The Trojans came out of the game the same way they went in, as the No. 1 team in the country by the Associated Press and Coaches polls.

The game was great if you like quarterback sacks. Over 93,000 fans filled the old stadium to watch the Trojans throw Wolvervines' John Navarre for a loss nine times. USC's speed on defense was too much for the Michigan to handle. Navarre had been sacked just 15 times during the regular season. Tailback Chris Perry was also held down by USC, which seemed to be waiting for him at every hole the Michigan line tried to keep open.

On the otherside, it was like a picnic for USC quarterback Matt Leinart. He threw for three touchdown passes, two to senior wide receiver Keary Colbert, one to running back LenDale White and caught a touchdown toss from All-American end Mike Williams on a fake reverse play in the fourth quarter. Leinart was named the game's most valuable player.

Navarre was intercepted four times. He had only been picked off just five times going into the game. One of his passes bounced off receiver Braylon Edwards' shoe and was caught by USC linebacker Lofa Tatupu who returned it to set up the touchdown pass to White.

So now USC can bask in its split-national championship. What LSU and Oklahoma do Sunday night in the Sugar Bowl is almost irrelevent to the Trojans. As ABC analyst Craig James said during the game, LSU and Oklahoma are lucky because they don't have to play USC.

The game reminded everyone who remembers what the Rose Bowl used to be, before its officials were forced to join the BCS spider web. It was a gorgeous matchup of highly ranked Big Ten champion versus Pacific 10 champion, blue skies, a little snow on the nearby San Gabriel mountains, the "Granddaddy of them all."

Let's hope that the BCS and its computer rankings will just be a memory after next year.