Kurt Streeter: The Rose Bowl -- what a beautiful sight ...

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Lovers of sport, this is truly something to behold.

First day of the new year, a few minutes before the big game, the sun sweeps over the nearby hazy San Gabriels, the Rose Bowl bursts already with fans clad in either cardinal and gold or navy blue and white, players wearing those same colors scatter across the field, most of them running around in that casual, loose, above-all-others way that supremely talented athletes do. Like this is a walk in the park, just another day: their day.

Already, the Trojan marching band is letting loose with its unendingly repetitive USC anthems. Already, Penn State fans, most of whom are sitting in the northwest corner of this fabled stadium, respond with cheers for their players and rhythmic clapping and loud shouts: PENN STATE! PENN STATE! PENN STATE!

This is as electric and exciting an atmosphere as you’ll find in college football, and for those of us who love sports, no matter whom we are rooting for in the 95th version of the Rose Bowl, this is a moment to be cherished.

So what’s this columnist’s big prediction? Hey, maybe I’m dead wrong (would hardly have been the first time), but I think Penn State is way better than most of us in Los Angeles have been giving them credit for. They’re tough, rough, faster than you’d expect for a team from the middle parts of this great nation, and they’ve got a wise wizard for a head coach. Not that Mr. Carroll is a slouch, but sometimes you’ve gotta give it up for experience.

OK, I’m going out on a limb, rolling the dice, predicting that Penn State wins this in a tight one. Final score: Penn State 24, USC 21.

Now watch, I’ve jinxed the whole deal, this game turns into a repeat of last year’s bout against the Illini, SC ends up walking off with a five-TD cushion, and I look like a total schmuck. We’ll see....

-- Kurt Streeter