OCSA to Submit Bid to NCAA for Bowl : Football: With financial backing in place, group plans to make proposal this month for Big Orange Classic.

The Orange County Sports Assn., confident it finally has sufficient financial backing, will present a proposal to the NCAA later this month to include the Big Orange Classic in its postseason lineup, sources involved with the process said Monday.

Representatives of the Orange County group will appear before the Special Events Committee Aug. 17 at NCAA headquarters in Overland Park, Kan., said an assistant to NCAA Assistant Executive Director David Cawood. OCSA Executive Director Jerry McGee or Jack Lindquist, president of the Irvine-based Lindquist Group that manages the sports association, will outline the plan for the game, formerly named the Freedom Bowl. Both might attend the meeting.

After reviewing the information, the Special Events Committee will make a recommendation to the Bowl Committee. If approved by both committees, the Big Orange Classic would be played Dec. 28 or 30 between the Western Athletic Conference’s third-place team and an at-large selection.

“A final decision will have to be determined jointly with the NCAA,” McGee said, “but we feel the opportunity still exists for the Big Orange Classic [to be played this season].”

Thwarted repeatedly in its on-going attempt to secure a title sponsor during the last few months, OCSA representatives were pessimistic about the game’s future until late last week, a source said. A meeting Thursday with representatives of the Orange County Tourism Consortium, and subsequent follow-up discussions Friday about providing funding for the game, brightened the sports association’s outlook.

McGee confirmed talks occurred between the OCSA and a “group that is interested in trying to keep a postseason college football game in Orange County.” He declined to explain the terms of an agreement for title sponsorship, but said the group that plans to assist the OCSA would likely do so for only one season. McGee previously said he hoped to secure funding for at least three years.

The OCSA has reviewed offers from ESPN and Raycom to televise the game. Final negotiations, though, will occur after the committees’ recommendations.

If all goes as the OCSA hopes, the Big Orange Classic might provide a morale boost for the association. So far, the game has been plagued by extremely poor attendance.

Only twice has it attracted crowds of more than 50,000 at Anaheim Stadium, which can accommodate about 69,000 for football. In 1994, 27,477 attended the game between Utah and Arizona. It was the smallest crowd since the inaugural game.

McGee believes the OCSA has done all it can to save the game.

“It has been a roller coaster up to this point,” McGee said. “There were many things we felt we needed to get accomplished, and we certainly feel we’ve made progress in almost every area.”