Y.'s bowl foe still unknown

BYU still lacks a Las Vegas Bowl opponent, thanks in part to the Bowl Championship Series.

While the Cougars claimed their spot 10 days ago to face the No. 4 team from the Pac-10 Conference, the latter remains a little muddled since five teams could end up tied for fourth place.

Southern California (10-1 overall, 7-1 conference) leads the standings. A Trojan victory Saturday over UCLA not only locks up a BCS invite but a berth in the national championship game against Ohio State.

Cal (8-3, 6-2), which plays league doormat Stanford, surprisingly is still under BCS consideration for one of the top five bowls. The conference cannot have teams filling up lower-bowl slots until they've been released from consideration.

Once the BCS releases Cal, the bowl dominoes likely fall into place — Cal as the league's No. 2 team to the Holiday Bowl and Oregon State (8-4, 6-3) to the Sun Bowl.

If USC beats UCLA as expected, five teams — Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon, UCLA and Washington State — will be tied for fourth place, all with 4-5 conference records. Oregon and Arizona State would boast better overall records at 7-5, the other three at .500.

Having just fired head coach Dirk Koetter, ASU may be less desirable despite a closer draw. Oregon is on a three-loss skid, but the Duck fan base travels well and the team boasts a high-octane offense under coordinator Gary Crowton, with his former employment as BYU head coach creating an intriguing matchup.

A UCLA victory puts the Bruins in as the fourth-place team.

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