Penn State defensive tackle Ollie Ogbu didn't pull punches.
"I would like to face USC," Ogbu said after Penn State beat Michigan State, 49-18. "That would be big."
The Nittany Lions' recent win over the Spartans clinched a share of the Big Ten championship and Bowl Championship Series berth.
All that's left is waiting to see who the opponent will be on New Year's Day when Penn State plays in the Rose Bowl, but Ogbu's wish became a strong possibility this weekend.
Oregon State, which was crushed by Penn State in the second week of the season, whiffed on a chance to win the Pac-10 Saturday when the Beavers lost to Oregon, 65-38.
The Beavers would have joined the Lions in Pasadena, Calif., with a win but instead opened the door for USC to play in its fourth consecutive Rose Bowl. The Trojans will win the Pac-10 and earn the conference's Rose Bowl bid by beating UCLA this weekend.
If USC stumbles, there will be a three-way tie among Oregon State, Oregon and the Trojans for the Pac-10 championship, and the Beavers will back into the Rose Bowl.
If that happens ...
"Oh no," wide receiver Deon Butler said. "I really don't want to see Oregon State, my personal feeling. They're a great football team, don't get me wrong, so if they deserve to be there, then they'll be there and I'm sure it will be another tough football game. But obviously you go to a bowl game, common sense, you want to play someone that you haven't played all season."
Rose Bowl spokeswoman Gina Chappin said before Penn State played Michigan State the bowl's deal with the Big Ten and Pac-10 requires each conference's automatic qualifier to play in the Rose Bowl regardless of a possible rematch, so another Lions-Beavers matchup would happen if Oregon State wins its conference.
If USC beats UCLA, the Trojans still have an outside shot at playing for a national championship, which would mean the Rose Bowl would have the first selection among BCS-eligible teams for a replacement.
That scenario, though, would involve Missouri upsetting its opponent in the Big 12 conference championship game. The voters and computers would then likely choose between USC and Texas or Oklahoma for the national championship game.
"I've just got to sit around and wait and see what happens," Joe Paterno said after the season-ending win. "I'm certainly not going to sit around and play with the roses."
Ogbu said he hoped Penn State played USC partly because he played against Trojans receiver Vidal Hazleton in high school.
Hazleton, who is from New York, waffled between Penn State and USC when he was being recruited, and Ogbu said he thought Hazleton would choose the Lions.
Another defensive tackle, Jared Odrick, said it didn't matter who Penn State played.
"We're going out there to win that game," he said. "At the same time, we've got a few people in mind that we want to play, that we'd rather play, that we'd rather have a matchup against."
