Aloha, Copper Bowls Strike WAC Deal : Football: Alliance guarantees berth for one team besides conference champion.

Full practices do not begin until Saturday for San Diego State, but the Aztecs’ postseason possibilities became more clear Thursday with the formation of the Western Bowl Alliance.

Of course, the Aztecs must fulfill preseason predictions and finish in the top two or three in the Western Athletic Conference.

The alliance, incorporating an agreement between the league and the Aloha and Copper bowls, guarantees a bowl berth to at least one team besides the WAC champion. There also is the possibility that two or three other conference teams could be invited to bowls.

The WAC champion goes to San Diego’s Holiday Bowl. After that, Hawaii’s Aloha Bowl will have first choice among remaining WAC teams and the Copper Bowl in Tucson, Ariz., will have second choice.

The Aloha Bowl has the option of passing altogether on the WAC, in which case the Copper Bowl must take a WAC team.

The agreement is effective beginning this season.

“Since one of our goals is to win a bowl, that’s a real positive for both San Diego State and the WAC,” SDSU Coach Al Luginbill said. “We would be extremely excited to be a participant in any bowl that would invite us. Obviously, our number one priority is here at home--not taking anything away from the other bowls.”

The Aloha Bowl, scheduled to be played on Christmas Day in Honolulu’s 50,000-seat Aloha Stadium, will be televised nationally by ABC and guarantees a minimum payout of $750,000 per team.

The national television contract is why Aloha Bowl officials negotiated the right to pick any WAC team rather than get locked into the second-place team.

“We need to put on a game that is going to garnish a national television audience,” said Lenny Klompus, executive vice president of the game. “We’ve always had an East-West matchup, such as Stanford-Georgia Tech or Houston-Washington State. That’s the kind of game we’re looking for.

“If a natural situation creates a matchup for us by taking the third-place team (rather than the second-place team), that’s what we’ll have to do.”

The Copper Bowl, scheduled for Dec. 29 in the 56,000-seat Arizona Stadium on the campus of the University of Arizona, will be televised on ESPN and guarantees a minimum payout of $650,000.

“We are excited about the possibility of having a team from the WAC in the . . . Copper Bowl every year given its exciting brand of college football and its close proximity to Tucson,” said Larry Brown, executive director of the bowl.

“I’m optimistic there will be at least two other WAC teams in bowls (besides the Holiday Bowl),” said Fred Miller, SDSU athletic director. “I think WAC football is on the rise.

“This is very positive. Western bowls need to protect western teams, and western teams need to protect western bowls. I think the WAC and the two bowls feel very solid about their relationship.”

The agreement is subject to approval of the WAC Council and Presidents Council, which is expected. It also gives the WAC the possibility of three guaranteed bowl appearances in 1992 because, in addition to the Holiday Bowl and the Western Bowl Alliance, Air Force can earn a Liberty Bowl berth if it wins the Commander-in-Chief trophy.

According to Klompus, officials had hoped to include the California Bowl in the alliance but that game was not recertified by the NCAA.

Regardless, with the WAC being guaranteed at least a second bowl berth, conference football teams are opening camp with smiles.

“It’s exciting,” said Bret Ingalls, SDSU offensive coordinator. “Any time you start talking about being invited to bowls just by coming in second or third place, you know some good things are happening.

“It’s a nice reward for the kids. You know going in that if you’re having a good year, you have the opportunity to go to a bowl game.”