Most strive for perfection, while very few do achieve perfection.

And perfection comes in different forms.

Most athletic teams strive to play that perfect game, but some rarely do achieve a perfect game.

Most teams also strive to achieve a perfect season. And yet very few do. For example, there has only been one team in the history of the National Football League to achieve a perfect season. Most strive to match the feat of the 1972 Miami Dolphins. This year's Indianapolis Colts came close, but could not.

There are many sports writers who try to reach perfection when it comes to making predictions. I've been known to come away with a perfect week once or twice, but I must say that this past week in predicting bowl games involving teams from the Southeastern Conference was beyond spectacular.

Sure there are a few of us who will get one or two right and be happy with a .500 mark, but not me. It's all or nothing, baby.

And this past week I pulled the big goose egg.

Not a single team that I predicted to win, came close.

I thought that Miami defense would be too much for LSU. Wrong. LSU not only beat Miami on the field, the Tigers whipped those Canes off the field, too. In fact one player knocked two players out cold with a &#8220foreign object.”

Sounds like he's got a career in pro wrestling ahead of him.

I thought that Texas Tech's offense would be too much for Alabama's defense. Turns out, that Alabama's defense keep Red Raiders quarterback Cody Hodges running for his life.

Then there was the lock of all locks. There was no way that Wisconsin was better than Auburn. The Tigers looked to be the class of the SEC after its impressive win over Georgia and Alabama to close out the season.

Obviously Auburn believed it, too. And the Tigers decided not to show up.

Another lock looked to be Georgia, which was playing in its backyard, in the Sugar Bowl over a young West Virginia team.

Georgia must have read the same and believed what was written, because the Dawgs didn't show up for the game until the second quarter when they were down, 21-0.

Oh, and I was wrong about Florida and South Carolina, too.

I would be a Las Vegas bookie's dream come true.

Thank goodness I'm not a gambling man.

So in light of my perfect weekend, I'm looking to put a cap on my bowl predictions by breaking down tonight's Rose Bowl.

Conventional wisdom says that Southern California is a lock to win its third national championship in a row.

But after more than a month of people saying that Texas has no chance on Earth of winning the game tonight, one would think that the Longhorns would have a massive chip on their shoulder and play its best game of the year.

So can Texas knock off Southern Cal and end the Trojans' winning streak?

The answer is no.

Southern Cal still has more weapons than Texas.

The Trojans will make their mark in college football history by winning three straight national championships tonight.

Las Vegas bookies and I can't be wrong.

Or can we?

Kevin Taylor is sports editor of The Greenville Advocate. Call him at (334) 382-3111 ext. 122 or e-mail kevin.taylor@greenvilleadvocate.com.