ACC Team to Fill Spot in Emerald Bowl

An Atlantic Coast Conference team will play in the Emerald Bowl because the Pacific 10 does not have enough eligible teams to fill the slot.

John Swofford, ACC commissioner, and Gary Cavalli, executive director of the bowl game, said Sunday that the league will place one of its teams against Utah in the Dec. 29 game in San Francisco.

Cavalli said earlier that he expected an ACC team to play in the bowl, which was supposed to pair a Mountain West Conference team against a Pac-10 opponent.

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Tennessee Coach Phillip Fulmer fired offensive assistants Jimmy Ray Stephens and Pat Washington following the Volunteers’ first losing season since 1988.

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Florida State fell out of the Associated Press top 25 poll for the first time since November 2001 after losing its third game in a row Saturday.

The Seminoles were ranked No. 23 before losing to Florida, 34-7.

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Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s Division I-AA quarterfinal playoff game at Texas State on Saturday will begin at 1 p.m. PST. The game will be televised on ESPN2.