As the final seconds ticked off the Rose Bowl stadium clock, the trial mercifully came to a close.

The verdict was in, handed over by chief prosecutor, Pete Carroll. The Penn State Nittany Lions had been found guilty.

Guilty of terrorizing opponents in a weak conference to get to this point.

Guilty of not being able to keep up with the potent USC offense.

Guilty of being a slow Big Ten team with inferior athletes and inferior schemes.

Guilty of not playing to the best of their abilities on college football's most hallowed stage.

I am appealing these convictions.

The only charge Penn State is guilty of is the last one.

The Lions simply picked a bad day to have a bad game. That's it. It happens.

Unfortunately, the Lions were already on the docket long before.

Their judgement had already been passed down, long before Mark Sanchez and Carroll came along.

Remember when Penn State lost to Iowa by one point on an end-game field goal?

Remember the drop in the polls? Penn State went from No. 3 to No. 8. They stayed put.

Commentators and talking heads in the mold of ESPN's Mark May asked the question: was a two-loss SEC or Big 12 team more deserving than a one-loss Penn State? The line of thinking then was that the Lions had lost to a "lowly" team. At that point, the Hawkeyes were 6-4.

How about them Iowa Hawkeyes? They went on to win the remainder of their games by an average margin of 20.5 points.

The Hawkeyes also just happened to be the only Big Ten team to win a bowl game this year. Iowa crushed South Carolina, 31-10, in the Outback Bowl.

So Penn State lost to two good teams, but the fact that it saved its last loss for the Rose Bowl game will haunt them and the rest of the conference into next season.

A brief history lesson.

Ohio State, seen as the class of the conference in the previous two seasons, was horribly blown out in the last two national title games. This led to voters this year continually questioning Penn State's legitimacy as a national title contender. Now, after the loss to USC, these voters can play the 'I told you so' card.

This season, Big Ten squads went 1-6 in bowls and the class of the conference, the Lions, were out of contention for the Rose Bowl win in the second quarter.

Ohio State's loss to Big 12-foe Texas didn't help.

Wisconsin -- a team many considered would compete for a national title -- had a disastrous year, capped by a spanking delivered by ACC-member Florida State.

Michigan State and Northwestern, surprise teams to come out of the Big Ten, couldn't match up with their opponents, Georgia and Missouri.

It will take a dynasty-like run by a Big Ten team to spurn the critics of the conference. An egg -- like the one Penn State laid against USC -- was the worst-case scenario for a reeling-league.

It is for these reasons, the case -- the College Football World v. Penn State -- will never be closed.