So as I was celebrating the win with fellow Penn State fans over old-time rival Syracuse during a wine tasting tour yesterday, many of us were faced with the question of whether we should really even be rooting for Ohio State to beat the Trojans. Sure, I’m not naive, a Buckeye win over the Trojans would add a bit of respectability to our strength of schedule.

But when the time comes, should Penn State earn that win over the Buckeyes in Beaver Stadium in November, would it matter whether the Buckeyes lost or beat the Trojans now in September? The answer is a definite no as clearly displayed by the voter’s indifference to Penn State’s shellacking of the very Oregon State team that beat USC and was in the position to win the Pac 10 last season. To those who actually take a step back from simply scanning over the box scores, transitive properties do not apply in college football.

The jury is already out on Penn State’s strength of schedule even before the first snap was even played in the 2009 season. Even if Syracuse ends up winning the Big East, Akron runs wild on the rest of their schedule and Temple manages to be respectable again, Penn State will not leap another BCS school with an equal or better record. The only way Penn State will play in the title game is if they go undefeated and there is only one other unblemished team from a BCS conference.

So what does it matter if Ohio State falls to the mighty Trojans of SC? Why should I be forced in rooting for a team I care little to nothing about. I made the mistake of cheering on those very Buckeyes against Texas, against USC last season and against LSU and Florida, and I will never make that mistake again. But somehow a few fans continue to guilt trip me into having to root for fellow conference teams just so the Big Ten “looks better”. What does it really matter if Penn State ends up winning the Big Ten whether it is the best conference or the fourth best this season? No matter how we perform non-conference wise, the media is hell bent on pairing the Big 12 and SEC champions in the title game this year. It is just unfortunate when fans of Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Mississippi State, Tennessee and other middling SEC teams continue to ride the success of Florida and LSU as if their achievements is a testament to their own teams. Penn State fans should just worry about beating those teams that appear on our schedule. We still need to beat Ohio State and Michigan State. Their losses means absolutely nothing to us as a team.

So as I continue to revel guilt-free in the gut wrenching loss by the Buckeyes. As fans of the Lions, let’s just worry about the next team on the schedule as the Temple Owls come to town this Saturday. The rest of the Big Ten abandoned us in 1994, why should we worry about them now?