Sun Bowl Mania

Replay live coverage: Hyundai Sun Bowl coaches press conference

Update 11:04 a.m.: The press conference is scheduled to begin at 11:20 a.m.

Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly and Miami head coach Jeff Stoutland will discuss this year's Hyundai Sun Bowl at 10:30 a.m. Thursday. Visit elpasotimes.com for live coverage.

Replay chat with Hyundai Sun Bowl executive director

It's official: Notre Dame-Miami

The Hyundai Sun Bowl has its dream matchup — Notre Dame vs. Miami.

Speculation ran rampant Saturday night about the meeting between the two. The official word came Sunday afternoon.The Fighting Irish and Hurricanes will rekindle one of the fiercest rivalries of the 1980s in their first-ever bowl meeting and both teams' first trip to El Paso.

It will be the 24th time the programs meet, but the first since 1990. Notre Dame leads the all-time series 15-7-1.

Tickets are going fast, so if you haven't already plucked a few, go to sunbowl.org.

Keep it posted here and www.elpasotimes.com for the latest on what should be the most highly watched bowl game of the year outside of the New Year's Day games.

What though the odds of Notre Dame?

Any hope of a Pacific-10 team's appearance in this year's Hyundai Sun Bowl was dashed when the NCAA denied Arizona State's appeal for bowl eligibility Friday and when Oregon manhandled Oregon State on Saturday.

But according to a source close to the Sun Bowl, something golden might be headed our way.

The source, who wished to remain anonymous, said that Miami, of the Atlantic Coast Conference, has expressed great interest in making its first visit to El Paso if Notre Dame is waiting for it on the opposite sideline. The Fighting Irish have told the Sun Bowl that they'd commit to being in El Paso on New Year's Eve if Washington beat Washington State and if Connecticut beat South Florida on Saturday night. Washington held off its Apple Cup rival 35-28 and Connecticut made a 52-yard field goal with 17 seconds left to beat South Florida for its first Big East title.

The dominoes fell the Sun Bowl's way. Will Notre Dame play along?

Pac-10 still alive for Sun Bowl

Arizona State's 30-29 double overtime upset of Arizona on Thursday in the annual battle for the Territorial Cup gave the Sun Devils their fourth win over their bitter rival in six years. It also gave the Hyundai Sun Bowl hope that a team from the Pacific-10 Conference will be available to play in the annual El Paso game.

With the win, Arizona State improves to a 6-6 overall record, the magic number for bowl eligibility (NCAA rules on FCS beatdowns notwithstanding). The Sun Devils are the Pac-10's fourth bowl-eligible team. And No. 5 could come Saturday if Washington can win its annual Apple Cup rivalry game against sliding Washington State. The Sun Bowl contractually has the fourth selection of Pac-10 teams. And with all scenarios pointing to two of the conference's teams -- Oregon and Stanford -- landing in Bowl Championship Series games, the concern was the Sun Bowl would have to shop outside the conference to fill the void left by the Pac-10 to face an Atlantic Coast Conference team.

May no longer a problem.

Assuming an Oregon win over Oregon State on Saturday (the Ducks are favored by 16.5 points) and a Washington win over Washington State (Huskies favored by 10), count on Arizona State, or possibly Washington, coming to El Paso on New Year's Eve to very likely face Miami.

The Hurricanes meeting former coach Dennis Erickson? That sounds like good TV. And a much more exciting option than Toledo. The Sun Bowl might be hip again.

Jon Gruden to Miami?

A couple interesting notes out of Miami tonight, where the Hurricanes are expected by many to be the Atlantic Coast Conference team invited play in the Hyundai Sun Bowl.

First, South Florida Sun-Sentinel writer Steve Gorten says that Miami is high on the list of teams that Sun Bowl chairman John Folmer wants to invite to El Paso, but that not final decision has been made. Gorten indicates that Miami would play a Big East team, assuming all weekend scenarios play out the way we all think they will. Something to keep an eye on.

Even more shocking out of Miami is a report that first appeared on CaneSport.com that, barring a last-minute glitch, former Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden will be the next coach of the Hurricanes. Gorten chimed in himself, saying through Twitter that two sources confirmed Gruden will meet with Miami brass. Miami fired Randy Shannon on Saturday night, hours after the Hurricanes lost to South Florida to close their 7-5 season. Offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland was named the interim coach and held his first news conference Tuesday. The report on Gruden comes one day after Gruden said he had no interest in the job.

Could Chucky be in El Paso for New Year’s Eve?

Miami expects to play in Hyundai Sun Bowl

In stark contrast to a story by Times reporter Bret Bloomquist on Monday, Miami Hurricanes interim coach Jeff Stoutland said his team will be in El Paso on New Year’s Eve when he spoke to the media for the first time in his new capacity.

Stoutland, who will lead the Hurricanes through their bowl game after the firing of Randy Shannon on Saturday, said Tuesday that Miami expects to be in El Paso on Dec. 31.

In an animated news conference, Stoutland said the month leading up to the bowl game is “sort of like the last stand,” for his embattled Miami team, which entered the season with high expectations after a 9-4 finish in 2009. The Hurricanes finished the 2010 regular season 7-5, capped with an embarrassing overtime loss to South Florida. But many figure the Hurricanes will be invited by the Hyundai Sun Bowl, which is in the first year of a contract with the Atlantic Coast Conference. Stoutland certainly seemed to think so. He even said Tuesday that El Paso has a street named after him. (Don’t know how tongue-in-cheek his comment was, but for what it’s worth there is a Stoutland Lane in Horizon City).

The ACC bowl selection order goes like this: BCS (Orange), Chick-Fil-A, Champs Sports, Sun. Florida State and Virginia Tech meet Saturday in the conference title game. The winner gets an automatic bid to the Orange Bowl, the loser will likely be selected by the Chick-Fil-A Bowl. The Champs Sports Bowl seems likely to pick either North Carolina State or Maryland, which have better overall records than Miami. And the Sun Bowl seems likely to jump at the chance to give Miami its first chance to play a game in El Paso.

The other side of the matchup — which contractually is a team from the Pacific-10 — is fuzzy.

And none of it will get any clearer until Saturday when Oregon and Oregon State take the field in their annual rivalry game. Oregon assures itself a spot in the national title game with a win, and joins Pac-10 member Stanford in one of the five BCS games. If Washington beats Washington State, the Huskies become bowl-eligible, the fourth Pac-10 team to do so this season. Should Oregon be upset by Oregon State, the Huskies likely end up here. But if the Ducks win (they are a 16.5-point favorite), then the Sun Bowl will not get a Pac-10 team, with two Pac-10 teams lost to the BCS and two other bowls higher up in the pecking order (Alamo, Holiday). So that means another conference will have to furnish a team. It could be the Big 12. Or the SEC. Or the MAC. But it all depends on how the final day of the season shakes out. Gonna be a fun Saturday.

David Archuleta samples El Paso cuisine

OK, I've poked a little fun at David Archuleta in the past, but he has some good taste in Mexican food, according to his Twitter page. Welcome to El Paso, David.

Sun Bowl celebrity sighting contest winner

We have a Sun Bowl celebrity sightings winner! Erika Duran won with her picture of Jim Plunkett at the airport.

Actually, it's a picture of a picture: "My mom just took a pic of her and Jim Plunkett at the airport ... I took a pic of the pic because I have no where to upload from her camera."

So, the quality isn't great. But extra points for sneaking a folklorico dancer into the background.

Replay our live Sun Bowl blog - Final: Oklahoma 31, Stanford 27

Update: Oklahoma 31, Stanford 27

The Sun Bowl is sold out, so you'll be watching it on TV.

Well, turn the computer on in the background and enjoy our live chat during the game.

You'll find it right here on Sun Bowl News, starting just before kickoff.