Ever since making the Bowl Championship Series possible by joining, the Rose Bowl has been a reluctant participant.

The Granddaddy Of Them All is all about tradition. It's a bowl game staged in order to have something else to do after the Tournament of Roses parade.

And if it's not the Big Ten Conference champion facing the champion of the Pacific-10 Conference, then why get out of bed on New Year's Day?

In the eight previous years of the BCS, the Rose has staged its traditional matchup four times. The first time the Rose staged the national championship game, it was stuck with a Miami-Nebraska stinker at the end of the 2001 season.

A half-traditional game with Southern Cal against Texas made an exciting title game last season, but this year there's a good chance the Rose Bowl will again wind up feeling wilted and jilted.

Big Ten champion Ohio State is gone. The Buckeyes will play for the national championship on Jan. 8 in Glendale, Ariz., not Pasadena.

Pac-10 champion USC, if it beats Notre Dame on Saturday and UCLA on Dec. 2, probably will be Ohio State's title game opponent. If that happens, Rose Bowl officials will spend the month of December muttering, "That should have been our game."

Because it loses its two "anchor" teams (the Big Ten and Pac-10 champions), the Rose gets first pick among the available at-large teams. The most desirable at-large team on the list will be Notre Dame, which hasn't played in Pasadena since 1925.

But it's not a rosy outlook for the Irish to play in the Rose Bowl. If Michigan isn't playing for the national championship, the 11-1 Wolverines are a perfect choice for the Rose, giving it half a loaf in terms of its traditional matchup.

If Michigan gets a second chance against Ohio State in the title game, that means that USC lost one of its last two games. That would send the Trojans to the Rose Bowl.

The problem with both Michigan and USC on one side of the Rose Bowl is that if Notre Dame is on the other side, the result is a word bowls are loathe to hear:

Rematch.

Michigan defeated Notre Dame 47-21 on Sept. 16. USC and Notre Dame play Saturday. The Rose could invite Notre Dame to face the Wolverines, but it seems unlikely that it would want an Irish-Trojans game just more than a month after the original.

The Rose Bowl's other at-large choices, assuming Notre Dame is excluded, would be Oklahoma, LSU or Florida. Oklahoma, to be considered as an at-large team, has to finish No. 14 or higher in the final BCS standings. The Sooners are No. 15 this week.

OU would be 10-2 if it beats Oklahoma State on Saturday. The Tigers would be 10-2 if they can knock off Arkansas today. The Gators would be available to the Rose only if they lose the SEC championship game. Florida also has to beat Florida State on Saturday.

Assuming certain results, here are the matchups for the five BCS games:

•Fiesta: Texas (projected Big 12 champion) vs. Boise State (at- large). The Broncos need to beat Nevada to finish 12-0 and earn a guaranteed invitation as an at-large team.

•Orange: Louisville (Big East champion) vs. Georgia Tech (ACC champion).

•Sugar: Florida (SEC champion) vs. Notre Dame (at- large). The Sugar could grab Notre Dame if the Rose Bowl passes on the Irish because of rematch concerns.

•Rose: Michigan (at- large) vs. Oklahoma (at- large). If the Sooners are 10-2, the chance to showcase Adrian Peterson in what might be his final college game could give the Rose a marquee game.

•National championship: Ohio State (Big Ten champion) vs. USC (Pac-10 champion). The Buckeyes are guaranteed their spot in the Jan. 8 game. The Trojans probably will be No. 2 in the final BCS standings if they win their last two games.