Sports : A New Bowl Order : NEW YEAR’S DAY LINEUP IS TOPPED BY GAME FOR THE NATIONAL TITLE

With the debut of a coalition that strived to improve college football’s bowl matchups and with seven teams with one loss or less, the New Year’s Day bowl lineup is expected to be one of the best ever.

The eight-game, 13-hour extravaganza will feature four undefeated teams, three with just one loss and the first bowl matchup between a coach who has guided an NFL team to a Super Bowl championship (Bill Walsh of Stanford) and one who has led a team to the national championship (Joe Paterno of Penn State).

The schedule truly saves the best for last when No. 1 Miami (11-0) faces No. 2 Alabama (12-0) in the USF&G; Sugar Bowl in New Orleans at 5:30 p.m. on ABC. This will be only the ninth time, and the first since Jan. 1, 1988, that the Nos. 1 and 2 teams in the Associated Press poll have met in a bowl game.

Here is a preview of all eight games that begin 1993, with comments from several sportscasters:

Hall of Fame Bowl

No. 16 Boston College (8-2-1) vs. No. 17 Tennessee (8-3), at Tampa, 8 a.m., ESPN.

“Boston College really had a chance to finish in the top five,” says Mike Patrick of ESPN, who will call the game. “I’d seen them play two times before the Notre Dame game and thought they were a terrific football team on both sides of the ball.

“They went to Notre Dame (Nov. 7) and absolutely froze (losing 54-7.) They looked scared to death when the game started and it got away from them in a hurry. They’ll see this game as an opportunity (to prove to the nation that they are a good football team).”

Mobil Cotton Bowl

No. 4 Texas A&M; (12-0) vs. No. 5 Notre Dame (9-1-1), at Dallas, 10 a.m., NBC

“Texas A&M; is sort of the Rodney Dangerfield of the national-championship contending teams,” says Jim Lampley, who will be the host of NBC’s bowl coverage. “They have achieved a kind of reverse chic glamour. So much has been written about their struggle to gain respect amid their unbeaten record on the part of real college football aficionados, there’s kind of a perverse interest to see them finish the season unbeaten and untied just to see how badly dissed they will be in the final poll.

“Clearly Notre Dame is on paper the toughest opponent they’ve faced all season. For the final five weeks of the season, Notre Dame was able to bring their great talents to bear in game situations in a way they were not able to do in the first half of the season.”

Florida Citrus Bowl

No. 15 Ohio State (8-2-1) vs. No. 8 Georgia (9-2), at Orlando, 10 a.m. ABC

“(Ohio State Coach) John Cooper is on a continuing hot seat even though the school elected to retain him for another year,” Lampley said. “I’m sure a loss would cause some grumbling among the boosters and alumni for the next few months, so it’s an important game for Ohio State and John Cooper, even though it’s one of those games that might appear on paper not to mean all that much.”

Blockbuster Bowl

No. 21 Penn State (7-4) vs. No. 13 Stanford (9-3), at Fort Lauderdale, 10:30 a.m. CBS

“I think it will be a game of big plays,” says Randy Cross, the former UCLA and San Francisco 49ers standout offensive lineman. “I don’t know necessarily if there will be a lot of points. You have two pretty good defenses, but these offenses are too good for them to shut down.”

Three of Penn State’s four losses have come by three points or less.

“It’s been a year of almosts for them,” says Cross, who will be the game’s color commentator.

“They’ve almost had good enough games to beat some pretty good teams. This is an opportunity for them to vent some frustration.”

One of Stanford’s advantages is Walsh’s record in big games. He was 2-0 in bowl games during his first tenure at Stanford and won all three of his Super Bowl appearances.

“He has the ability to get a team ready to play, better than anybody I’ve been around,” says Cross, who played for Walsh from 1979 to 1988.

Fiesta Bowl

No. 10 Colorado (9-1-1) vs. No. 6 Syracuse (9-2), at Tempe, 1:30 p.m., NBC

“Colorado has a great freshman quarterback named Kordell Stewart,” says Lampley. “If he continues the way he began his career, he’s going to be a candidate for All-American and Heisman Trophy-style honors in the future.”

Rose Bowl

No. 7 Michigan (8-0-3) vs. No. 9 Washington (9-2), at Pasadena, 1:45 p.m., ABC

A year after the Rose Bowl was part of the national championship picture for the first time in more than a decade, the oldest and most famous bowl again finds itself overshadowed.

“Most of the attention paid to that game will surround some of the great big-play Michigan players--(quarterback) Elvis Grbac and (wide receiver) Derrick Alexander, who had just as good a year this year as Desmond Howard did in winning the Heisman Trophy a year ago,” says Lampley.

Federal Express Orange Bowl

No. 11 Nebraska (9-2) vs. No. 3 Florida State (10-1), at Miami, 5 p.m., NBC

“This is another chance for Florida State to put a big number on the board and impress the voters one last time in another Pyrrhic attempt for a national title,” says Lampley. “I personally believe Florida State is the best team in the country right now. Their quarterback Charlie Ward is the best player in the country at this moment, but those distinctions don’t mean much to them after another season tainted by the one loss to Miami. I fully expect Florida State to go on the field with a lot of incentive and try to do a number on Nebraska.”

Sugar Bowl

No. 2 Alabama (12-0) vs. No. 1 Miami (11-0), at New Orleans, 5:30 p.m., ABC

“It’s hard to see Miami losing, just because they are so tried and true in situations like this,” says Lampley. “They are a well-rounded team, while Alabama is a limited team, relying on what they can do to stop you. They have to get a little bit fortunate or wait to do something when they have the ball.”