Just A Thought

I just read this article about the Rose Bowl. USC dominated Penn State to win their 3rd-straight Rose Bowl. Now, this is quite a feat, and there's not much to be said in the Big Ten or Penn State's defense. But the author does mention is passing what seems to me to be a pretty important note: This is the first of those three games where USC actually played the Big Ten champion. The previous two USC played Big Ten #2 because the champion was playing in the national championship game. Not to say those teams would have beat USC, but shouldn't USC tone it down a bit since they haven't been playing the best. Also, my memory is a little fuzzy, what happened the last time USC had to play for a national championship instead of just talking about how they deserved one? Didn't they lose?