COLUMBUS — It could have been No. 1 against possibly No. 9 or 10. It could have been like 1995 and 1996 with Michigan trying to knock off an unbeaten The Ohio State team. Talk about redemption. After losing to Appalachian State in the opener this season, the Wolverines take down the top-ranked team and their rival to boot. It had the perfect ending written for Michigan. But Illinois and Wisconsin, quite frankly, don’t really care about “The Game” and now we find ourselves in a 7 (the Buckeyes)-23 (Wolverines) match-up. You can see the national media changing their plane reservations and heading elsewhere Saturday. There’s still a lot on the line when the teams meet — the outright Big Ten title, a trip to the Rose Bowl, the Wolverines looking to break a three-game losing streak, OSU hoping to make it four straight wins, pride, tradition.... But for a conference desperately seeking respect, it won’t have quite the same impact as even before last Saturday. Only if one team had won. “Both of us lost; that makes the game even more exciting because it means winner gets it all,” Buckeyes defensive end Vernon Gholston said following OSU’s 28-20 loss to Illinois. Can you imagine 9-3 Michigan going to the Rose Bowl? What about 10-2 OSU heading to the Capital One or Outback Bowls? It could happen. Although there’s an outside shot the Buckeyes could move back up in the BCS standings from seventh, a lot of things would have to go their way for that to happen and OSU didn’t do itself a big favor with the loss to Illinois. So a loss probably puts the Buckeyes in Florida. In the media room following the Fighting Illini game, the players quickly turned their attention to the Wolverines. “I know Michigan will be ready to play,’’ Buckeye linebacker Larry Grant said. “It will be a great atmosphere. We’ll be excited and they’ll be excited.’’ OSU is what the Michigan seniors came back for. They don’t want to end their careers winless against their rivals. After the two opening-season losses, the Wolverines looked to be turning things around with eight straight wins, but a 37-21 loss at Wisconsin brought Michigan back down to earth. Wisconsin ravaged the Wolverine defense for 477 total yards, largely without leading rusher P.J. Hill. Quarterback Chad Henne (shoulder), played just two series, while running back Mike Hart (ankle) was held out. They will presumably play Saturday. The Wolverines are still very capable offensively of gaining yards and putting up numbers. The good news for Michigan fans is that the Fighting Illini exposed an OSU defense that still leads the nation in points allowed, but allowed a season-high 260 rushing yards. Regardless of the problems the Wolverines are having and the one OSU had against Illinois, this is OSU-Michigan week. A win defines a season. A loss and problems persist until 365 days later when they meet again. “We have to kind of look at each other and look at ourselves in the mirror and go in there and focus on Michigan because everybody around here knows this is “The Week” no matter what happens and we have to go in there and learn from this and hopefully get ready for this week coming up,’’ junior linebacker James Lauriniatis said. I guess this like the old ways as the winner of this game usually headed to the Rose Bowl, but in this age of football, that’s even tough to take this year.

Five things to look for:

1. Michigan leads the series 57-40-6, including 30-18-4 in Ann Arbor. 2. OSU coach Jim Tressel is 5-1 against the Wolverines. 3. Buckeye running back Chris Wells is third in the Big Ten in rushing at 1,241 yards, while Michigan’s Mike Hart ranks fourth at 1,188 — despite playing in three less games. 4. Wolverine wide receiver Mario Manningham is second in the conference at 1,062 yards. OSU’s defense still ranks first in the nation, allowing 11.4 points per game, despite giving up 28 against Illinois. 5. Michigan is second in the Big Ten in turnover margin at plus 8, while the Buckeyes are tied for sixth at zero. OSU wins 27-17