Beavers make plans to invade Arizona
     Associated Press

     TEMPE, Ariz. -- Oregon State capped its remarkable emergence from more
than a
     quarter-century of football ineptitude by accepting an invitation to
play Notre Dame in the Jan. 1
     Fiesta Bowl.

     The Beavers were the top choice of the Fiesta Bowl selection committee
because they were "a
     conference co-champion, a 10-win team and an incredible turnaround
story that somewhat mirrors
     what Kansas State has done," Fiesta Bowl president John Junker said.

     "For us to come here from where we were three years go, to go 10-1, and
being in the Fiesta
     Bowl against Notre Dame is a great story," Oregon State coach Dennis
Erickson said Sunday.

     As Oregon State's opponent, Virginia Tech had a higher ranking and
better record, but the Fiesta
     could not resist the Irish (9-2) and their huge nationwide following,
even though Notre Dame was
     ranked only 11th in the final Bowl Championship Series standings.
Oregon State is sixth.

     It will be a matchup of teams that weren't even in the top 25 in the
preseason.

     "I don't think any of us in our wildest imagination would have thought
this would have been the
     matchup," Junker said.

     Notre Dame won its last seven games to become bowl eligible at 9-2.

     The Fiesta considered Miami but decided the Notre Dame-Oregon State
matchup was more
     intriguing, and that the Hurricanes were a better fit against Florida
in the Sugar Bowl.

     Fiesta Bowl officials maintained that comments last week by Pac-10
commissioner Tom Hansen
     had no impact on their decision. He suggested the conference should
pull out of the BCS if
     Oregon State was left out of the Fiesta Bowl.

     "We selected Oregon State because they deserved it and won it on the
field of battle," Junker
     said.

     The Fiesta Bowl normally gives an automatic berth to the Big 12
champion, but it had two at-large
     picks this year because Oklahoma will play Florida State for the
national championship in the
     Orange Bowl.

     Oregon State set an NCAA record for futility with 28 consecutive losing
seasons, a streak broken
     when the Beavers went 6-5 last year in Erickson's first season and lost
to Hawaii in the Oahu
     Bowl.

     This year, Oregon State tied Washington and Oregon for the Pac-10
title, their first since 1964.
     That team, coached by Tommy Prothro, lost to Michigan in the Rose Bowl.
A 35-year bowl
     drought followed.

     Notre Dame, by contrast, is a regular at major bowls. Its last
appearance in one of the big-four
     bowls was in 1996, the Orange Bowl. But this Irish team was not
expected to get this far,
     especially after a 2-2 start. There was widespread speculation then
that coach Bob Davie would
     be out of a job when the season ended.

     Davie did not want to talk about vindication.

     "I think so much attention is always placed on the head coach, and I'm
sure Dennis would agree
     with me. This isn't about us. This is about our football players and
our assistant coaches who put
     so much into this.

     "That was a little bit overrated before the season and it's a little
bit overrated now. This certainly
     isn't about me."

     Each team will receive $12 million to $13 million. Oregon State will
split the money with the rest
     of the Pac-10, but Notre Dame, as an independent, keeps it all. No
wonder Davie was so anxious
     as he watched the Oklahoma-Kansas State game, knowing that a K-State
victory could have sent
     Notre Dame to a much lesser holiday payday.

     "It was brutal," he said. "As good as Oklahoma is, and as well coached
as they are, I almost
     went crazy when it was fourth-and-1 and they were in that shotgun for
that draw, but they know
     what they're doing. It was painful watching that game."

     Junker said Oregon State officials have promised 30,000 or more fans
will come to the desert from
     the Northwest for the game. Add to that Notre Dame's unparalleled
national following, and the
     Fiesta already has been declared a sellout. Each school will receive
15,000 tickets.

     Beaver players like the idea of playing Notre Dame.

     "I didn't like them growing up," running back Ken Simonton said. "I
don't like 'America's teams.' I
     don't like everybody's favorite. I was always an underdog."


Marc
*(303)401-7054
*mleslie@amgen.com