Rose Bowl A No-Win Situation For Ohio State

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

BROOKLYN -- I'm no fortune teller, but I already know what people are going to be saying about Ohio State after it plays a very dangerous Oregon team in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.

If the Bucks beat the Ducks, everyone outside Columbus, particularly those in southern states, will say, "Oh yeah, now you win a Rose Bowl when USC has an off year."

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YOUR THOUGHTS: Rose Bowl Prediction?

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If OSU loses, even more people will hurl their weak insults toward the Buckeyes, something in the manner of: "They suck; they can't even beat Oregon."

You know what? Not many teams would be able to beat Oregon this year. That is an excellent football team. I spent a week in Eugene in October and immediately developed a man-crush on that entire football program.

Just because USC had a bad year by its standards doesn't mean the Trojans are suddenly a bad team. Not many people can do to Pete Carroll what Chip Kelly and the Ducks scared up for him on Halloween night at Autzen Stadium. That was a thorough shellacking delivered by an excellent Ducks team.

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I think the Rose Bowl will be one of the most exciting of all the bowls this holiday season. If Ohio State wins, the Bucks can know they beat a very good team and take the momentum into the offseason, and the countdown will commence with immense confidence eight months before their big game against Jacory Harris and Miami.

If Ohio State loses, it won't be because it plays in the Big Ten or because Jim Tressel can't win a big game. It will be because Oregon will have been better on one particular day. One game. One day. A winner and a loser. It's a lot simpler than the many haters allow it to be.

BCS Bowl Game Projections

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

NEW YORK -- Once again, it seems doubtful that we'll have an unbeaten national champion this year. If you lose one game, like USC often seems to, then you better pray you're in the SEC or the Big XII. Once-beaten teams from any other conference don't have the strength of schedule each week to merit the BCS points.

And while the PAC 10, much like the ACC, boasts decent top-to-bottom depth, a one-loss team from Florida or Oklahoma State -- you read that correctly -- is clearly more deserving than a one-loss team from USC or Virginia Tech.

FIESTA BOWL
Texas vs. Boise State
Texas makes its second straight trip to Glendale, and disposes of the Broncos quite handily.

ROSE BOWL
USC vs. Penn State
USC's trend of losing one regular-season game it shouldn't keeps the Trojans out of the national championship, but an inferior Big Ten champ -- in this case Penn State for the second straight year -- is no match for Pete Carroll's speedy bunch. Southern Cal continues its January dominance and wins another Rose Bowl.

SUGAR BOWL
Ohio State vs. Alabama
The Buckeyes get another chance at redemption against an SEC team in a bowl game, and Terrelle Pryor launches his 2010 Heisman campaign with a huge individual performance. Alabama has been known for its solid defense over the years, but its offense can sometimes disappear. That will be the case and OSU will finally beat a team from the South.

ORANGE BOWL
Virginia Tech vs. West Virginia
The Hokies come out of an ACC that is becoming more competitive, while West Virginia reps the floundering Big East in a game that reads like a decent rivalry on paper, but delivers a disinteresting Virginia Tech wallop.

BCS CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Florida vs. Oklahoma State
The Gators show high-octane Oklahoma State what it hasn't seen all season -- a bully of a defense that mixes speed and athleticism with strength and overall nastiness. The Cowboys put some points on the board, but Florida can score too, and the Gators win another national championship.

BCS Tweak Still Doesn't Get It Right

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

NEW YORK -- After driving down the field toward what would hopefully be a much-needed score, NCAA suits fumbled away an opportunity to take a key first step to fixing the postseason mess.

The BCS people have turned the Rose Bowl into the Stepdaddy Of 'Em All by announcing it will take a team from a non-BCS conference under certain scenarios from the 2010 season through the 2013 season.

Since 1947 until the late 1990s, the game was contracted to pair up the Big Ten and PAC 10 champions. And with the emergence of the BCS in 1998, the leagues have still sent their champions to that game unless one earns a spot in the national championship game.

Now, in such a case where the league champ plays for the BCS crown and misses the Rose Bowl, a team from a non-BCS league will fill that vacancy, according to The Associated Press.

I fully appreciate the move to include a team from a non-BCS school. I really do. I just don't get why the Rose Bowl is the guinea pig for the experiment. Non-BCS outfits from Hawaii and Utah earned spots in the Sugar Bowl each of the last two years, and Boise State won an exciting Fiesta Bowl over Oklahoma after the 2006 season.

The Rose Bowl is called the Grandaddy Of 'Em All for a reason. Sure the Fiesta Bowl offers the biggest payouts, but there is far more history and tradition in Pasadena than Miami, New Orleans or Glendale. Do we really want to tinker with it just so the TCU Horned Frogs can feel good about themselves one of these years?

Why not use the Sugar, Orange or Fiesta bowls for this project, or at the very least use a rotating system for the four years then re-evaluate after the contract expires?

Or, better yet, just add in the plus-one playoff already.