So I’ve been hearing a bunch of talk: from Penn State fans, writers, Twitterers (is that a word?) and message board people that Penn State “needs” Ohio State a win over USC this weekend to:

1. Bring respect back to the conference
2. Improve Penn State’s “ugly” schedule by playing an highly ranked/attractive OSU in Nov

Then the national media jumps in spewing the same garbage, including people like the Big Ten Network’s Dave Revsine, who offered up the same opinion in his Twitter stream earlier this week.

Well I’m here to tell you that rooting for Ohio State this weekend is a bunch of garbage. Not that it really matters who any of us “root” for, because USC is going to destroy Brutus…but for those of us who want to root as if we have some control over the outcome, here’s a list of reasons why you want Brutus to lose this weekend:

1. It’s Ohio State. Remember Hartsock’s “bounce pass” catch in 2003?

Remember Cooper running up the score after the took Adam T off on a stretcher in 2000? Ever been to an away game at the Shoe, where getting pelted with beers and physically grabbed is deemed acceptable behavior by “Buckeye Nation”?

2. The recruiting angle. Think about what an OSU win does for their recruiting, especially if it relates to kids whom Penn State is competing with head to head. We really don’t compete with USC for many recruits…and when we do, USC gets them, and then the kid ends up transferring anyway (but that’s a whole different story).

3. The Brutus thumping his chest factor. Do you really want to hear Brutus and his fan base drone on about how they beat USC, and how great they are, and how they have “saved” the Big Ten from further national embarrassment? No thanks. Don’t forget that Buckeye fan is the same guy who spewed a bunch of “thanks for embarrassing the conference” type of crap after last year’s Rose Bowl. Yes, the same team that got crushed in back to back national championships spun it that Penn State had “embarrassed” the conference by losing by 2 TDs to what I feel was the best team in the country last year.

4. Who really cares about the Big Ten’s national reputation? Look, I’m a Penn State fan. I’m NOT a Big Ten fan. When I hear the idiot fans at SEC schools chanting “SEC, SEC” after a bowl win (LSU over Ohio State in the National Championship game) or before the game at College Gameday (Bama vs. VT this season), I just have to laugh. Who cares? I want Penn State to do well. The national perception is that the Big Ten stinks. And guess what? Right now, it DOES stink. So what? Does anyone REALLY think that 1 game against USC is going to change that? And even if it does, let’s say that Penn State goes 7-5 this season. Are we going to puff out our chests and say “Yeah, but Ohio State beat USC”?

The fact that people at Mississippi State, Vandy and Arkansas puff out their chests for playing in the “best conference in America” is a joke. Congrats guys…you’re all doing so much to contribute to it. Enjoy going 6-6 in the “best conference in the country”.

5. What Ohio State does on Saturday will NO implications on what Penn State does this season. Okay, I’m going out on a limb on this one, but I predict that what Ohio State does on Saturday (ie win or lose) will have NO effect on where Penn State plays in the “post season” (I use that term loosely because we all know what a joke the CFB post season is, but that’s another blog post for another day).
Look for those who are worried about Penn State running the table and then getting left out of the National Championship game, I can tell you now: stop worrying. What Ohio State does on Saturday won’t matter.

As much as it pains me to say this, if Penn State runs the table, and any 2 teams ahead of them also run the table, it doesn’t matter. Penn State, based on BOTH in and out of conference schedule, will not deserve to play for the national championship. If it does come down to that, the person to blame will be Tim Curley, just like he was the person to blame for Penn State going to the NIT in hoops last season, rather than the big dance.

And for those worried about a perfect Penn State (12-0) team getting jumped by a 1 loss SEC or BXII team, don’t worry about that either, it won’t happen.

Look, if Penn State went 12-0, no one loss SEC or BXII team would jump them, whether or not Brutus beat USC way back in September. The voters wouldn’t care. They would care about putting a guy like Joe Paterno in their championship game with a perfect record. That doesn’t mean that Penn State wouldn’t get SLAMMED in the media, but who cares? They would get in.

6. Penn State’s schedule this year sucks no matter how you spin it. The schedule is atrocious. Look, I know it’s not Curley’s fault that the ‘Cuse went in the dumper. But rest of the schedule is horrendous. Even if you polish a turd, it’s still a turd. Ohio State beating USC doesn’t all of sudden make the schedule palatable to the national media.

7. “We want Ohio State to be ranked as high as possible when we play them”. Perhaps the ONLY one of these items that carries any water in the “root for Ohio State this weekend: rhetoric. But does anyone honestly believe that Ohio State, even if they got by USC, will run the table up to November 7th after the way they played against Navy last weekend? No way. It’s not going to matter. Plus, a loss to USC doesn’t hurt Brutus in the national rankings, and when we play them in November, they’ll still be ranked somewhere.

8. The Terrelle Pryor factor. Nittany Lion fans: are you REALLY going to root for this guy this weekend? After his soap opera recruiting drama, and his bonehead comments about Michael Vick, is this really a guy where you’re going to jump up and down when (if) he scrambles for a first down on 3rd and 8 and yell “Way to go Terrelle, good job buddy”

I know all of the arguments for Penn State fans wanting Ohio State to win this reason. And in my opinion, the 8 reasons that I’ve outlined here CLEARLY outweigh them. Of course, unless you’re not a real Penn State fan, or you’re a fan of the “Big Ten” more than you are a Penn State fan. Enjoy the game on Saturday, because I know I will. Final score:

USC 27
Brutus 6