The Rose Bowl would be a disappointment

Before I start, let me tell you that I am heavily opposed to a potential National Championship rematch, and am speaking under the assumption that the loser of the game will play in the Rose Bowl.

Usually I'm the kind of fan that likes to find the positive in every situation. For example, if a team is struggling, I'm usually the first guy that points out young guys taking advantage of an opportunity, and seeing how it could be a sign of brighter things to come.

However, in the situation that Ohio State is in right now, a loss is totally and completely unacceptable. Although I'm sure Woody would say that a loss to the bad guys up north is always unacceptable, in most situations I still would have been content with a Rose Bowl berth. In fact, if you had asked me in the preseason what kind of season I would have been happy with, I would have said making it to the Rose Bowl. However, despite our preseason ranking, this this team has exceeded the expectations of just about everyone out there. Was anyone totally confident in Ginn's route running in August? What about the kicking situation? The defense? Everything coming into the season that had a question mark surrounding it has turned out for the positive. Any team that can go into Austin, playing perhaps the nation's most hyped defense, and put up 24 like it's nothing, despite being the underdog is worthy of a number 1 vote in my book. After going undefeated in a month of September which featured 3 ranked opponents, two on the road, this team went from one of the worst preseason #1s of all-time to potentially one of the better teams of recent memory, which is why anything below a trip to Glendale would be disappointing.

A decade later, a comeback like this just wouldn't be the same

Ohio State hasn't been to a Rose Bowl since the 1996-97 season; the Rose Bowl is still considered the Grand Daddy of Them All for good reason. However, thanks to everybody's favorite computers, the Rose Bowl has lost almost all tradition as it, much like the rest of college football, has become commercialized over the years. Perhaps this is why so many people anticipate the OSU/UM game every season, because it is one of the last few things about College football. At this point, The Rose Bowl isn't much different than any other BCS Bowl. Ever since the BCS was conceived in 1998, there has only been three match-ups between the Pac-10 and Big 10...not exactly your traditional rivalries.

Although in the grand scheme of things we really shouldn't be ashamed of going to the Rose Bowl. After all, there are a total of 32 bowl games this year, and the Rose Bowl is in the upper tier of those. In the day and age and which our collegiate football-related lives are run by computers, the Rose Bowl just isn't what it used to be, and a National Championship should be the standard for a team that has accomplished all that it has this season.