Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.
Tuesday, November 28, 2000
Isle bowl
picture clearing
Virginia and Boston College
may play in either the Aloha or
Oahu postseason football gamesBy Paul Arnett
Star-Bulletin
Aloha Sports Inc. held a press conference today to announce Boston College and Virginia will be two of the four teams coming to Hawaii for the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day games.Executive director Fritz Rohlfing has to wait to announce the pairings and who the other two football teams will be because the top-tier bowls have not made their selctions yet.
"The networks have asked us not to announce the pairings because so many things are still up in the air," Rohlfing said today. "But we have two teams who want to be here for our games. We're excited about having these schools. They are quality programs."
Boston College is coming off a tough game with No. 2-ranked Miami of Florida where the Eagles were beat, 52-6, but as Rohlfing put it: "Our thoughts were anybody in that situation would have a hard time because Miami needed to win big in order to jump past Florida State in the BCS."
The other selections remain tricky because it's still unsettled which teams are going where in the Pac-10. At this point, Washington is headed to the Rose Bowl and UCLA to the Sun Bowl, but the other three bowl-eligible teams -- Oregon State, Oregon and Arizona State -- haven't fallen into any designated slots.
Rohlfing is hoping Oregon State doesn't wind up in the Fiesta Bowl against Notre Dame because that means only one Pac-10 team will be available to come here, and even that's not a sure thing.
In that equation, Oregon would go to the Holiday Bowl, UCLA to the Sun Bowl and Arizona State could be here for a second consecutive season. It's also a possibility ASU would take part in the Insight.com bowl in Phoenix. If Oregon State doesn't go to the Fiesta Bowl, the Beavers would be in the Holiday Bowl, UCLA in the Sun Bowl and top 10 Oregon would come here.
"That's what I'm pulling for," Rohlfing said, "because we would have a highly ranked team coming here in Oregon. I'm not convinced Oregon State is going to the Fiesta Bowl, which would open up some things for us."
But if that doesn't happen, and ASU opts for the Insight.com Bowl, then Rohlfing could pick any bowl-eligible team from anywhere in America. "We could hold ASU to come here if we wanted to," Rohlfing said. "But we want teams who want to come here."
This year's Oahu Bowl will be played on Christmas Eve with the Aloha Bowl set for Christmas Day. Rohlfing could wind up with a team from the Southeast Conference if only one Pac-10 team comes to Oahu. The likely teams in that equation are Mississippi, Arkansas, Georgia or Louisiana State University.