Arkansas in Houston if Kansas State cooperates

Wednesday, November 29th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

LITTLE ROCK (AP) _ If Kansas State defeats top-ranked Oklahoma this weekend, Arkansas is likely to get a bid to play East Carolina in the galleryfurniture.com Bowl in Houston on Dec. 27.

If the Wildcats beat the Sooners in Saturday's Big 12 championship game, Kansas State would get the Big 12 spot in the Bowl Championship Series and Oklahoma _ No. 1 for weeks _ would likely get an at-large bid to the BCS.

If Kansas State and Oklahoma are both in the BCS, the Big 12 would not be able to supply a team for the bowl in Houston and Arkansas would fit right in.

If Houston doesn't work out, the Razorbacks might have a couple of other options, including the Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 21, the Oahu Bowl in Honolulu on Dec. 24 and the Independence Bowl in Shreveport on Dec. 31.

Tina Kunzer-Murphy, director of the Las Vegas Bowl, talked with Arkansas athletic director Frank Broyles on Tuesday.

``He told me everything I wanted to hear,'' she said. ``He said they wanted to come and they would bring a ton of people.''

She also made it clear that the Vegas bowl committee is working with two plans. If Nevada-Las Vegas beats Hawaii on Saturday, UNLV will be invited. In that case, the bowl committee would have more latitude in selecting an opponent. If UNLV loses, Air Force would represent the Mountain West Conference and the bowl committee would feel an obligation to pursue a team that is close enough to Vegas to bring a large contingent.

``We have a little more flexibility if UNLV is involved,'' she said.

She also said she was not concerned that Arkansas opens the 2001 season against UNLV in Little Rock.

``There is a lot of excitement with your new coach down there ...,'' she said.

UNLV coach John Robinson has made it clear that he wants to play in the bowl game. ``We're anxious to have one more chance to play, and we're anxious to have it in this city,'' he said.

Kunzer-Murphy said the 14-member bowl committee is still considering several other teams, including Syracuse, Toledo, Texas-El Paso.

``There is a certain element to Arkansas,'' she said. ``There are a few people on our committee who are real excited about it.''

The bowl has two hotel partners _ MGM and the Golden Nugget _ and those facilities want teams that will bring people who will rent rooms during one of the slowest times of the year in Las Vegas.

She said the bowl committee believes local ticket sales will increase if UNLV is invited. ``On the other hand, we still have an obligation to our hotel partners,'' she said. ``It's not the deciding factor, but it's part of what we're looking at. The most important thing is what kind of matchup we're looking at.

``We want to get a team that wants to come here,'' she said. ``You don't want to work all year round and have a team that thinks they are better than us.''

Regardless of how many tickets a school sells, a team that plays in the Las Vegas Bowl is obligated to buy 12,500 tickets at $50 per pop. The bowl payout is $800,000 per team.

If Arkansas had an opportunity to play in Houston or Vegas, the Razorbacks might opt for Houston because they recruit in the area and the Vegas game conflicts with final exams.