Rose Bowl’s Hype Balloon Could Burst on Game Day

People are saying USC versus Texas is like a heavyweight fight and it feels that way if only because they announced the contestants Sunday for an event that won’t take place until next month.

College football, see, is the only sport that makes you wait for a playoff and the payoff.

Four weeks until the Jan. 4 Rose Bowl is way too much time between games for everyone except Texas Coach Mack Brown, who may ask the bowl championship series high court for more time to prepare his defense for V. Young vs. USC.

“I’m not sure there is enough time,” Brown joked Sunday of the prospect of facing the Trojans’ almost point-a-minute brigade.

Brown’s primary concern is that the “619” tailback Reggie Bush has stenciled on his eye-glare patches might be his total yardage output Jan. 4.

Not trying to be a wet sock here, but nothing short of your wedding deserves a four-week buildup.

The temptation is going to be to hype USC-Texas into something more than what it really is: a really good Wednesday night game two days after the Rose Parade.

ABC analyst John Saunders started the hyperventilation Sunday when he asked USC Coach Pete Carroll if he could ever remember a game that was more anticipated.

“Last year was pretty close,” he deadpanned.

Oh yeah, last season.

Remember that one?

USC versus Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl was hailed as one of the greatest games in college football history, a battle of 12-0 schools with storied traditions.

It was 2004 Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart versus 2003 winner Jason White.

It was Pete Carroll versus Bob Stoops.

It was over before Ashlee Simpson butchered the halftime show, with USC romping to a 55-19 win as Oklahoma fans receded from the stadium like a red sea at low tide.

So is this here we go again, with sort of the same setup: Big 12 champion to face USC in the biggest thing since sliced Bevo?

After being fooled once into thinking a Big 12 school had a chance against USC -- shoot, UCLA beat the crud out of Oklahoma this year -- this might be the time to consider the possibility of this season’s game being a dud.

Having seen Texas play in person four times this season, I can attest that the Longhorns are mean, strong and fast and that their fans are among the most loyal and educated followers of pigskin you’ll ever run across or over.

I can almost swear Texas is better than Oklahoma was last season, but Oklahoma was good in every game it played last season until the last one.

Brown said Sunday it’s not wise to compare Big 12 champions having to face USC for the national title in consecutive seasons.

“I really don’t think the year before relates to this year,” he said. “In fact, as we watch college football this year, I’m not sure the week before relates anymore.”

Still, one can logically conclude after three straight BCS bowl wins that giving Carroll a month to prepare is like giving U2 a month to rehearse.

We can only hope -- for the sake of all the ink that will be spilled before kickoff -- that these four weeks will be worth those four quarters.

Weekend Wrap

This was the first year of the BCS that both human polls had to make their final top-25 ballots public. And although the USA Today coaches’ tallies were not immediately available Sunday, the first-year Harris Interactive poll released a detailed breakdown of its 113 final ballots.

The Harris results might have been more telling had there been real controversy this year, but there were still some noteworthy declarations.

* Former UCLA athletic director Peter Dalis voted USC No. 1 and his old school No. 16, one spot better than the Bruins finished in both the Harris and USA Today coaches’ polls.

* Ray Goff, former Georgia coach, did not have 9-2 UCLA ranked in his final 25 ... but neither did two other voters.

* Pat Haden, former USC quarterback and current Notre Dame football television commentator, filed a final top three of USC, Texas and Notre Dame, and dropped UCLA to 18th.

* Roy Kramer, former commissioner of the Southeastern Conference and the so-called “godfather” of the BCS, had two-loss SEC schools Georgia and Auburn ahead of Oregon, at No. 8. The Ducks (10-1) finished No. 6 overall in the Harris poll and No. 5 in the coaches’ poll.

* Former UCLA basketball coach Gene Bartow had Fresno State at No. 25.

* Former Texas Tech coach Spike Dykes was one of 14 pollsters to vote Texas No. 1.

A few early, quick-hit bowl observations:

* Texas El Paso vs. Toledo (GMAC in Mobile, Ala.). Just what UTEP Coach Mike Price wanted -- a trip back to Alabama.

* Arizona State vs. Rutgers (Insight Bowl). If you add the Fiesta Bowl into this mix, the total number of losses for teams playing bowls in the Phoenix area is 13.

* Clemson vs. Colorado (Champs Sports). Never mind that Colorado has been outscored, 100-6, in its last two games.

* Penn State vs. Florida State (Orange). Believed to be the first time the sum age of the two participating coaches at kickoff will be 155. Joe Paterno of Penn State and Bobby Bowden of Florida State are the two winningest coaches in major college history, but Paterno said on Sunday’s selection show the game isn’t about them. “He can’t run,” Paterno said of Bowden, “and I run slower.”

* Boise State vs. Boston College (MPC Computers). Boston College left the Big East for the Atlantic Coast Conference, went 8-3, to get annexed to Boise?

* UCLA vs. Northwestern (Sun). First team to punt loses.