Five teams from the Pac-10 already have seven victories and are qualified for a bowl. Arizona has six victories, which makes the Wildcats bowl-possible … but, remember, all the teams with winning records get placed ahead of those with 6-6 records.

UCLA also has six victories with one game to play — at USC this Saturday.

Three Pac-10 teams have been eliminated from the postseason.

Oregon, Oregon State, Cal, Stanford and USC are in. If Arizona wins at Arizona State or USC — and UCLA loses to the Trojans — the Wildcats are a sure thing to grab one of the league’s six contracted bowl bids.

But …

If UCLA gets to seven wins, and Arizona loses twice more to finish with six, the Wildcats might not be bowling at all. They would be shut out of the Pac-10 bowls and would have to hope to find an open spot somewhere else. A 6-6 team can only go to a bowl if all the other winning teams across the country have been exhausted and filled 68 postseason slots.

Even if there was an opening, would a 6-6 Arizona team on a four-game losing streak be especially attractive?

Basically, it’s like this: Beat Arizona State, and Arizona can at least count on the Poinsettia Bowl.

Lose twice more, and this has turned into one miserable season.

Here are other bowl destinations and how UA could land there:

Holiday Bowl
* Arizona beats Arizona State and USC to finish at 6-3 in the league.
* Oregon beats Oregon State, giving the Beavers three losses and creating at least a three-team tie for second.

The Holiday would be free to pick among any of the tied times, which would include Stanford (already finished in Pac-10 at 6-3) and possibly Cal, which is 5-3 and finishes at Washington on Dec. 5.

Arizona would be attractive among that group because the Wildcats would have won their final two games, would be coming off a win over USC … and you know the ‘Zonies would travel to San Diego.

Sun Bowl
* Arizona beats Arizona State and USC to finish at 6-3 in the league.

If UA finishes second but gets passed over by the Holiday Bowl, the Sun Bowl would love to grab the Wildcats.

If Oregon State beats Oregon, the Wildcats would finish in a tie for third, and the El Paso bowl likely would prefer Arizona over any other third-place team because of its geography and the length of time — 17 years — since UA has played in that bowl.

Emerald Bowl/Las Vegas Bowl
These teams have the fourth and fifth selection in the Pac-10, and can swap out picks to create the best matchup. If UA wins out, it would finish no worse than fifth in the conference pecking order.

Poinsettia Bowl
* Arizona splits its final two games to finish 7-5 overall and 5-4 in the Pac-10. The Wildcats would finish no worse than sixth in the league, keeping ahead of UCLA no matter what the Bruins do.