At this point, the leading contenders are California and Texas Tech, but don't go bet the house on that Pac-10-Big 12 matchup just yet. There are other possibilities.
If Arizona State beats Arizona, Washington knocks off Washington State, UCLA beats Southern Cal, California topples Stanford and Oregon State upends Oregon, there will be only three Pac-10 teams bowl eligible - Arizona State, Washington and California.
The Aloha Bowl has the fourth choice behind the Rose Bowl, Cotton Bowl and Sun Bowl. If there aren't at least four teams available, then the Aloha Bowl would likely take the winner of the Army-Navy game.
On the other side of the ledger, the Aloha Bowl has the fifth pick behind the two coalition choices, and the Cotton and Alamo bowls.
At this point, there are five teams eligible - Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas State, Texas and Texas Tech. If Texas A&M upsets Texas, there will then be six.
It also means the Aggies at 6-5 would probably be coming here, with the Red Raiders of Texas Tech opting for the Copper Bowl, which has the sixth Big 12 pick.
"We're planning for every possibility, but we are contractually obligated to take teams from the Pac-10 and the Big 12 if they are bowl eligible (have at least six wins over Division I teams)," Aloha Bowl official Lenny Klompus said yesterday.
"There are all kinds of possibilities out there. It's possible that no teams from either conference will be available to us, so we're preparing for anything."
California is the leading contender from the Pac-10 entering this weekend's game with Stanford. If The Cardinal defeats its traditional rival, then Stanford goes to the Sun Bowl and California would probably be headed to Honolulu.
Should Cal win, then 5-5 Stanford is out, and Oregon or USC enter the Aloha Bowl picture if they beat their traditional rivals, Oregon State and UCLA, respectively, this weekend.
"If USC beats UCLA and Notre Dame, then we would have to take a hard look at them at 7-5," Klompus said. "That's what I'm saying. It's way too early to know for sure who will be here."
Klompus definitely likes the idea of having Texas Tech here because the Red Raiders' Byron Hanspard leads the nation in rushing with 2,001 yards.
"We could end up with the Heisman Trophy winner (Florida's Danny Wuerffel) in the Hula Bowl and the runner-up (Hanspard) in the Aloha Bowl," Klompus said. "Cal also has a very exciting offense, so that could be a very attractive matchup for us."
But so would USC and Texas A&M or Michigan State and the Army-Navy winner, both possibilities, if the dominoes fall right.
"We'll know a lot more in the next week or so," Klompus said. "It's also possible that an 8-3 Virginia team could be left out of things. We're excited with all the possibilities."