Bowl Consequences Don’t Faze Bruins

It’s not as if Bob Toledo wakes up and says, “What can I do today to help USC.”

And it’s safe to say it has never occurred to the UCLA coach to make life simpler for Orange Bowl officials.

But a Bruin victory over Washington State on Saturday would vault the Trojans into the Rose Bowl and free the Orange Bowl to choose Notre Dame or another team that would bring more fans than USC.

Toledo, of course, has his own reasons for wanting to win. So does his team.

The sour taste of a 52-21 loss to USC on Nov. 23 has lingered and would be diminished by an upset of the No. 7 Cougars (9-2).

“That’s really the only way to put the [USC loss] behind us,” Bruin receiver Craig Bragg said. “Come out and beat Washington State and win a bowl game.”

Doing so would give the Bruins (7-4) more than seven victories for the first time since 1998 and could provide Toledo with a measure of security. Indications are that first-year Athletic Director Dan Guerrero is pleased with most aspects of the coach’s job performance, but a late-season tailspin could force a change because it would mark the fifth consecutive season that UCLA has faded down the stretch.

“We have a chance to win eight games, which is something this senior class has never done,” Toledo said. “With a bowl game, we have a chance to win nine, and that would be a good season.

“Look back at the beginning of the season, we were picked to finish sixth [in the Pacific 10 Conference]. Right now, we have a chance to finish third.”

Tied for third, anyway. The Bruins are 4-3 in Pac-10 games, a half-game behind third-place Arizona State.

A loss to Washington State, however, drops UCLA into a four-way tie for fourth place. The Bruins would still go to one of the six bowl games that have contracts with the Pac-10 because one of the 4-4 teams -- California -- is on NCAA probation and ineligible for a bowl.

It’s impossible to tell where UCLA will end up because there is no tie-breaking criteria -- every bowl besides the Rose picks who it wants in case of a tie.

A UCLA victory would drop Washington State into the Holiday Bowl, which gets the second-place Pac-10 team.

The Sun Bowl, which takes the third-place team, would choose between UCLA and Arizona State. The Insight Bowl would get the team the Sun doesn’t pick.

A UCLA loss would put Washington State in the Rose Bowl and leave USC hoping for an at-large bowl championship series bid from the Orange or Sugar bowls.

If USC gets a BCS game, Arizona State would go to the Holiday Bowl and the Bruins would be standing next to Oregon State (4-4) and Washington (4-4). The Sun gets first pick, the Insight second and the Las Vegas Bowl takes the third.

If USC doesn’t get a BCS game, it goes to the Holiday Bowl, Arizona State drops to the Sun Bowl and the same three 4-4 teams are chosen, in order, by the Insight, Las Vegas and Silicon Valley bowls.