“It was crucial we get started early because our game is Dec. 15,” said Cecil Lloyd, President of the Shreveport Sports Foundation, the governing body of the Independence Bowl. “We thought the sooner the better.”

Bowl officials said earlier in the week they were looking for someone to play a Southwest Conference team, probably Baylor (6-3-1). But Baylor still has an outside chance at the Cotton Bowl and refused to make a commitment to the Independence Bowl Wednesday. Bowl officials decided they needed to move and, after meetings that went most of the day, went with the Louisiana Tech-Maryland matchup. As late as Wednesday afternoon, bowl officials said SDSU was still under consideration.

“Those things change by the minute,” SDSU Coach Al Luginbill said Wednesday night. “If that’s what they decided they wanted to do, that’s their option.

“It doesn’t change our outlook for Saturday (against Texas El Paso). That still means a high conference standing and a winning season. We still have to play our tails off.”

Lloyd said the committee liked Maryland and was wary of SDSU (5-4) because the Aztecs only have five victories right now. The committee also questioned how many fans they would bring.

“We sowed our own oats,” Luginbill said. “We created our own problem when the win from Wyoming (a 52-51 loss) got away from us. It’s very difficult to recover from that.”

Said Fred Miller, SDSU athletic director: “It’s disappointing, but we gave it a whirl. The trouble is, somewhere and sometime people have to understand the season lasts 11 or 12 games.

“They have a good matchup, and we wish them well.”