The media love affair with USC has been going on for most of PC's tenure, they did give them a NC they didn't earn. The disparity between the media's attitude between USC and
OSU is quite glaring. Look at last year,
OSU was slighted all year because of an atypically weak Big Ten schedule, often described as "charmin soft". USC had a much weaker slate last year and got a free pass for losing 2 games. In the last 3 years, USC's marquee OOC opponent (other than the 1 good game ND gave them) was Arkansas, who was 14-11 over the two seasons they played. The criticism of playing a weak schedule in a weak conference applies much more to USC than
OSU. As far as Cowherd talking up the Buckeyes, I certainly have never heard it. I used to catch his show frequently when I drove to work, and he had nothing but vitriol for the program and the fans.