It could also mark the return of Penn State coach Joe Paterno to the sideline. The legendary coach, who turns 82 on Dec. 21, had hip-replacement surgery on Nov. 23. An arthritic right hip hobbled Paterno for much of the season and forced him to coach from the press box for the last seven games.
"I'm feeling good," Paterno said. "I'm walking around pretty good and I think I'm going to be able to be on the sideline. I hope to be. I'd hate to miss that experience."
The Rose Bowl, in fact, could rival the BCS championship game between No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 2 Florida.
"It should be a great game," USC coach Pete Carroll said last night. "Maybe this is the best game in the country."
Carroll had been outspoken about the BCS system before, once saying he did not understand its method. Recently, he argued that the Trojans' one loss - a 27-21 stunner to Oregon State on Sept. 25 - was no worse than Florida's last-second loss to Mississippi on Sept. 27. Last night, his "best game in the country" statement was about as close as he got to dissing the BCS.
Paterno, meanwhile, has never been a fan of any system other than a playoff, but the coach was not about to get into any conversation about whether the Rose Bowl winner could lay claim to a piece of the national title.
"I'm looking forward to playing Southern Cal," said Paterno, who will be coaching in his record 35th bowl game. "That's all I'm looking forward to."
As for his team's No. 8 ranking in the final BCS standings, Paterno probably understood that the Lions' 24-23 loss to Iowa on Nov. 8 had doomed their chances. It didn't help that the Big Ten was considered a lightweight compared to the Southeastern and Big Twelve conferences. The Pac-10 suffered the same assessment; USC finished No. 5 in the standings.
