UCLA can give Carroll Pasadena, not Glendale

I THINK WE are all agreed we want only the best for Pete Carroll.

The USC coach has done an extraordinary job this season after losing so many players to the NFL. Right now the man deserves anything he wants, especially if there is any chance of still losing him to the NFL.

It’s almost a modern-day sports miracle winning 55 of 58 games in this age of college football parity, and because of his leadership, the last five years around here have been filled with nothing but great memories, maybe a few harrowing defeats, but so much fun.

It’s the job of a reporter, of course, to challenge everything, remaining skeptical when everyone else is buying into all the propaganda and hoopla. But I’ve got to say -- when I hear Pete Carroll talk, I now consider it the gospel.

So the other day when he mentioned for the umpteenth time that USC’s No. 1 goal every year is to make it to the Rose Bowl and he doesn’t even give a thought to the Bowl Championship Series title game in Glendale, Ariz., I can’t imagine him not telling the truth.

In fact I’ve heard him repeatedly talk about how much the Rose Bowl means to him, how quickly he dismisses any BCS talk, while steering the conversation back to the Rose Bowl and what it means for USC to play in the granddaddy of them all.

I mentioned this Monday to Karl Dorrell, and I’ve got to tell you, UCLA’s coach could not have been any more agreeable when I suggested, “Then let’s give Pete what he really wants, and send him to the Rose Bowl.”

“I’d love it,” said Dorrell, and I think that’s pretty darn thoughtful of the guy.

“If that happens, I’ll hug you,” Dorrell added, which makes me wonder what Carroll might do if Dorrell and I can make his dream come true and send the Trojans to the Rose Bowl.

I DON’T believe the Bruins have any intention of running up the score, so I’ve only got UCLA winning 24-17 Saturday.

The oddsmakers have USC favored by 13 1/2 . They also had USC beating Oregon State earlier this season.

On the morning radio show on 570, Uncle Fred wanted to make a wager, giving me UCLA and the points -- the loser buying breakfast for everyone at the station. I had no idea the guy had a gambling problem.

FOUR WEEKS ago, and now be honest, how many had USC winning its final four against Oregon, Cal, Notre Dame and UCLA after losing to Oregon State?

The Trojans had to be at their best, and they have been just that for three straight weeks. The win over Cal was beyond emotional, clinching another Pacific 10 title. The victory over Notre Dame on a national stage was exhilarating, and one by one afterward the seniors spoke with emotion about their time at USC.

What’s to say the Trojans have any emotion left in the tank, especially when you consider how good they must feel knowing the only thing standing between them and a national championship date is UCLA. Piece of cake. 66-19! All we’ve got to do is beat UCLA -- are you kidding me!

I LIKE UCLA’s pass rush, and the pressure the Bruins can put on John David Booty, which could negate Dwayne Jarrett & Co. The Bruins have to make Booty uncomfortable.

“We’ve got to stay in the game,” Dorrell said, which means keeping it close into the fourth quarter and buying time for quarterback Ben Olson to find his way after missing six starts because of an injured knee.

The longer the Bruins hang around, the scarier it gets for USC.

Admit it, you’re getting nervous about the UCLA game, and it hasn’t even started.

THREE WEEKS ago, and now be honest, how many had UCLA beating Oregon State and winning on the road at Arizona State after losing four in a row?

In an odd way, Oregon State became the turning point for both USC and UCLA. Carroll said, “It was a wake-up call.”

UCLA, meanwhile, beat the team that beat USC to start the “new season,” for the Bruins, as Dorrell called it, urging his players to salvage the season and win their final three games.

One more, and they reach their goal, which apparently would also make Carroll’s day -- sending the Trojans to the Rose Bowl. Then everyone goes home happy, and I get free breakfast next week.

I’VE BEEN telling the wife all these years -- if it weren’t for me, she’d be married to some plumber. Then James Denton, who plays a plumber on “Desperate Housewives,” joined us in studio Monday for the radio show, and now the wife really believes she would have been better off married to a plumber.

Denton knows his sports as well as his lines on TV, and he said he had become friends with Jeff Kent and J.D. Drew, which goes to show you he likes odd characters on and off the set. He said Drew accompanied him to an appearance on “Ellen.” It would have made for great TV, Jerry Springer style, had he taken Kent instead -- and given Ellen the chance to interview the old fogy.

THE CLIPPERS lose five games in a row, and instead of firing Mike Dunleavy, they give him four more years and $21 million. I believe aliens have kidnapped Donald Sterling. And won’t they be surprised when they find out he’s unlike anyone else on this planet.

RANDY WOLF, soon to be a Dodger, made 12 starts last season coming off Tommy John surgery and lasted as long as six innings only twice, which means he’ll fit right in. Project “Bring Your Tired, Lame and Loftons to Dodger Stadium,” which began a year ago, apparently continues.

TODAY’S LAST word comes in e-mail from L. John Miller:

“We got out-coached, out-prepared, outplayed and in general had no business being on the field with USC. We were still in a different time zone. What a disgrace. [Charlie] Weis did not even dress for the game.”

Are you talking about that bum on the sideline?