If ever there was a game that could be used to make the case that there are too many bowls, it is this one: UCLA vs. Illinois in the Fight Hunger Bowl on Dec. 31.

The game itself is not the problem. Played at AT&T Park in San Francisco, the home of the baseball Giants, it’s sponsored by Kraft Foods and organizers say they will donate one meal for every ticket sold to one of three local organizations that work to feed those in need.

It’s a good cause and on a schedule that includes the GoDaddy.com Bowl and the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s, the Fight Hunger Bowl sounds downright noble.

The teams, however, are hardly worthy of being rewarded with a postseason game.

Both will have interim coaches, replacing guys who were fired after disappointing regular seasons. The Bruins fell into a Pac-12 South title, thanks to Southern California’s NCAA sanctions. UCLA backed into the championship game with a 50-0 loss in the season finale to USC. That embarrassment was the final blow for coach Rick Neuheisel, who was fired before UCLA played Oregon for the league title.

With a 6-6 record, UCLA applied for and received a waiver from the NCAA to be eligible for a bowl even if the Bruins lost to the Ducks — which, of course, they did, 49-31.

Mike Johnson, Neuheisel’s offensive coordinator, will coach the bowl game. Jim Mora Jr. has been hired as the permanent replacement.

Complain if you want about a 6-7 team playing in a bowl, but is it any worse than a team that lost its last six games?

The Illini pulled off that trick, becoming the first major college team to start a season 6-0 and lose its next six regular-season games. That got Ron Zook fired. He was replaced on an interim basis by defensive coordinator Vic Koenning. Tim Beckman of Toledo will take over the program after the bowl.

But, hey, at least the Illini haven’t blown off practice leading to the bowl game.

The Bruins did that Tuesday. There’s a tradition at UCLA called going “over the wall,” where the players bolt from the practice field. It’s a prank that has come and gone and come again at Westwood and seemed to be on its way out for good. Considering how things have gone for UCLA this season, even some of the Bruins agreed this would have been a perfect time to retire the stunt.

“There are still guys in the program who were here at the time it was going on,” junior quarterback Kevin Prince was quoted as saying in the Los Angeles Times this week. “They figured once they were seniors they would get the chance to call it. I was hoping it was out of our system. Clearly it is not.”

RALPH D. RUSSO

AP College Football Writer