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UCLA is out of bowl contention, and Southern California never had a chance. No Pac-10 titles, no significant winning streaks, no postseason honors - nothing concrete is on the line.
Which just makes the intangible stakes even more massive when the Bruins host the Trojans to close a decidedly down season for football in Los Angeles.
''This game is like somebody just slapped your mom,'' UCLA defensive tackle David Carter said. ''This SC rivalry is like a championship game, like a Rose Bowl, like bragging rights for the city. I don't want to go to the market and see somebody in an SC jersey and have to hide for a whole year. There's going to be a lot of anger, probably a couple of fights. I hope not.''
Both of these decorated football programs are in for an extra-long offseason featuring probable changes at UCLA and looming dread at USC over the increased effect of NCAA sanctions next year. For just the fourth time in 35 years, neither team has a bowl game upcoming when they both take the Rose Bowl field in their home jerseys to honor a cool tradition revived two years ago.
Yet when two struggling offenses play for the Victory Bell in the crosstown archrivals' 80th meeting, a victory could resonate for years in a game that hits both teams on an uncommonly visceral level.
''I really don't like their colors. I really don't like Adidas,'' USC defensive tackle Jurrell Casey said, referring to UCLA's equipment supplier. ''It's just something I didn't like since I was growing up.''
USC has won 10 of the last 11 games, winning 28-7 in each of the last two meetings - including last season's contentious clash at the Coliseum, which ended with each team accusing the other of poor sportsmanship after a long USC touchdown pass in the final minute.
''This is red versus blue, good versus evil, all of that,'' UCLA safety Tony Dye said. ''Nothing changes for us or them. It honestly doesn't matter what else went on this year.''
While both schools' seniors are desperate to leave on a victory, both coaching staffs could use a little good news as well.
UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel's seat is more warm than hot, but a win would guarantee good feelings heading into 2011. USC's Lane Kiffin could quiet many doubters about a middling debut campaign by flattening the Bruins, just as Pete Carroll did in all but one try.
''This game conjures up great emotion and anticipation,'' Neuheisel said. ''It's vital that you channel that into great focus. That's how you win these games. We played with great emotion (last year). We played with great passion, but we had some guys that didn't know how to handle that.''
Kiffin refers to this matchup as ''the players' game'' because nearly everybody knows everybody else. Most local players have faced each other regularly since high school in the Southland, creating small pockets of knowledge that sometimes provide unusual advantages - and abnormal mutual dislike.
''We don't really care about SC and how they do,'' said UCLA tailback Johnathan Franklin, whose Trojan father is actively rooting against him. ''We hope they lose every game.''
The students have been up to their usual pranks during the week, with USC turning the water red - some Bruins called it pink - in a UCLA fountain.
And though both teams have downplayed it, the final minute of last season's game at the Coliseum still looms large in memory. USC attempted to kneel out the clock with a two-touchdown lead, but UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel called a timeout - so Matt Barkley threw a 48-yard TD pass, followed by a few uneasy moments when both screaming sidelines edged toward the middle of the field.
''I'm sure they have a bad feeling in their mouths after last year's loss, especially after what we did to them,'' USC linebacker Chris Galippo said with a smirk.
Neuheisel, who normally will chat about any subject, had nothing to say when asked about that moment.
Immediately after last season's game, he said only: ''I don't forget much.''
Kiffin believes Barkley will return from a 1 1/2-game absence to start his first game in the Rose Bowl. Barkley incurred a high ankle sprain during USC's loss at Oregon State and missed last week's loss to Notre Dame in which Kiffin was openly afraid of calling downfield passes for backup Mitch Mustain.
Barkley has made remarkable progress with an injury that typically requires several weeks of rest, and he hopes to play while wearing a heavy brace. Although the touted passer's numbers have improved in his sophomore season, he still hasn't really tasted significant team success at USC since last season's big victories at Ohio State and Notre Dame.
''I don't want to miss this game, ever,'' Barkley said. ''I've been dreaming about this game at the Rose Bowl since I was a kid.''
