This weekend, two of the best college football teams will meet in a huge regular season matchup. Number 5 nationally ranked Ohio State Buckeyes will face off against number 1 USC Trojans in a game with huge playoff implications. It will go a long way for either team when they beat the other. Ohio State has the possibility to strip USC of their number 1 status and USC can further establish themselves as the best of the best if they beat the perennially fantastic Buckeyes.

However, even though one team will ultimately lose, neither side’s reputation can be tarnished. The problem for both teams is that they’ve set their standards so incredibly high that when they do falter, fans and critics consider it a failure rather than a great season.

Take USC, for example. The Trojans have played inspired football over the past six years; winning six PAC-10 titles, going to the BCS bowl game, and earning a number 5 ranking. But the last two years the Trojans have gone 11-2 and people consider this a disappointment. That they regularly dominate other football programs is not taken into consideration. Trojans are measured on Bowl Game success.

Ohio State, similarly, has high standards of its own. The Buckeyes are 75-16 since head coach Jim Tressel was hired back in 2001. Since that time, the Buckeyes have won Big Ten Championships, a BCS Championship in 2002, and have left other divisional teams in their dust. But when they lost two BCS Championship games in a row, a large shadow overcast all their success.

So this game is more than just number 5 against number 1 or just a regular season matchup. It will go along way to help keep (and probably further) the standards of these two great teams.

The game starts at 8:00 pm ET on ABC.