ASU thinking about Washington, not bowl berth

SEATTLE - Arizona State can earn a postseason berth if it wins each of its four remaining games, but a bowl has not been discussed by players or coaches. The Sun Devils’ reasoning: Why talk about a bowl at this point?

Blogging with the Devils: Game Day ASU vs. Washington

They have to win at Washington today, then the next game, then the next one. If that happens, ASU can use a bowl trip as motivation for the regular-season finale at archrival Arizona.

The cynic’s reasoning: Even if the Sun Devils win out, their record will be 6-6. And what business does any 6-6 squad have playing in a bowl game?

“That’s the way it is,” linebacker Mike Nixon said. “I’ll gladly accept an invitation should we get it. Six wins is pretty mediocre, though. Personally, I don’t think the bowls should reward mediocre teams. It should be for the elite teams.”

The bowl glut that began at the start of the decade has bloated to 34 games this season, up from 18 in 1996 and nine in 1967.

“I think there are too many bowls,” former NCAA president Cedric Dempsey said in 2006. “We’ve moved away from the two main objectives of the bowl system. One is to reward excellence. It’s hard to say that a 6-6 record is excellence. Secondarily, it was supposed to be a celebration of the game by the (hosting) community. Many are now just television-driven.”

In 1975, Arizona and ASU met in the biggest game in their rivalry, with the Sun Devils’ 24-21 win netting them a Western Athletic Conference title and Fiesta Bowl berth. A loss, and they would have been home for the holidays, even with a 10-1 record and top-15 ranking.

Today?

“Pretty soon, they are going to have enough bowls for 4-7 teams,” ASU coach Dennis Erickson said. “That’s the nature of the beast right now.”

The Pandora’s Box is not likely to close. As more cities believe they are capable of hosting a bowl game, the NCAA is willing to certify them, and television desires to find time slots for them. ESPN does not just broadcast 23 bowl games; the network owns and operates six of them.

And coaches are not clamoring for the bowl tide to be stemmed, not with the 15 extra practices that come with a postseason ticket. That is a second round of spring drills, which for Erickson makes a bowl paradise — even if the destination is a less-than-exotic locale like Boise, El Paso or Shreveport.

“If you don’t go to the Rose Bowl or play for the national championship, the (game preparation) isn’t all that critical,” Erickson said. “You still try to win, but you use that practice time.”

The Pac-10 has arrangements with seven bowls. Per conference policy, the schools are slotted in accordance with the final regular-season standings. Teams must be 6-6 or better to be eligible.

After the Bowl Championship Series selects the league champion (and an at-large team, if one qualifies, which is unlikely this season), the Holiday Bowl chooses the next-highest in the standings, and the Sun the next-highest. The Las Vegas and Emerald bowls pick between the Nos. 4 and 5 selections. The Hawaii has the sixth, the Poinsettia the seventh.

If there is a tie for a spot in the standings, a bowl can choose between the deadlocked teams.

If ASU qualifies for the postseason, it likely will be near the bottom of the Pac-10 totem pole, which could mean a return trip to a bowl city it has played in recently.

The Sun Devils went to the Hawaii Bowl in 2006. Last year, it was the Holiday in San Diego, which is also home to the Poinsettia Bowl.

“A 6-6 record would probably get us one of those two trips,” Nixon said. “You can’t complain about that.”

Certainly, a visit to Seattle, where rain is forecasted today, pales in comparison. But ASU must win there.

“You can’t talk about a bowl game until you’re in position for it,” Erickson said. “We have four games to win. It won’t do us any good if we don’t win the first game.”

Pac-10 bowl tie-ins
No. 1 — Rose, Jan. 1
No. 2 — Holiday, Dec. 30
No. 3 — Sun, Dec. 31
No. 4 or 5 — Las Vegas, Dec. 20
No. 4 or 5 — Emerald, Dec. 27
No. 6 — Hawaii, Dec. 24
No. 7 — Poinsettia, Dec. 23