LV Bowl officials still considering several schools

Steve Guiremand

Monday, Nov. 27, 2000 | 10:20 a.m.

Members of the 14-person Las Vegas Bowl selection committee were scheduled to hold a conference call this morning to try to decide which at-large team they should invite for the Dec. 21 game at Sam Boyd Stadium.

"I have a feeling that we could still be a week away (from selecting a team)," Las Vegas Bowl director Tina Kunzer-Murphy said on Sunday night.

Among the teams still under consideration, according to Kunzer-Murphy, are Syracuse of the Big East Conference; Arkansas, LSU and Ole Miss from the SEC, Toledo of the MAC and UTEP from the WAC.

The Las Vegas Bowl is going to wait until after Saturday night's UNLV-Hawaii matchup before deciding which Mountain West Conference school will play in the contest. If the Rebels (6-5) win, they will be invited. If not, Air Force (8-3) will get the bid.

If UNLV wins, the Las Vegas Bowl won't be as concerned with selling local tickets and could invite a bigger name team that might not travel as well, such as Syracuse. If Air Force is invited, the Las Vegas Bowl may need to invite a team that figures to bring a lot of fans, like UTEP.

WAC Commissioner Karl Benson is scheduled to meet with Las Vegas Bowl officials today and present his case for inviting the Miners (8-3), who tied TCU for the conference title.

"My personal feeling is we'll probably sit and wait," Kunzer-Murphy said.

For what it's worth, CBS Sportsline is projecting a Syracuse-UNLV matchup. That would not only be good for local ticket sales, but would also likely draw a good TV rating thanks to the Orangemen's strong East Coast following.