Pac-10 Might Take a Pass on El Paso

With West Coast fans hesitant to follow their teams to El Paso, the Sun Bowl might not renew its agreement with the Pacific 10 Conference unless granted the flexibility to select teams from outside the conference, Sun Bowl executive director Joyce Feinberg said Tuesday.

As a condition of accepting a Sun Bowl bid, UCLA agreed to buy 8,000 tickets to the Dec. 29 game against Wisconsin. The Bruins do not expect to sell even half those tickets. Oregon sold 4,000 tickets to the Sun Bowl last year and sold 13,200 tickets to the Holiday Bowl in San Diego this year, spokesman David Williford said.

The Pac-10 generally assigns its third-place team to the Sun Bowl. Commissioner Tom Hansen said he would not be averse to granting the Sun Bowl the option to reject a Pac-10 team so long as the agreement guaranteed that team would play in another bowl, preferably one closer to the West Coast.

The Pac-10 agreement to send its fourth- and fifth-place teams to the Aloha and Oahu bowls also expires after next season, and conference officials would like to keep one of those teams on the mainland, cutting costs and enabling more fans to attend. The Pac-10 is expected to explore possible alliances with the Insight.com Bowl, the Las Vegas Bowl and the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio.

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UCLA safety Marques Anderson said he expects to return for his senior season. “I need to get another solid year in and polish my game,” he said.

Anderson is one of five UCLA juniors who sent letters to the NFL asking where he might be drafted. Receiver Brian Poli-Dixon and tailback DeShaun Foster have indicated they will return, with linebacker Robert Thomas and receiver Freddie Mitchell likely to await the NFL response before making a final decision.

Coach Bob Toledo has said he believes Mitchell is the only one ready for the NFL. Mitchell said he would hold a news conference in January to announce his decision.

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The contract of Athletic Director Peter Dalis expires Dec. 31. Chancellor Albert Carnesale said last month that university officials are negotiating an extension, and Dalis said discussions are proceeding. Dalis has previously worked without a contract and said he would do so again if the extension is not completed by Dec. 31.