Freedom Bowl Signs Up WAC to Provide Opponent for Pac-10

The Freedom Bowl has reached an agreement with the Western Athletic Conference to pit a WAC team against the third-place Pacific 10 Conference team in the Dec. 30 game at Anaheim Stadium, according to Don Andersen, executive director of the Orange County Sports Assn.

The Aloha Bowl in Hawaii and the Copper Bowl in Tucson also have arrangements to invite WAC teams that don’t reach the Holiday Bowl in San Diego, where the WAC champion will face the third-place team from the Big 10.

Wyoming (5-0) currently leads the WAC, followed by Brigham Young (5-1), San Diego State (4-2) and Fresno State (4-2). The Pac-10 is led by Arizona (5-1), UCLA (5-1) and USC (5-1).

Fresno State brought some 26,000 fans to last year’s Freedom Bowl, in which the Bulldogs beat USC, 24-7, before a Freedom Bowl-record crowd of 58,000.

“We’ve agreed with the Aloha and Copper Bowl to work together to get the best possible matchups for each bowl,” Andersen said. “For instance, it’s obviously better for Hawaii to play in the Aloha Bowl, and Fresno State or BYU would be our first choice. We’ll talk on the phone every week with (WAC Commissioner) Joe Kearney, who will be the focal point.”

The Pac-10 and WAC have been represented six times in the nine Freedom Bowl games, with each conference winning twice in head-to-head meetings.