NOTEBOOK From the Fiesta Bowl

Difference in philosophy: Miami coach Larry Coker moved his team to a different hotel Thursday night, to get the players away from the distractions as family and friends began to arrive in Phoenix. "As families come in, all the friends and former players come in, the hotel gets to be really a buzz session. We want to move our players away from that at least one night before the game. Our focus has to be on Ohio State." By comparison, Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel said his squad would remain in the same hotel they had spent the previous seven nights since arriving the day after Christmas. That's not been the only difference in how the two squads have handled preparations. Coker and selected players were available to the media after daily practices, but Tressel allowed no access to the Ohio State team. Tressel also imposed an 11 p.m. curfew nightly while the Miami players had a midnight curfew.
Haven't I seen you before? Much was made of Tressel's visit to Miami's spring practice in April. Both coaches said there wasn't much too be gained by that visit in terms of X's and O's. "It was a very generic scrimmage," said Coker. "It's the time of the year that coaches really just bounce [ideas] off each other," added Tressel. "It's your reflection time, design time, to think about, are we heading in the right direction. We talked about recruiting [and] strength programs. Really, the football part of it was only about two hours on the field."
They're beatable: Tressel was asked Thursday if he was confident that Miami was a beatable team, despite having won its last 34 games in a row. "I think we all know as coaches that we're always vunerable," he said, "if we don't play as well and we can play, if we make errors or let the other team play better than we play. I feel good that I think we know what we need to do to win. Now, can we go out and do that? We're vulnerable and Miami is vunerable."
Stand-up hour: Tressel got the most laughs when mention was made of his even temperament. He was asked what it would take to get him "outwardly excited." "I guess I have always taken the approach that I don't have time to be outwardly excited because we need to be thinking three plays later or whatever. Now, I suppose when all the plays are done, maybe we can sneak in an outwardly excited moment ... we'll see."
Bowls 1, playoff 0: Tressel said he would favor a playoff for Division I-A as long as it didn't interfere with the current bowl setup. "If a playoff system would negatively affect our bowl world I wouldn't be interested," he said. "If there were a way that you could see the great bowl structure we have and have some sort of playoff, I'm sure I would be in favor of that as well. I don't think we ever want to consider doing anything that will affect our bowl system."
That's news to us: Coker responded to a question about the Hurricanes being heavy favorites with "We're still the favorite?" He added the matter hasn't come up in the Miami camp. "It doesn't really matter in this game. When you play a one-game series, we've seen underdogs throughout sport history that have been very, very successful. I think that [being a favorite] has very little relevance in [tonight's] game. The only thing we can control is how well we play. I really don't want our players to be concerned about winning a game. I want us to play as well as we can play and then whatever happens, happens."
Officials: A Big 12 Conference officiating crew was selected for the game. The officials are Randy Christal, referee; Steve Storie, umpire; Don Kapral, head linesman; Derick Bowers, line judge; Terry Porter, field judge; Brad Van Vark, side judge; John Robison, back judge, and John Laurie, alternate.
Talented players: The Hurricanes' front five is anchored by All-American center Brett Romberg, who won the Rimington Award as the nation's top interior offensive lineman.
Willis McGahee is elusive in the open field and his ability to cut back against the defense's pursuit has made him one of the nation's top backs.
"Willis McGahee is a tremendous challenge for our football team," said Tressel. "He does such a great job as a runner, as a receiver, the big plays he makes."
Tight end Kellen Winslow and wide receiver Andre Johnson are Dorsey's two most-favorite targets. Winslow will likely be matched up in coverage by the Buckeyes' linebackers, like Matt Wilhelm, or even free safety Michael Doss. Johnson will be shadowed by cornerbacks Chris Gamble and Dustin Fox.
"They're extremely well-coached and they play very well together," said Coker of the Buckeyes' defense. "I know the middle linebacker [Wilhelm] is an All-American and they have good players."
-- Rob Todor