According to the calendar it’s still summer for another 2 weeks or so, but it feels an awful lot like Bowl Season.  With the matchup between USC and Ohio State just two days away, millions of interested fans from California to Ohio will be watching to see whose team stays in the top 5 in the rankings and who loses their national title hopes.

Coming into this season, USC was ranked #3 in the country, behind Georgia and their dual Heisman candidates, Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno, and their opponent Ohio State.  But after a convincing week-one win, USC jumped two spots to the top spot, and quarterback Mark Sanchez intends on keeping them there.

Last week, Ohio State’s stud #1 running back Beanie Wells missed the Buckeyes’ game against Ohio University, and Ohio State needed a fourth-quarter comeback to secure the win and preserve their spot among the college football elite.  But if they have any designs on returning to the National Championship Game, they’re going to have to play much better against USC and their stellar defense.

Look for mobile freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor to get a few snaps under center in place of Todd Boeckman to show the USC defense a change of pace.  In the game against Ohio, OSU had more rushing yards than passing yards; if they want to put up points against the USC defense and their star linebacker Rey Maualuga, they’re going to need to stretch the field with some downfield passes before getting Beanie Wells going on the ground.

Las Vegas bets currently have USC as 11-point favorites; with their higher ranking, Beanie Wells’ injury, and home-field advantage for the Trojans, let’s hope the oddsmakers are wrong and that we’re in for an exciting, down-to-the-wire contest…maybe one worthy of Bowl-game hype in the summer.