Three Bowls eye surging Huskers

LINCOLN -- It was a Husker loss that actually won over John Fulmer.

During a game full of heartache for the Huskers �” a 37-31 overtime loss to Texas Tech �” Fulmer got to thinking about how good it might be if Nebraska were to pay a visit to El Paso come late December.

“I thought, ‘Geez, that’s a good football team. They’re going to be a lot better,’” the Sun Bowl chairman said Tuesday.

Ever since, the Sun Bowl people have been keen on the possibility of Nebraska playing in the Dec. 31 bowl game. The excitement has only grown as NU has excelled down the stretch, winning four of its past five games to get to 7-4.

And given that the Huskers’ final regular-season contest is a home game against injury-riddled Colorado, it seems likely Nebraska could bring eight wins and plenty of momentum to a bowl game.

“They’re playing really good and I think the fact that they’re playing their way into a bowl game instead of losing their way into a bowl game makes a difference from the standpoint of attitude in the public, attitude in your state, and attitude of people here in El Paso,” Fulmer said.

El Paso or bust? The smart money says yes, but two other bowl possibilities seem to remain for the Huskers �” the Gator Bowl and the Alamo Bowl.

Of the three bowls, the Gator has first choice, followed by the Alamo and then the Sun.

The Gator Bowl, played on New Year’s Day in Jacksonville, Fla., does have the option of taking a Big 12 team and has expressed interest in NU, an appealing prospect for Big Red fans who for so long were accustomed to their team playing on Jan. 1.

But Notre Dame also has the Gator Bowl’s attention and a knack for drawing big TV ratings. Whether rooting for them or rooting against them, people watch the Irish.

The popular speculation is that the Gator Bowl would take a 7-5 Notre Dame team over an 8-4 Nebraska team, but speculation is where it ends at this point.

“I can tell you we’ve never had a 7-5 team play in our bowl game,” Gator Bowl president Rick Catlett told the Fort Wayne (Ind.) Journal Gazette. “So that would be a little unprecedented for us to do that, although, I would also say at the same time, people will change their attitudes when it’s Notre Dame.”

Notre Dame is 6-4, with a presumed victory against Syracuse and a presumed loss against Southern Cal still remaining.

A seventh win for Notre Dame is likely but doesn’t make the Irish a Gator Bowl lock, a couple of bowl representatives said, especially if Notre Dame were to get routed by USC.

“There’s a big difference between 7-5 (and) losing on the final drive to USC, and losing 45-10,” one bowl rep said.

Gator Bowl officials will also have to consider this: Are they going to have access to Notre Dame this year only or will they probably have access to them next year, too?

The Irish have a favorable schedule in 2009, but if the Gator Bowl people don’t think Notre Dame will be a BCS team next year, then they could pass on the Irish this year knowing they’ll have a decent shot at them next season.

“Frankly, Notre Dame at 7-5 and Nebraska at 8-4, if I was making the decision it’d be kind of tough,” Fulmer said.

The Alamo Bowl, played on Dec. 29 in San Antonio, remains an outside possibility for NU. Missouri, Oklahoma State and Nebraska are the Big 12 teams in consideration for that game.

“Nebraska’s obviously opened some eyes,” said Rick Hill, the Alamo Bowl’s vice president of marketing and communications. “We’re going to be up there the last game and then we’ll see how the other two finish out. Missouri could lose two down the stretch. Oklahoma State is obviously going to play a real tough game against Oklahoma. Momentum is obviously important.”

Missouri and Oklahoma State having better records than NU would seem to make them more likely choices for the Alamo Bowl, but storylines factor into bowl decisions, too.

For instance, a Nebraska team on an upswing against an Iowa team on an upswing has some appeal.

While bowl reps work to figure it out, Husker fans have to ask themselves in the middle of these uncertain economic times if they’re ready to plop down some serious cash on airfare and spend a bunch of money on a bowl trip.

Tim Hill, a travel consultant for AAA Travel Agency in Lincoln, said calls have been coming into their offices since NU became bowl-eligible, asking about potential bowl trip packages.

In previous years, there might not not have been as much interest from Husker fans in traveling to a non-BCS bowl game.

But with the Huskers’ recent poor seasons and not going to a bowl last year, Hill senses the return of some bowl fervor from fans optimistic about where first-year head coach Bo Pelini might be taking the program.

“There’s an excitement there regardless of where (Nebraska) ends up going,” Hill said. “People are going to want to go. ... This is the beginning of something new and I think that’s where the excitement is stemming from.”

If it does end up being a trip to the Sun Bowl, it will be Nebraska’s first appearance there since the 1980 season. Coincidentally, Tom Osborne is also being introduced into the Sun Bowl’s hall of fame this year.

Arizona or California would seem the most likely opponents for NU in the Sun Bowl. Oregon could be a candidate, but the Ducks played in El Paso last year. The bowl game kicks off at 1 p.m. on Dec. 31 and is televised by CBS.

Asked if he thought Nebraska’s name still brought the same buzz even after some down years, Fulmer answered that it absolutely does.

“Are you kidding me?” he said. “There are a great bunch of key names and Nebraska’s always been one of them.”