Fox Sports Net Bay Area will televise the 2000 Hyundai California Community College Football State Championship Presented by Blue Diamond Growers live on December 9 at 1 p.m. from Visalia's Mineral King Bowl, the Commission on Athletics announced Friday (December 1).

Geoff James, programming manager for Fox Sports Net Bay Area, confirmed the decision in a letter to VIMA Corporation, the San Jose-based company that produces the football championship as well as the other telecasts for the California Community College Commission on Athletics Championship Television Network.

The game, which features the regional champions from northern and southern California, will have a potential audience of more than 17 million viewers. The Fox Sports Net Bay Area network covers an area from Fresno to the Oregon State line and from San

Francisco to Reno, NV.

This year's participants will be determined by power rankings calculated following bowl games being played throughout the state this weekend. The Northern California representative will be either Fresno City College (10-0) or defending state champion City College of San Francisco (10-0), who play Saturday (Dec. 2) in the San Francisco Hawaiian Punch Bowl at Rams Stadium, CCSF.

The Southern California representative isn't as clear, although Bakersfield (9-1), with a win over Grossmont (9-1) in Saturday's Shrine Potato Bowl at Bakersfield's Memorial Stadium, would be that selection. However, if Bakersfield loses, Grossmont could advance, or the bid could go to Mt. San Antonio (8-2), El Camino (8-2) or Canyons (9-1), depending on the outcome of their bowl games.

James said that negotiations to air the game over Fox Sports West 2, the Southern California counterpart to Fox Sports Net Bay Area, are in progress and that a favorable decision is likely if its current schedule can be cleared to make room for the three-and-one-half hour football telecast.

COA