BOWL GAMES--Who would have predicted that the...

BOWL GAMES--Who would have predicted that the New Year’s Day Sugar, Cotton, Rose and Orange bowls someday would become preliminaries for the next day’s Fiesta Bowl?

Yet that’s exactly the case this week as the traditional Big Four take a back seat to the bowl of the week, a post-season bowl that until now has been considered relatively insignificant.

This year is different because the Fiesta Bowl (5 p.m. Friday on Channels 4, 36 and 39) has lined up top-ranked Miami and No. 2 Penn State, two undefeated, untied teams that will play for the mythical national championship of college football in Tempe, Ariz.

With no playoff system a la basketball and baseball, college football must rely on the wire service polls to determine its national champion.

In the past, that has caused enormous controversy. But that won’t happen this year.

It’s inconceivable that the Fiesta winner would not be voted No. 1 by both wire service polls. Even in the event of a tie, moreover, both Miami and Penn State still would have records superior to that of the present No. 3 team, once beaten Oklahoma, and either of those two undoubtedly would retain the top ranking.

This is not to say that the Big Four will not offer some attractive matchups Thursday, starting with Texas A&M; (9-2) and Ohio State (9-3) in the Cotton Bowl at Dallas at 10:30 a.m. on CBS (Channels 2 and 8).

Next comes the Sugar Bowl at 12:30 p.m. on ABC (Channels 7, 3, 10 and 42), pitting LSU (9-2) against Nebraska (9-2) in New Orleans. That is followed by Arizona State (9-1-1) and Michigan (10-1) in Pasadena’s Rose Bowl at 2 p.m. on NBC. At Miami, finally, Oklahoma (10-1) will face Arkansas (9-2) in the Orange Bowl, with NBC doing the honors at 5 p.m.

All of this comes after USC (7-4) and Auburn (9-2)--ho hum--begin the day at Orlando, Fla., playing in the relatively minor Citrus Bowl at 9 a.m. on ABC.

This is hardly the half of it, though, for TV and colleges continue to be afflicted by bowl-game mania to the extent that 12 smaller bowl games will have been played before the New Year’s Day footballers take to the field Thursday. Six of them--the Liberty, Freedom, Holiday, Peach, Bluebonnet and All-American bowls--come this week and feature some teams having as many as five losses.

The elite are few, the mediocre many and the bowls have them all.