Huskers are in Holiday Bowl's sights
Print
digg it!
Facebook
del.icio.us
Seed Newsvine
Fark It
Reddit
By BRIAN ROSENTHAL / Lincoln Journal Star
Bruce Binkowski has a simple message to Nebraska football fans wanting to spend December in San Diego.
Hope your Huskers keep winning.
If they don’t?
You might still be in luck.
“I don’t want to pigeon-hole ourselves into saying they have to win ‘X’ number of games,” said Binkowski, executive director of the Holiday Bowl.
“If you look at all the various scenarios, they could win seven and still be in our picture.”
Considering the Huskers have already met that win total, a victory Saturday against Kansas State would seem to solidify their positioning for the Dec. 30 Holiday Bowl.
Nebraska is 7-3 overall and 4-2 in the Big 12 Conference, needing to defeat K-State to clinch the Big 12 North title. The Huskers would then likely play Texas, currently unbeaten, in the Dec. 5 Big 12 Championship Game in Dallas.
Of course, if the Huskers win that game, they’d earn an automatic BCS bid to the Fiesta Bowl.
If not, the Holiday Bowl will still be eagerly awaiting.
Binkowski said Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Texas Tech and even Kansas State, which needs a victory Saturday to become bowl-eligible, are candidates for the Holiday Bowl.
Of those teams, Nebraska has gone the longest without a Holiday Bowl appearance. The Huskers lost to Arizona in the 1998 game.
“We had a great experience with Husker Nation back in ’98 and we’ve always been looking forward to getting them back,” Binkowski said.
“Obviously, the next two games are very important, but we are very, very interested in the Huskers.”
The Holiday Bowl has the third pick of Big 12 teams, after the league’s automatic BCS team and the Cotton Bowl, which would probably target Oklahoma State.
However, the Cowboys, at 8-2, are hoping to position themselves for a possible BCS at-large bid by finishing with victories against Colorado and Oklahoma. Under that scenario, Nebraska could enter into the Cotton Bowl discussion, assuming the Huskers keep winning.
Who the Huskers would play in San Diego is a toss-up. The Holiday Bowl is contractually obligated to take the runner-up team from the Pac-10 but can choose from a group of teams tied for second.
“We just had a meeting today,” Binkowski said Monday, “and seriously, the Pac 10 office told me there’s a possibility of a six-way tie for second place.”
Realistically, Binkowski said the bowl’s list could be narrowed to Stanford, Oregon State and Arizona.
Oregon could also be in that mix, but the Ducks can win the Pac-10 title and Rose Bowl berth by defeating Arizona and Oregon State. USC and California are currently tied for fifth in the Pac-10.
Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.
Most Commented Football