NEW BOWL ALLIANCE COULD HAVE ABC/ESPN COMING UP ROSES

     The Rose Bowl could join the new football bowl alliance
which would be televised solely by ABC, according to USA TODAY's
Rudy Martzke.  "Spurred by an ABC initiative with ESPN backing,"
the six conferences and Notre Dame that form the alliance met
yesterday in Chicago to decide a new format that would begin in
'98, add the Big Ten and Pac 10 and include the Rose Bowl and
three other bowls.  The bidding process is likely to exceed the
$325M for six years by current title game holders, the Fiesta,
Orange and Sugar Bowls, and figures to pay $500M or more in what
probably will be an eight-year deal through January 2005.  If the
deal succeeds, CBS would be out of the bowl alliance after two
more years.  But CBS officials "remain confident the present
alliance will continue" (USA TODAY, 7/10).