No Bowl, No Practice

As life in limbo continues at USC, the Trojans canceled practice scheduled today because they haven’t received a bowl bid yet and don’t know if they’ll get one.

“We’re not going to practice until after we find out,” Coach John Robinson said.

NCAA rules don’t allow out-of-season practices except for teams going to bowl games, and USC might not learn until this weekend if it will be invited.

Robinson and his staff remain in a limbo of their own. Though Robinson said last week he is probably coming back, Athletic Director Mike Garrett maintains he won’t evaluate their performances until the season ends.

For now, no one knows if it has.

USC’s remaining bowl prospects hinge on the alliance selections--particularly whether UCLA is picked.

If that happens, USC could end up in the Sun Bowl, although contractually the Sun is bound to take Washington, which already has accepted a conditional bid to the Aloha--a mess that would have to be untangled.

The Independence is the other possibility, but organizers of the game in Shreveport, La., say they are awaiting the alliance’s decisions before selecting among USC, Virginia, Notre Dame, Iowa and Louisiana Tech to face a Southeastern Conference opponent--probably Louisiana State.

“It could very well be Sunday,” said Ken Antee, chairman of the Independence selection committee, adding that the committee has not established a pecking order. “Everything we hear is that nothing will take place [until after this weekend’s conference championship games]. But the bowl business can change in the blink of an eye.”

USC can only sit and wait.

“If we wind up in a game . . . unfortunately, that would put us in [practice during] final exams [which begin next week],” Robinson said. “We might end up practicing at night.”