This Could Be the Best Ever ... No, Really

We’ve become so conditioned to overstatement in society that it’s hard to know what to believe.

World’s greatest cup of coffee!

Best deal in town!

Our prices are insane!

Best national-title game ever!

Ever?

If you’re catching any of this drift, Tuesday night’s Orange Bowl pitting No. 1 USC and No. 2 Oklahoma has been billed as being for all the marbles, the whole ball of wax and maybe even all the enchiladas.

“It’s a big game,” USC quarterback Matt Leinart said Sunday at media day.

“It’s for the crystal ball and all that.”

One question leading into this year’s bowl championship series national-title game is whether it can possibly live up to such an introduction.

“Heaven’s Gate” had a lot of pre-release hype too, and we know how that turned out.

So, are we setting ourselves up for a big fall here?

Is Oklahoma going to confound all logic and crush USC, or might it be the other way around?

What if one team wins, 3-0, in overtime?

We obviously are going to have to bide some time before determining whether USC-Oklahoma will rank as one of the great games of all time.

In fact, after watching Iowa defeat Louisiana State on a last-second, you-have-got-to-be-kidding touchdown pass, and Texas upend Michigan on a last-second field goal, USC-Oklahoma has its work cut out if it wants to be the best bowl game since Saturday.

In terms of “Games of the Young Century,” well, sorry, Ohio State’s double-overtime victory over Miami two years ago in the Fiesta Bowl will be almost impossible to replicate.

Yet, it can be said with some certainty that this year’s Orange Bowl is the best matchup in BCS bowl history.

It’s a perfect game, featuring perfect teams, in a perfect setting.

In how many title-game run-ups has it been possible to write:

Oklahoma will win because it has a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, a running back who can break a defender’s kneecaps with a hip swivel and a standout defensive lineman named Cody -- not to mention a coach who has won a national title and is coaching in his second Orange Bowl.

And write:

USC will win because it has a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, a running back who can break a defender’s kneecaps with a hip swivel and a standout defensive lineman named Cody -- not to mention a coach who has won a national title and is coaching in his second Orange Bowl.

The parameters for this game are unprecedented.

“Oklahoma and us have been at the top all season,” USC safety Jason Leach said. “There hasn’t been any change in one or two all season. It’s going to come down to who wins this game, who gets the bowl outright, who gets the rings and who gets the banner.”

Auburn at 12-0 had a right to gripe that it deserved a seat at the national-title table but, with all due respect to y’all, USC versus Oklahoma is the game we’ve wanted to see since August, when the teams made their debuts at No. 1 and No. 2 in the polls.

The anticipation for this game has been building since Labor Day.

“We all want to see what’s going to happen, myself included,” Trojan Coach Pete Carroll said.

I’ve covered all six previous BCS title games and, trust me, this year’s Orange Bowl pregame menu, by far, tops all.

A quick review:

* 1999 Fiesta Bowl: Tennessee vs. Florida State.

The setup: Florida State had one loss and backed into the game after UCLA and Kansas State lost their last games. Florida State also had to start Marcus Outzen at quarterback instead of Chris Weinke, who sat out with an injury.

Tennessee won, 23-16, in an outcome that remains largely forgettable outside of Knox County.

* 2000 Sugar Bowl: Florida State vs. Virginia Tech.

The setup: This was basically a coronation for Bobby Bowden’s first undefeated season. No one expected Virginia Tech, led by quarterback Michael Vick, to make much of a game out of it. Vick did make a game of it, but Florida State prevailed (cue the balloons), 46-29.

* 2001 Orange Bowl: Florida State vs. Oklahoma.

The setup: Where was Bowden going to put that second BCS trophy?

Oklahoma entered the game at No. 1, but no one really expected the recently reconstructed Sooners to defeat a grizzled Florida State team led by Weinke, that year’s Heisman winner.

Final score: Oklahoma 13, Florida State 2. That’s Oops, as in StOops.

* 2002 Rose Bowl: Miami vs. Nebraska.

The setup: Nebraska, fresh off a 62-36 loss to Colorado, finished fourth in the polls yet wormed its way into the game by slipping the BCS head waiter a couple of hundred bucks.

Miami was so much better it wasn’t even funny and the game, a 37-14 Miami win, was over by halftime.

* 2003 Fiesta Bowl: Miami vs. Ohio State.

The setup: This turned out to be one of the seminal college games, but largely because it wasn’t supposed to be. Underdog Ohio State, led by future whistle-blower Maurice Clarett and a flag-throwing referee, shocked Miami with a 31-24 win in double overtime.

* 2004 Sugar Bowl: Oklahoma vs. Louisiana State.

The setup: The game was upstaged by the Rose Bowl, which happened to be playing host to No. 1 USC. LSU defeated Oklahoma, 21-14, and claimed the BCS share of the national title.

* 2005 Orange Bowl: USC vs. Oklahoma.

The setup: Can this showdown possibly live up to the hype?

Our best guess, after careful analysis of the rosters and a peek into Matt Leinart’s “crystal ball,” is ...

Yes.