Time to Give In to the Hype: USC versus The Ohio State

I come from Pac-10 county. I was born in it. I grew up in it. I went to school at one of its founding members.

The Pacific-10 conference truly does live up to its self-proclaimed nickname, the Conference of Champions. The conference, as a whole, as more national championships than any other in the entire NCAA. That's pretty impressive.

But Saturday's tilt between No.1 Southern California and No. 5 Ohio State really isn't about the Pac-10 versus the Big Ten, even though on the surface it is.

Yes, it's a matchup of two of the oldest conferences in all of sport. It's the traditional Rose Bowl matchup, so conceivably, the Trojans and Buckeyes can meet each other again in Pasadena on New Years' Day. And it's two traditional powers and two of the powers that have run college football in the first decade of the 21st century.

But what this game is really about is respect, and not respect for the Pac-10 or the Big Ten. But respect for USC and for Ohio State.

Alright, we already respect these teams as programs. Their history and tradition speak for themselves. But this is about the respect for the present.

The Buckeyes are done getting embarrassed by teams outside of the Big Ten. They were embarrassed last week in their win against Ohio. They have been embarrassed by two SEC teams in the last two BCS title games.

The Trojans are ready to get back to the BCS title game. They're ready to shed the shadows of Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush. They want to rid the stench of losses to Oregon State, UCLA and Stanford that the Trojans have incurred the last two years.

For both teams, their histories suggest that they belong, but in the eye of the public, do they really?

That's what Saturday's about.

And, yeah, there's that whole "the Big Ten sucks as a whole" thing. And sure, people are tired of seeing Ohio State in the national championship game.

But if the Buckeyes, someone how win Saturday, then they have a shot of going undefeated and, hey, we'll see them again in the BCS title game.

And apparently, that's something we all don't want to see again. Apparently. But if Ohio State wins, they'll have my respect.