COLLEGE FOOTBALL Sitting on top BCS means Buckeyes are the hunted

Ohio State isn't looking past a road test at Illinois that could produce a 12-0 record.
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COLUMBUS -- It didn't take Ohio State long to find out that previously unbeaten Oklahoma had been upset by Texas A & amp;M on Saturday.
Returning after a 10-6 victory over Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind., the players were on the bus from the airport to campus when senior strong safety Mike Doss relayed the news that would vault Ohio State to the top spot in this week's Bowl Championship Series rankings and to No. 2 in both the Associated Press and coaches' polls.
"Mike Doss was on the cell phone with someone who was kind of giving us play-by-play, it was probably Brent Musburger," senior middle linebacker Matt Wilhelm said, jokingly referring to the ABC play-by-play man. "After the [Texas A & amp;M] interception late in the game we knew they had lost and we'd be moving up.
"All we could say is we control our own destiny. It's a wonderful thing."
If Ohio State (11-0) wins at Illinois (4-6) on Saturday and at home against No. 12 Michigan (8-2) on Nov. 23, the Buckeyes will play for the national championship Jan. 3 in the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Ariz.
Hurricane watch
OSU could meet Miami (9-0), the top-ranked team in the AP and coaches' polls. The defending national champion Hurricanes are off this week, then host No. 18 Pittsburgh (8-2) on Nov. 21, go to Syracuse (4-6), then close out at home against No. 13 Virginia Tech (8-2). The final BCS poll is released Dec. 8.
But Ohio State realizes it faces a dangerous opponent in Illinois, which has won three of its last four and needs victories in its final two games to become bowl eligible. The Illini will also honor 12 players on Senior Day at Memorial Stadium.
"It doesn't really mean very much right now," junior split end Michael Jenkins said of being ranked No. 1. "We've got a very tough opponent coming up in Illinois and if we lose that game it doesn't mean anything at all. We have to finish out these two games and see what it is at the end of the season."
Wilhelm said: "We're where we want to be. We've put ourselves in position. All we can do is prepare for Illinois. At the snap of a finger it can all be taken away and we realize that."
Ohio State will be seeking to become the first 12-win team in school history. The 1975 and '79 Buckeyes went 11-1, while the 1995 Buckeyes were 11-2.
Asked what that would mean, OSU coach Jim Tressel said, "All I know is I'd rather be 12-0 than the other and that's what we're working on."
Exercising caution
Tressel said there were a number of players watching film and getting treatment on Monday, but he didn't find that unusual because Ohio State did not hold classes on Veterans Day. He doesn't think the Buckeyes will look ahead to Michigan and underestimate Illinois.
"Our guys know that Illinois is good and this is an important game," Tressel said. "Do I see anything beyond the excellent focus I've seen all year? I don't think so. Every day you turn it up a little bit. We hope by the end of the year we're playing the best we can possibly play. That's where I'd like to think we're marching."
At least now the Buckeyes can take some consolation in the fact that the much-criticized BCS system will give them a chance to play for the national championship. Before Oklahoma was upset, they faced the very likely possibility of going undefeated and getting shut out of the Fiesta Bowl.
Now Wilhelm hopes his teammates will finish what they started. In a sense, he issued them a challenge Tuesday.
"Everyone knows we control our own destiny," Wilhelm said. "We've got two weeks left. If we can't sell out and give every effort possible towards this goal of ours, to play in the national championship, then you don't deserve to be an Ohio State Buckeye."