The Rose Bowl.... again....

With a dominant defense and sputtering offense, USC dominated UCLA to clinch their seventh straight Pacific-10 conference title and fourth consecutive trip to the Granddaddy of them All, the Rose Bowl game. The Trojans were able to conquer the demons from 2006, when the 13.5 point underdog Bruins shocked the then-#2 Trojans 13-9, keeping USC out of the BCS National Championship game. This year, the only thing in doubt was if USC would be able to cover that astronomical 33 point spread, but USC Coach Pete Carroll seemed content on getting out of dodge (Pasadena) with a comfortable win, maybe a good gesture after UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel called a timeout after the opening kickoff to offset USC's penalty for wearing their home uniforms in the Rose Bowl. All was seemed lost, like it was last year, for the Trojans to return to a BCS game. It took a monumental upset last year (Arizona over #2 Oregon) and a fired up Oregon squad this year wearing out a beatup Oregon State team for USC to clinch the Pac-10 BCS berth.

But there was some doubt early in the game, after C.J. Gable fumbled on USC's first touch, the defense gave up only their 11th touchdown of the year, when UCLA QB Kevin Craft lateralled to WR Dominique Johnson, who threw to RB Kalil Bell, making a tremendous catch, and USC K David Buehler missed the first of his three field goals on the day. But the Trojan defense gave the offense time to catch up, which they did on their next drive, when RB Joe McKnight found the end zone for the second time in as many games. Another defensive stop, and USC found the end zone again, when a QB Mark Sanchez screen pass to WR Damian Williams led to another Trojan score. While the defense gave the offense the ball, the offense would give it right back, as Sanchez threw a pick on USC's next possession. But UCLA kept on shooting themselves in the foot, as evidenced by 11 penalties for over 100 yards, which included three late hits on Sanchez, and a roughing the punter penalty which led to a RB Stafon Johnson score. The Trojans tried to take advantage of a blocked punt, but Buehler missed another field goal before halftime, which had USC leading 21-7.

The Trojans took the opening drive of the second half into the end zone, with Sanchez finding WR Patrick Turner on a slant, and it was all the defense needed. While UCLA crossed midfield only once, the Trojans were content on running out the ball, especially with the new mopup man, RB Marc Tyler. Neither team threatened to score again, aside from another Buehler missed field goal, and the final score was 28-7. All that was left was for Sanchez and co. to lead the band in Conquest and for the SC fans to sing and dance along to Tusk.

And now on to the Rose Bowl game, which will match the #5 USC Trojans against the #8 Penn State Nittany Lions. At least the Rose Bowl committee gets their wish of a traditional Pac-10/Big Ten matchup, which hasn't happened since 2004 (USC vs. Michigan), as in 2005 it was Texas (BCS at large)/Michigan, 2006 it was USC/Texas (BCS #2), 2007 it was USC/Michigan (Big Ten runner-up), and 2008 USC/Illinois (Big Ten runner-up). The Trojans did not play in the 2005 Rose Bowl as they were playing for the BCS National Championship in the Orange Bowl.

A quick look at Penn State's season: The Nittany Lions started off the season ranked #22 in the preseason AP poll. Penn State opened up by dominated Coastal Carolina, a FCS school, 66-10. They jumped three spots before hosting Oregon State, which ended 45-14 and led to a lot of debate between USC and Penn State as being the better team. The Lions hit the road for the first time, ranked #17, and juiced the Orange 55-13. Penn State returned home to play Temple and rolled them 45-3. In week 5, Penn State hosted a primetime game with a whited-out home crowd against Illinois, winning a 38-24 shootout. Even though the Illini have had a down year, they were coming off a Rose Bowl berth and were ranked #20 at the time, and this win really had the Penn State faithful believeing about a special season. They entered the top 10 at #6 with the upsets of the week before, and held on to a 20-6 win against a scrappy Purdue team on the road. A trip to Camp Randall and Wisconsin seemed like an insurmountable task entering the season, but Penn State got Wisconsin in their midseason spiral and took them to the woodshed, 48-7. With more upsets the week before, Penn State was ranked #3, but fell behind a down Michigan team 17-10 early before routing them late for a 46-17 win. College Gameday travelled to Columbus for #3 Penn State's game at #10 Ohio State. The Buckeyes held a 6-3 late in this barnburner, but it seemed like JoePa's squad would not let their special season end, surging for a 13-6 win in the Horseshoe. But a bye seemed to untrack the Lions, as a last second field goal led to Iowa's 24-23 upset and ended their national championship aspirations. Falling behind the SEC and Big 12 schools and USC, Penn State got back to work, beating Indiana 34-7. And in their season finale, Penn State blew out Michigan State 49-18 to clinch their first Rose Bowl game since 1994.

And the bowl games were announced today. Here are some highlights (outside of the BCS, of course...):

• SDCCU Poinsettia Bowl - #11 TCU vs. #9 Boise State. At least the Mountain West wanted to schedule this blockbuster matchup. Methinks Ball State falling in the MAC championship game was karma for avoiding Boise State in the Humanitarian or Motor City Bowl. But this is one spectcular matchup. This is what a bowl game should be. Boise State is undefeated for the second time in three season, though other than a game in Eugene, they have not been challenged all year. TCU lost a heartbreaker to Utah and held Oklahoma to their lowest point output, 35 points, in a loss. It's all about the Horned Frog defense against the Broncos' bag of tricks.
• Sheraton Hawaii Bowl - Notre Dame vs. Hawaii. I WANT TICKETS TO THIS GAME!!! This isn't a homer pick, as I think the Irish should be favored in this game, but this is the first time that Hawaii's played in the Hawaii bowl that they are playing a team that I hate. And it will also be fun to see Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis sweat his ass off in the humidity in Aiea.
• Pacific Life Holiday Bowl - #13 Oklahoma State vs. #17 Oregon. Over/under on this one should reach about 200 points. Seriously. The Big 12 does not play defense. Oregon and Oklahoma State can put points up on the board. And yes, Mike Gundy is a man! He's 41 (now)...
• Texas Bowl - Rice vs. Central Michigan. One of these teams will get to 10 wins this season. Seriously. Notre Dame, Nebraska, Miami (Florida), Florida State, West Virginia, Wisconsin, LSU, Tennessee, Michigan, and Auburn all can't say that. Geez.
• Chick-fil-A Bowl - #14 Georgia Tech vs. LSU. Speaking of those damned Tigers, I would love to see them fall to 7-6 this year. Only two time BCS champs. Psh. And Paul Johnson's triple option attack is a joy to watch.
• GMAC Bowl - Tulsa vs. #22 Ball State. Ball State can go 13-1 this year. 13-1! Though the karma police tracked them down in the MAC championship. And Tulsa can go 11-3, but if you couldn't beat Arkansas this year, and give up 70 points to Houston (the Cougars, not the Texans), you should be happy to be 10-3.

No Pac-10 rankings (the standings speak for themselves), but some quick notes on the 2008 Pac-10 campaign. The Trojans should be disappointed with another Rose Bowl berth, though this was the first time a team beat them instead of beating themselves, as the Beavers dominated USC in that Thursday in September. Oregon had problems finding a reliable quarterback with all of their injuries, and had to throw Jeremiah Masoli into the fire against USC, and he struggled against UCLA, but Masoli came into his own down the stretch and looked unstoppable against Oregon State and will look to finish strong in the Holiday Bowl. Speaking of those Beavers, they struggled early against Stanford and Penn State, and blew a late lead to Utah, but Oregon State still had a solid campaign with surprise true freshman RB Jacquizz Rodgers to finish 8-4 with a Sun Bowl berth. California overgame their late season struggle last year, when they lost 6 of 7 after being ranked #2, by finishing 8-4 on the back of Jahvid Best, and will look to continue to ride him into the Emerald Bowl. Arizona finally overcame (recent) big brother Arizona State and were able to clinch their first bowl game since 1998, though QB Willie Tuitama and the Wildcats will have to play BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl. Arizona State couldn't overcome their six game losing streak, which began with its upset loss to UNLV, and finished a disappointing 5-7. Stanford also finished 5-7, and aside from laying an egg against Cal, they have a lot to build on, though the Cardinal were a few seconds away against UCLA from heading to a bowl game. UCLA ended 4-8 in Rick Neuheisel's first year, and for QB Kevin Craft, things can only get better, after finishing with 13 interceptions (and 0 TDs) in his final five games. Washington State has a win over rival Washington to hang its hat on, but injuries and a lack of talent attributed to a 2-11 season. And it can only get better for Washington, who finished 0-12 and will bring in USC OC Steve Sarkisian as their new head coach.

Get pumped for bowl season! Though I would prefer a playoff. Speaking of playoffs, the ESPN crew brought up the problem of logicstics for selling tickets. Look, if the FCS, NCAA Tourney, NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, etc don't have problems selling tickets, why would college football? Yes, most fans are students, but rich alumni and the universities should send their share of fans to the playoff games. Oh well. I do agree with something Lou Holtz said, though my version was a bit different, as you would make 10 conferences with 12 teams, have the 12 conference championships and 4 at large teams make a 16 team playoff, and ta da! Oh well...