COLLEGE FOOTBALL / GENE WOJCIECHOWSKI : In Drawing Bowl Picture, Better Have Eraser Handy

Presenting an early look at the bowl matchups. Some you can chisel in stone. Some you had better use a No. 2 pencil and industrial-sized eraser.

Your list, with 17 shopping days until the Dec. 4 selection day:

ROSE--Oregon or USC vs. Penn State.

ORANGE--Nebraska vs. Miami or Florida State.

SUGAR--Alabama-Florida SEC championship game winner vs. Florida State (if opponent is Alabama), Notre Dame, USC, No. 2 team from Atlantic Coast Conference or No. 2 team from Big East Conference.

COTTON--Texas Tech or Baylor vs. Florida State, Notre Dame or Kansas State.

FIESTA--Colorado vs. Florida State, Boston College or USC.

GATOR--Virginia Tech vs. Tennessee.

CITRUS--Alabama-Florida SEC championship loser vs. Michigan-Ohio State winner.

ALAMO--Washington State vs. Baylor.

JOHN HANCOCK--Texas vs. Oregon, USC or Duke.

FREEDOM--Arizona vs. Brigham Young or Utah (preferably BYU).

ALOHA--Kansas State or Oklahoma vs. Boston College or Syracuse.

COPPER--Oklahoma or North Carolina vs. Illinois, Utah or Air Force.

PEACH--North Carolina State vs. Mississippi State.

HALL OF FAME--Wisconsin or Indiana vs. Virginia.

HOLIDAY--Colorado State vs. Ohio State-Michigan loser.

LIBERTY--Memphis or East Carolina vs. Illinois or Air Force.

CARQUEST--Syracuse vs. Georgia.

INDEPENDENCE--Baylor or Texas Christian vs. Indiana, Illinois, Air Force, West Virginia or North Carolina.

LAS VEGAS--Central Michigan vs. Nevada, Nevada Las Vegas or Pacific.

BACKROOM BOWL STUFF

Here’s the skinny on some of the behind-the-scenes bowl maneuvering:

--If Florida State gets frozen out of the Orange or Sugar Bowl--and it’s a distinct possibility--the Seminoles are looking for ways to get a Fiesta invitation.

One problem: the Cotton Bowl.

Under bowl coalition rules, the Cotton chooses before the Fiesta and probably would take Florida State if a 7-4 Notre Dame was unavailable. If that happens, the Seminoles and ACC Commissioner Gene Corrigan want to test the coalition contract for loopholes.

Because Florida State doesn’t qualify for any of the current contract exceptions--economic reasons (sorry, the Fiesta pays less than the Cotton), regular-season rematch or third consecutive trip to same bowl--the Seminoles will need a legal opening as wide as the Florida panhandle.

According to one coalition source, Corrigan has been advised to find a good lawyer if he wants a contract interpretation. And if the issue comes to a vote by the coalition founding fathers, Florida State shouldn’t hold its breath for approval.

--Unranked Notre Dame (5-4) has to win its remaining games against Air Force and USC, or else the Irish will be home for the holidays.

Athletic Director Dick Rosenthal has made no official announcement, but it appears Notre Dame will decline any bowl invitation unless it is 7-4.

The Irish’s agreement with the coalition says the team can play only in the four major alliance bowls--Cotton, Sugar, Orange and Fiesta. But in a compromise with mighty Notre Dame, the coalition guaranteed it a spot in one of the four big-money bowls if the Irish finished with seven victories. At the time it seemed like a safe bet, especially because Notre Dame hasn’t had a sub-eight-victory season since 1986, Coach Lou Holtz’s first season at South Bend.

So much for streaks. Now the Irish face red-hot Air Force, winner of its last seven games, at South Bend on Saturday and then travel to the Coliseum for a Nov. 26 game against the Trojans, who have won five consecutive games and six of their last seven.

A Notre Dame split doesn’t do the Irish much good, even if Rosenthal changes his mind. The Fiesta isn’t likely to take them, not when a 9-2 or 8-3 USC is available. The Orange is set. The same goes for the Sugar. The Cotton would be interested, but only if Florida State can’t come to Dallas.

--The Freedom Bowl, which has been sweating out some financial concerns, will live to see another game.

Executive Director Don Andersen said earlier this week that the Orange County Sports Assn., which runs the Freedom Bowl, has received the necessary line of credit to fund the game. That’s good, because assorted Pacific 10 and Western Athletic Conference officials were getting a little nervous about sending their teams to Anaheim for no paycheck.

--Despite its 8-2 record, Utah might be left out of the bowl mix.

WAC Commissioner Karl Benson is working the phones these days trying to find a place for the Utes, but the response hasn’t been overwhelming. The ugly truth:

1) Utah has zero national appeal, so that rules out almost any bowl game east of the Rockies.

2) Utah could fall to 8-3 with a loss Saturday to Brigham Young. If that happens, the Utes will probably fall out of the top 25. As recently as Oct. 30, they were ranked No. 8.

3) Quick, name two players from Utah. How about one?

4) The Utes need Wisconsin (5-4-1), Indiana (5-5), West Virginia (5-5) and Georgia (5-4) to finish their seasons without the required six Division I-A victories. The fewer teams available, the better Utah’s chances for an invitation.

HELLO, CENTURY 21 AGENT?

Here it is mid-November and already Georgia Tech’s Bill Lewis, Michigan State’s George Perles, Iowa State’s Jim Walden, Mississippi’s Billy Brewer, LSU’s Curley Hallman and Ohio’s Tom Lichtenberg have received their pink slips. Last year there were 14 Division I-A coaching changes. This year there have been six . . . and counting.

At Oklahoma, where everything is not OK, embattled Coach Gary Gibbs is telling reporters and his players that he won’t resign--at least not now, he won’t.

“I’m focusing on Nebraska right now,” said Gibbs, who has repaired Oklahoma’s tarnished image, but gone 2-14-1 against Texas, Nebraska and Colorado.

At Ohio State, Coach John Cooper had to answer questions about Michigan captain Walter Smith, who told reporters in Ann Arbor this week that the Wolverines have one goal in mind for Saturday’s game: “We want to get Cooper fired. That’s what I want to do. We want to keep on beating them and beating them until he’s not there.”

Cooper is 0-5-1 against archrival Michigan.

At Kentucky, Coach Bill Curry is telling anyone who will listen that he isn’t going anywhere. The Wildcats are 1-9 this season and were beaten by Northeast Louisiana, a first-year Division I-A program, last Saturday at Commonwealth Stadium.

At Georgia, Coach Ray Goff is fighting for his job too. He says he has the backing of Athletic Director Vince Dooley, but if the Bulldogs lose to Georgia Tech on Nov. 24, who knows?

At Texas, Coach John Mackovic is under fire for a two-plus-season record of 17-14-1, including two losses to Texas A&M.;

CENTURY 21, PART II

Best guesses:

--Gibbs is gone. Replacement possibilities might include Tulsa’s Dave Rader, maybe even Colorado State’s Sonny Lubick, though WAC officials say Lubick will stay put. Sure he will--until Dennis Erickson leaves Miami for, say, the Seattle Seahawks.

--Cooper survives, unless he loses to Michigan again and decides to chuck the Buckeyes and return to his alma mater, Iowa State.

--Curry survives what probably will be a 1-10 season. There were rumors that he was leaving Kentucky to become athletic director at his alma mater, Georgia Tech. Untrue, said Curry, who has the continued support of C.M. Newton, Kentucky’s powerful athletic director.

--Goff survives, but to be on the safe side, the Bulldogs had better beat a 1-8 Georgia Tech team.

--Mackovic survives, thanks to a vote of confidence he received last week from Texas President Robert Berdahl. Berdahl said Mackovic had done “a good job,” and then chided fans for thinking the football program could be rebuilt in three seasons.

THE REST

There is talk at BYU that Coach LaVell Edwards, in his 23rd season at Provo, is considering a move to athletic director. . . . Contrary to published reports, Tony Dungy, Minnesota Viking defensive coordinator, said Michigan State never offered him the Spartan coaching job. Had the school asked him to replace Perles, Dungy said he probably would have declined. . . . For once, West Virginia Coach Don Nehlen isn’t exaggerating when he says, “In my opinion, Boston College is playing better than anyone in our league.” That league is the Big East and it includes No. 5 Miami. Boston College plays at Morgantown, W.Va., on Saturday. Miami, which has quarterback troubles again, visits Temple.

Because of a Big Eight Conference suspension, Iowa State’s Walden can’t coach the Cyclones in his final game Saturday at Colorado. Walden, who was fined, reprimanded and then suspended for criticizing officials after a Nov. 5 game against Kansas State, originally planned to watch his team in “one place where you never make a mistake”--the Cyclones’ radio booth. But the Big Eight said Walden can’t be in the stadium. “It’s kind of a tough way of going out after 17 years,” Walden said. . . . Pac-10 Commissioner Tom Hansen will be at Saturday’s Oregon at Oregon State game, not USC at UCLA. . . . Ron Powlus, Notre Dame’s redshirt freshman quarterback, still might win a Heisman Trophy, but it won’t be this season. Powlus, who has been knocked silly this season because of a so-so Irish offensive line, is struggling with his role in a 5-4 Irish season. “Ron has never had much frustration during his life, and he had an awful lot of difficulty (this year),” Holtz said. “And he’s going to have to handle it. I think wanting to be perfect is a great objective, but it’s not realistic.” . . . Wisconsin star senior running back Brent Moss, arrested for alleged possession of crack cocaine with intent to deliver, will not play in Saturday’s crucial game against Illinois. A plea bargain deal to a misdemeanor is a possibility, but even so, Badger Coach Barry Alvarez isn’t sure if he will allow Moss to rejoin the team should Wisconsin qualify for a bowl. One bright spot: Alvarez was named one of the city’s 25 sexiest people by Madison magazine. Of course, this is the same magazine that named Moss one of the 25 most talented.

The Top 10

As selected by staff writer Gene Wojciechowski

No. School Record 1 Penn State 9-0 2 Nebraska 11-0 3 Alabama 10-0 4 Miami 8-1 5 Auburn 9-0-1 6 Colorado 9-1 7 Florida 8-1 8 Florida State 8-1 9 Kansas State 7-2 10 Oregon 8-3

Waiting list: Texas A&M; (9-0-1), USC (7-2), Colorado State (9-1), Boston College (6-2-1), Michigan (7-3)