After recovering from the initial sting, Freeman said yesterday he has now seen the game in its entirety at least 10 times. Every viewing brings about a new learning opportunity, he said. It also drives home the realization that one night in the desert destroyed what was a perfect regular season.

''Every person that remembers the 2006 team is going to remember that's the team that got killed by Florida,'' Freeman said during the Big Ten preseason meetings. ''Going 12-0 is a huge accomplishment, but if we could trade that in for a national championship, I know we would.''

Before that game, the Buckeyes were considered invincible and in the running for one of the greatest teams of all time. After, everyone thought they could beat them if given another chance -- including outspoken Michigan tailback Mike Hart.

In the other corner of the ballroom at the Hyatt Regency yesterday, Hart discussed Michigan's missed chance at the national championship game last year and a rematch with Ohio State. In the weeks preceding the game, there was much debate over who deserved to face the Buckeyes -- Florida or Michigan.

''We definitely would have beaten the Buckeyes,'' Hart said. ''Florida was a great team. I don't know what would've happened. We couldn't even beat USC (in the Rose Bowl). But there's no doubt in my mind we would've beat the Buckeyes.''

With last season soiled by its ending, Ohio State players report Sunday for the 2007 season and will hold their first team workout on Monday.

It will start the process of trying to put the wheels back on after the Gators blew them off with a 41-14 victory in Glendale, Ariz.

If you're looking for more answers as to what went wrong, the coaches and players don't seem to have many -- except for Kirk Barton, who likened the whole experience to bombing out on a date with a supermodel.

''You only get an opportunity like that once,'' Barton said. ''That's like Brooke Burke wanting to go out on a date with you, then you fall on your face and break your arm. You don't get it again. It's over. Now you have to come back and deal with it for the rest of your life.

''They played a great game and we played our worst game in four years,'' Barton continued. ''It was unfortunate it was on that stage. They just outplayed us. That's the bottom line.''

The toughest part about the game, Barton said, was showing up at class the next day. He recalled that in 1997, after the Indians lost the World Series to the Florida Marlins in a heartbreaking Game 7, Omar Vizquel retreated to Caracas, Venezuela for a few months to heal.

Ohio State players didn't have that luxury.

''I had to be in history class the next day,'' he said. ''I'm in class the next day surrounded by people who were wearing their Ohio State jerseys the day before and now they're in the closet and everybody is depressed.

''College kids can't escape when they fail. Every kid in your class is sort of an unofficial media member and they want to know what happened, especially the ones that went out there (to Arizona) and spent thousands of dollars. There's no escape.''

The escape, in a sense, comes Sunday with the start of a new year and much lower expectations nationally. Despite not having the star power of last year, coach Jim Tressel said he doesn't feel like his team is an unknown.

''I don't know of anyone in our building who feels we're under the radar, or who doesn't feel the onus to be good,'' he said. ''We have to prove ourselves every day at Ohio State.''

As the players reconvene this weekend, Tressel won't make it a point to show a tape of the national championship game.

In 208 pages of this year's media guide, there isn't even one mention of last year's national championship game.

Tressel doesn't see the point in hammering on that game. His staff has watched it and he assumes the players watched it on their own. That's good enough for him.

''If you were part of it,'' he said, ''you won't forget it.''

jlloyd@morningjournal.com