Nittany Lions will make Trojans smell roses

Isn't it a shame the mighty Trojans of Southern Cal have to play Rose Bowl bully again and beat up another Big 10 weakling?
They must be feeling like Muhammad Ali did back in 1972, when he got into the ring with Jerry Quarry a second time.
"The Greatest" had to know he was going to pummel "The Bellflower Bomber" into submission. Which he did, in the seventh round, when the fight was called.
For mercy's sake, everybody in Los Angeles knows No. 5 USC is going to devour No. 6 Penn State Jan. 1 in Pasadena. LaLa Land could never contemplate the possibility of its Trojans being fed to the Lions. A fiercer beast, in the East No way!
If USC linebacker Rey Maualuga could just flex his biceps and snarl at the Penn State side, maybe he could scare the Nittany Lions into a forfeit and spare everyone... another painful Big 10 drubbing?
Wake up and smell the roses, Trojans.
At 59-62, yours is the only major (BCS) conference with a losing overall record. Only half of the Pac-10's teams qualified for bowls, and just three are ranked. The Big Ten is 76-56. Seven of its teams qualified for bowls, and four are ranked, two in the Top 10.
Granted, aside from a 27-21 loss to Oregon State, USC beat up its conference opponents like it was supposed to.
But Penn State is no Jerry Quarry. Joe Frazier, maybe, but not Quarry. In case anybody's forgotten, the Lions pounded Oregon State, 45-14.
Remember the Miami-Penn State Fiesta Bowl 22 years ago?
No. 1 Miami -- laden with future NFL talent, including Heisman-winner Vinny Testaverde, Alonzo Highsmith, Brian and Bennie Blades, Jerome Brown and Michael Irvin -- came into the game favored by 11-1/2 points over the second-ranked Nittany Lions. In a failed attempt to psyche out their opponent, the Hurricanes showed up at a pre-game steak-fry in combat fatigues. Ironically, they ended up battle fatigued and on the losing end of a 14-10 score.
But those were Jimmy Johnson's trash-talking 'Canes, and these are, well... they're Pete Carroll's confident, but not so cocky, Trojans.
The USC coach puts a rosier spin on the Grandaddy of Them All than much of Trojan nation, probably, in part, out of respect for legendary Penn State coach Joe Paterno.
Carroll says he marvels at Paterno's many years of excellence, says it's a great thrill to be coaching against the 82-year-old icon.
Unfortunately, many USC fans -- and probably a lot of players -- are about as thrilled to be playing Penn State in the Rose Bowl as the Trojan band is to be marching another six miles in the Rose Parade.
In their minds, the Trojans deserve to be playing in Miami for the BCS national title. If they hadn't melted down at Oregon State, they would be.
If truth be told, the Trojans expect to dispose of Penn State like a bag of smelly trash. And why wouldn't they?
In their estimation, the Big Ten stinks, and plenty of the nation's college football pundits and fans agree. Why?
The conference has gone 2-5 in bowl games in each of the past two postseasons, including embarrassing losses by Ohio State in the last two BCS title games. The Big Ten hasn't had a winning bowl record since the 2002 season, when it went 5-2, and it's off to an 0-2 start this year with losses by Wisconsin and Northwestern.
Its overall record for the past six postseasons is 18-24, and its Rose Bowl record over that span is 0-4. More importantly, USC has dumped its last five Big 10 Rose Bowl opponents by an average of 15 points. No wonder the Trojans are favored by 10 over the Penn State.
But hold on...
The Lions have won three consecutive bowl games, including a 26-23 victory over Florida State in the 2006 Orange. And in their corner is Paterno, the winningest coach (383-126-3) in the Football Bowl Subdivision who also owns the record for most bowl victories (23).
Penn State lost by a point, with a second to go, at Iowa. Otherwise, the Lions are likely playing in Miami.
But, unlike the Trojans, they're over the disappointment, and truly thrilled to be playing in the Rose.
Which sets the stage for The Unbalanced Line's upset special: Underestimated and duly motivated Penn State 31, overconfident and uninspired USC 20.
Because the eyes of Texas, too, were on the bigger prize, and because the Longhorns are still reeling after getting left out of the BCS title game, The Unbalanced Line is also calling for an upset in the Jan. 5 Fiesta Bowl: No. 10 Ohio State 24, No. 3 Texas 20.
The Jan. 2 Sugar Bowl is a different story: Heavily favored Alabama won't lose focus against unbeaten Utah. The Tide rolls, 34-17.
And if anybody cares about the Jan. 1 Orange Bowl... Virginia Tech 27, Cincinnati 24.

(Contact John Tucker at jtucker@unionleader.com)

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
columnUNBALANCED LINEMust credit New Hampshire Union Leader