A 42-39 win over Michigan in the season finale capped a 12-0 regular season and propelled the Big Ten champion Ohio State Buckeyes into the BCS National Championship game as the prohibitive favorites, regardless if the opponent was Southern California, Michigan or Florida. The Buckeyes had the country's top defense, led by the sophomore linebacker James Laurenitis, the Heisman Trophy winner in quarterback Troy Smith, and the nation's No. 1 ranking from the start of the season. And they were led by the cool and collected Jim Tressel, who had merely gone 62-13 (.827) in his six years at the helm with a 14-0 national championship season in 2002, a 5-1 mark vs. Michigan, and a 4- 1 mark in bowl games, including 3-0 in BCS bowl games.

After Ted Ginn Jr. returned the opening kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown in the BCS Championship Game vs. Florida, the game, played at the spectacular new University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., turned into a Florida festival. From that point, almost nothing went right for Ohio State, and everything clicked for the Gators. Florida scored on its first four possessions, including touchdowns on its first two possessions that were helped by OSU personal foul penalties. An OSU turnover near the end of the first was punctuated by another Florida touchdown that gave the underdogs a commanding 34-14 halftime lead.

It would be plenty of points to win, with Florida committing an atypical zero turnovers for the game and a defense that was simply too fast and ferocious, limiting Ohio State to a ridiculous 82 yards of total offense and one touchdown. The final scoreof 41-14 represented the most points scored against a Tressel-coached Ohio State team, and it left the Buckeyes and their armies of fans wondering what went wrong.

“I think the fine line and the edge in games is always the mental part,” Tressel told radio reporters on Jan. 17. “I’m not so sure – and again, that’s why you start with yourself – if we had our team as mentally prepared as we could have had it.”

Here’s what else happened: Florida quarterback Chris Leak played the game of his life, completing his first nine passes and finishing 25-for-36 for 216 yards and one touchdown. Ohio State's Smith never got in rhythm; never had time to get in a rhythm. He finished the game 4 of 14 for 35 yards and one interception, and he had minus-29 yards rushing. Ginn? He sprained his ankle after his opening touchdown when a teammate piled on him in the end zone. On this day, Ohio State had no other answers for a hungry Florida team that, by winning, became the first university to hold football and men’s basketball national titles at the same time. To add further insult to the regrettable end to a remarkable season: a Florida defensive lineman said after the game that “we've played a lot better teams than them.”

Enough said about the BCS Championship Game.