Trojans’ Holiday Plans Up in the Air

USC can still land anywhere from the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 30 in San Diego to the Sun Bowl on Dec. 31 in El Paso, Texas, to either game of the Christmas Day doubleheader in Honolulu.

The official assessment of the Pacific 10 Conference bowl picture: “In a word, muddled,” a conference official wrote in a memo to member schools Sunday.

The big factors, of course, are whether UCLA plays in the Rose Bowl or the Fiesta, and Arizona’s destination as well.

The Holiday gets second pick after the Rose--though the Holiday might prefer Oregon to USC because Akili Smith is from San Diego. The opponent for that game is the third selection from the Big 12.

The Sun gets the highest-remaining team (with bowl officials making the choice if there is a tie, such as between USC and Oregon) for a game against the fifth selection from the Big Ten.

The Aloha pits its choice of the remaining teams against an at-large team, and the new Honolulu game, the Mele Kalikimaka Bowl, sends another Pac-10 team--if available--against a runner-up from the Western Athletic Conference.

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Linebacker David Gibson left Saturday’s game because of a bruised thigh but is expected to play Saturday against Notre Dame. . . . USC very quietly had its least-penalized game of the season Saturday--three penalties for 23 yards. The first didn’t come until an offensive holding call in the final minutes of the third quarter.