Bruins Have One Bowl Possibility Remaining

As UCLA left the field after the 52-42 victory over Arizona State on Saturday, fans at the Rose Bowl didn’t chant “defense” or “Heisman” the way they had earlier in the season.

They just wanted the players finishing the regular season to toss them gear--a sweatband, elbow pad, even a swatch of ankle tape would do.

Quarterback Scott McEwan, who passed for 280 yards and three touchdowns in his first career start, did something that typified his nature. Rather than throw something to the boisterous fans, he sought out two small children who had been elbowed aside and handed them his sweatbands.

Now his team could use a similar humanitarian gesture to extend the season.

Michigan State accepted a bid Sunday to play in the Silicon Valley Classic against Fresno State, leaving only one opening in any of the 25 bowl games--the Humanitarian Bowl in Boise, Idaho, on Dec. 31.

Louisiana Tech (7-4), which finished first in the Western Athletic Conference, will face one of four at-large teams the bowl is considering--UCLA (7-4), Mississippi (7-4), Clemson (6-5) or Boise State (8-4).

Because the Humanitarian is held on Boise State’s home field, the Broncos are the most desirable team to bowl officials, who tried to swing a three-way deal to move Louisiana Tech to the Independence Bowl in place of a Southeastern Conference team. Mississippi would have gone to the Silicon Valley Classic and Arkansas to the Humanitarian to face Boise State, which would have become the WAC representative.

But the Silicon Valley Bowl quashed the plan by inviting Michigan State. Now the Humanitarian is stuck with Louisiana Tech and a matchup with Boise State is unlikely because ESPN does not want a game between two WAC teams.

UCLA’s main advantage over Mississippi and Clemson is its West Coast ties.

“If you asked people in Boise who they want to see, it’s UCLA,” said Gary Beck, the Humanitarian executive director. “There is familiarity, it’s easy to get here from L.A. and the Pac-10 is the major conference in the northwest. Those are the positives.”

The negatives are UCLA’s well-earned reputation for not having many fans follow the team to a bowl and ambivalence on the part of Bruin officials. In other words, it’s a money problem.

The Humanitarian will require teams to stay in Boise from Dec. 26-31 and sell a minimum of 5,000 tickets at $33 apiece. UCLA figures it can sell no more than 1,000, and unsold tickets can be sold in Boise only after the other 25,000 seats in the 30,000-seat stadium are sold.

Humanitarian officials met Sunday night and an invitation should be extended to someone today.

Even if UCLA is the top choice, there is a good chance Athletic Director Pete Dalis will turn it down, believing the money would be better spent on a new football locker room and indoor training facility.

That might be difficult for Bruin players to understand. After the victory over Arizona State, they want to play again. But Dalis might find a sympathetic ear in a former UCLA player, Boise State Athletic Director Gene Bleymaier.

Dalis will retire in June. Bleymaier, a top candidate to replace him, presumably would want as much money in the budget as possible.