The Big Ten is outmatched again

The Rose Bowl introduced the Big Ten to the Pacific 10 at a cocktail party in 1947 and it was love at first sight.

It has been a wonderful relationship, except now, after all these years, the marriage is strained.

The shared experience is usually terrific right up until opening kickoff.

The battle of the bands, for instance, has always been competitive. There's no way you can claim USC's tuba player is better than Penn State's.

As far as helmets go, Michigan's winged headgear is head-and-shoulders above anything the Pac-10 has to offer.

It's the football partnership that needs counseling.

Divorce is out of the question, because of the kids, but a separation might be in order.

The Rose Bowl is playing host to two games next year -- the traditional Jan. 1 game followed a week later by the Bowl Championship Series national-title game.

Keep your fingers crossed because there's a chance the Big Ten won't meet the Pac-10 in either game.

It's sad to think the Big Ten can't keep up anymore, but it can't.

USC's 38-24 win over Penn State on Thursday was just the latest flameout.

Some thought this year was going to be different. Few predicted anything as audacious as a Penn State win, but some predicted it could be close.

It was 31-7 at the half.

Penn State played better in the second half, and USC played worse, seeming to lose interest and a hard edge -- sort of what happened against Oregon State in September.

But it was what it was.

This Big Ten drought is probably cyclical and there's a chance the landlocked league will someday return to Pasadena with a chance to win.

How about they phone ahead when that is about to happen?

USC is 24-9 in the Rose Bowl and 16-7 against the Big Ten.

USC hasn't lost to the Big Ten in the Rose Bowl since the 1989 game against Michigan.

The last Big Ten team to win the Rose Bowl was Wisconsin over Stanford on Jan. 1, 2000.

Shoot, the best Rose Bowl the Big Ten has played this decade was against the Big 12, in 2005, when Michigan lost to Texas on a last-second field goal.

It wasn't always this way.

After the Rose Bowl contractually partnered up with the conferences in 1947, the Big Ten won 12 of the first 13 meetings against the West Coasters.

It's a wonder they didn't cancel the series then.

Not even Joe Paterno, one of the greatest coaches in college football history, with a bowl record of 23-10-1 before the game, made a difference.