UCLA applies for bowl waiver

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LOS ANGELES -- The UCLA Bruins have applied for a waiver to play in a bowl game with a losing record should they fall to 6-7 with a loss to the Oregon Ducks in the Pac-12 Conference title game, athletic director Dan Guerrero said Monday.

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UCLA (6-6) will be a 30-point underdog when it faces Oregon (10-2) Friday at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore., and teams that finish the season with a record below .500 are ineligible to play in a bowl without a waiver from the NCAA.

"If we have the opportunity to play, we would go," Guerrero said.

With Rick Neuheisel to be relieved of his coaching duties after the Pac-12 title game, offensive coordinator Mike Johnson would coach the team on an interim basis in any bowl game. There is no guarantee the waiver would be approved.

The Pac-12 has seven bowl tie-ins and seven bowl-eligible teams, though Stanford is expected to be selected for one of the BCS bowls. Should UCLA lose bowl eligibility, the conference would be one team short of meeting its obligations, though those spots could be offered to non-conference teams that are bowl eligible.

"It would be great opportunity to have one last crack at a win," Guerrero said of the decision to apply for the waiver.

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Peter Yoon

ESPNLosAngeles.com

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• Has covered sports in Southern California for 15 years
• Previously a staff writer for the Los Angeles Times from 1995-2008.
• Covers UCLA for ESPNLosAngeles.com