“I think it’s a huge opportunity for Ohio State in regards to what people say. They’re matched up on a national stage and it’s very critical that they show well,” ESPN football analyst Cris Carter, an Ohio State alum, told The Examiner’s Jim Williams. “Having not done well in the last two [championship games] this is important not only for their program trying to [return to the final] but also in their national recruiting.”

Of course, it’s hard to use a game as a measuring stick when a team’s best player is out. But it is now unlikely Ohio State running back Chris “Beanie” Wells (right foot) will play Saturday after he reportedly experienced lingering soreness after practice on Wednesday and did not practice yesterday. That is a painful loss for a Buckeyes team that seems to change its style of play without him.

But while a loss would damage their chances of even making the BCS title game next January, don’t cry too much for the Buckeyes. Recruiting service Rivals.com ranked Ohio State’s incoming freshmen class No. 4 in the country and 25 recruits have already verbally committed for next year’s top-ranked class, according to Rivals. Seventeen of those players are four or five-star recruits. None of that matters against the Trojans, of course. But it doesn’t bode well for the rest of the Big 10, which the Buckeyes have won outright each of the last three years.

“[Ohio State] had some disappointment here in the last couple years in terms of finishing the job,” ESPN football analyst Keyshawn Johnson, a USC alum, told Williams. “They have to win this football game to move toward the goal of winning a national championship.”