Looking forward to the Grandaddy of them All!

As a huge fan of the University of Southern California, I watched in pure bliss as the Trojans came into the Rose Bowl wearing their home cardinal and gold to take on the UCLA Bruins in the last regular season game.

Playing UCLA at the Rose Bowl has been challenging the past few years, even with Heisman Trophy winners like Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush on the roster. Two seasons ago, with the likelihood of facing Ohio State in the National Championship game, we were stunned by the Bruins 13-9. It was such a painful loss that only hours of playing The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess could ease. The big win over Michigan in the Rose Bowl seemed like something of a consolation prize at the time.

This season was different for me. Although we had a similar loss to Oregon State, and there was still some hope of Missouri pulling an upset and potentially creating an opening for the Men of Troy in the title game, I was happy with the end result. The Trojans are now set to play Big 10 champ Penn State in the Rose Bowl. Some might view this as a consolation prize, but with how many high quality teams in the Big 12 south division were denied a chance to play in the game, and with Penn State being in a similar situation, I believe that this is a great match up that will bring prestige to USC. We aren't playing some 3 loss Big 10 runner up, we're matched up against their champion. A win in the Rose Bowl cannot give USC the crystal BCS trophy, but it can establish that the Trojans are a great team that can compete with anyone in the country.

Seeing our offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian leave our offensive coordinator spot is bittersweet. He has been a great asset and helped our talent improve this season, but seeing him go to Washington will hopefully be planting the seeds of improving the conference. Winning a stronger conference is better for USC in the long run. I also hope that fresh offensive perspective will help our talent. Mark Sanchez is an extremely impressive quarterback. I look forward to seeing him play when our offensive line is a bit more experienced and can buy him a bit more time, as well as open better holes for the stable of running backs at USC.

Overall, this looks to be an exciting bowl season. I am hopeful that the conference does well. While I am certainly looking forward to the Florida-Oklahoma game, I anticipate raising my voice much more for the contest between Big 10 and Pac 10 in Pasadena on New Years Day.